Son preference in China is a gender preference issue underpinned by the belief that boys have more value than girls. In China, the bias towards male over female offspring is demonstrated by the sex ratio at birth (SRB). Key factors driving the son preference include the economic impact on families, since men are expected to care for their parents in old age, while women are not. Further, Chinese agrarian society influences sex preference, as agriculture is often perceived as men's work in China. These issues were dramatically compounded by the implementation of the Chinese Communist Party's one-child rule in 1979.
History The origin of the son preference can be related to the beginning of Chinese patriarchal society. Agriculture is also a key factor in the historical preference for sons. For thousands of years in China, most people preferred sons to daughters because of their perceived greater earning potential, especially in agrarian communities where strength-based tasks such as hunting, animal husbandry, and plowing are major sources of income.
In traditional Chinese religious practice, males are preferred because they have the ability to continue the family line. Further, women are not traditionally responsible for their parents when they marry, while men are expected to care for parents in their old age. The ideas of male superiority and female inferiority have existed in patriarchal societies for considerable time. With the development of feudal ethics, this viewpoint gradually developed and became culturally entrenched. Among the folk practices in China prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was the use of a shaman's charm to destroy the "Curse of Nine-Daughters". Also prior to the founding of the PRC, certain aspects of taijiao (fetal education) were believed to help ensure a fetus would be male, and pregnant women might visit also a fortune teller in an effort to determine fetal sex. In the PRC, local government bureaus and work units composed cultural works such as songs and dramas in an effort to overturn traditional cultural practices deemed inconsistent with modernization, namely the traditional son preference and trends of marrying earlier and having larger families. Organized group conversations and cultural activities were also used to challenge these traditional preferences and achieved some success. The traditional son preference in China has contributed to sex-selective abortions following the development of ultrasound machines in the 1980s and China's one-child policy. In 1986, the National Commission for Family Planning and the Ministry of Health prohibited prenatal sex determination except when diagnosing hereditary diseases.Individuals or clinics that violate the prohibition are subject to fines. This prohibition was repeatedly affirmed in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Since the 1990s, government efforts to eliminate the traditional son preference and to promote son/daughter equality in family planning have increased. They further accelerated after the United Nations-sponsored Caring for Girls national campaign in 2003.
Reasons
Agrarian society Prior to globalization, during the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, China was an agrarian society. The majority of work in agriculture was deemed to utilize males’ strength. Although the expansionary of urbanisation has increased in recent decades throughout China, agriculture still plays a role in gender bias. These cultural norms are deeply entrenched. Despite rapid development to the Chinese economy, many farmers who move from rural areas to cities still prefer sons; in Chinese social culture, sons are expected to take more responsibility to take on households.
Financial security Financial security is another factor that affects sex preference in China. Traditionally, once a girl is married, she becomes part of her husband's family, which means she is no longer responsible for her parents' care as they age. Thus, their parents worry about who will take care of them if their daughter were to get married. In general, those that follow the traditional Chinese society believe that sons can take responsibility for their family, instead of girls. In other words, traditionally, the blood of the family has been inherited by the male side. After the woman married, she joined her husband's family and took care of her in-laws rather than her own parents. There has long been the idea "to raise children to fight against aging" to ensure that one is cared for in their old age. Therefore, raising a daughter becomes a waste of one's efforts. Some Chinese Sociologists explain that from the perspective of society, it is not rational to be patriarchal, but for individuals, this is still a wise choice. As the Chinese population continued to grow, the government became concerned. Therefore, the CCP advanced the 'one child policy' in order to control the large population in 1979. New developments in ultrasound technology enabled Chinese parents to know their child's sex before birth, leading some to seek out sex-selective abortion to make sure they have boys. With only one child allowed per family, many viewed it as more important than ever to make sure that they had a son to care for them in their old age.
Traditional Chinese folk religion
In rural China, traditional Chinese folk religion plays a role in son preference. Such folk religion may overlap with an individual's belief in Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or other traditional Chinese religions. The majority of ancient Chinese were adherents of Confucianism, which values patriarchy. In general, the preference of a son is strongly reinforced in countries which follow Confucianism. Confucianism brings a heavy burden on Chinese women. In Chinese traditional Confucian families, the husband and other family members have more status than wives. A Chinese wife's responsibility is to look after and serve the household, including doing all the housework. Ancestor worship is underlined by Chinese folk religion as well. Chinese ancestor worship emphasizes filial piety. One of the filial method is to continue the family line in China. Passing on the genealogy is one of the main methods to continue the family. However, in old Chinese beliefs, a family’s genealogy will be interrupted if they do not have sons. Moreover, the inability to bear a son can become a potential factor for divorce for some couples.
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