The Effect of Family on the Mental Health of the Chinese People

Publisher Summary One of the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture is its strong emphasis on the family system. However, this emphasis has been influenced by the process of modernization, industrialization, and urbanization. There is strong interest in knowing how the family is perceived and how it functions in mainland China of the present. This chapter discusses the importance of family as the base of social relations and describes marriage as the foundation of human life. The family still has tremendous impact on the mental health of people in mainland China. The chapter explains how the mental health of the Chinese people is affected by the family and how the manifestations of Chinese mental health problems differ from those of Westerners. Although the Chinese culture was being remolded step-by-step on the basis of a socialist economy following the revolution in 1949, the essence of traditional Chinese culture has been well preserved and carried forward. This can be seen, for instance, in the persistence of the traditional cultural value of family. The family plays a significant role in child rearing, married life, and in the care of the elderly in contemporary China.