Family, Kinship, and Ethnic Identity of the Chinese in New York City, with Comparative Remarks on the Chinese in Lima, Peru and Manila, Philippines

Abstract

The paper first examines how U.S. immigration policies and economic adaptation of the Chinese affect and modify the Chinese family system in the U.S. and then proceeds to discuss the development of the various types of Chinese American families: the old immigrant families, new immigrant families, American born Chinese families, the families of Chinese professionals and non residential extended families. These families differ not only in size but also in intrafamilial relationships and cultural identities. Some of these families are more Old World oriented; others are U.S. oriented. Some straddle two cultures - Chinese and American. Some are characterized by dominance of the traditional father-son bond, others the mother-child bond, and still others the husband-wife bond. The immigration policies and the economic adaptation of the Chinese which affected the development of the Chinese American families are responsible also for the development of the current trends: 1) the weakening of patrilineal kinship, 2) the emergence of the non-residential extended family, 3) the increased occurrence of fictive kinship, 4) the popularity of the nuclear family and 5) the replacement of the traditional fatherson bond by husband-wife bond. Some of these developmental trends are contrasted with those in Chinese communities in Lima and Manila. Although the American environment has modified the Chinese families, some Old World traditions linger on among all the Chinese in New York. All seem to value personalism and familism. All want to incorporate friends into their kinship network. This tendency of enlarging one’s personal/kinship network seems to be universal whether it is m Lima, Manila or New York City.

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