How do we explain the changes in intergenerational relations in China’s rural areas? The author puts forward a framework for the explanation through the angle of the division of property and of family ethics. The traditional model of the division of family property is centered on the inheritance of land, from which was derived the principle of “maintenance” which forms the core of family ethics, thereby making up the traditional system of “ inheritance—maintenance.” Since 1949, changes in land rights and the rise of market economy have changed this system fundamentally. The reproduction of family ethics is no longer possible and the elderly face a big crisis in old-age maintenance. Meanwhile, young and middle-aged parents have abandoned the traditional expectation of old-age maintenance by their children, and have sought to accumulate wealth separately and independently, purchased old-age insurance, and have formed new ideas of old-age maintenance. Pushed by this new idea, the division of property has become more and more rational. In general, the process of intergenerational relationship in rural China has gone from equilibrium to disequilibrium to a new equilibrium.
This article is in Chinese.
在社会转型背景下，中国农村家庭的代际关系发生了怎样的变化？本文从分家析产与家庭伦理的角度提出了一个解释框架。在传统分家析产模式中，以土地的继承为核心，再生产了以“养”为核心的家庭伦理观，形成了传统的“继—养”体系。20 世纪中期以来，地权的变革和市场的兴起根本改变了这一模式，导致家庭伦理的再生产难以为继，并引发了农村老年人的养老危机。与变化了的家产模式相适应，中青年父母们转变了传统的养老预期，开始独立地积蓄财富、购置养老保险，形成了新的养老观念。在这种新的养老观念的推动下，家产的分割呈现出有限、理性的特征，一种新的、理性的代际关系开始形成。总的来看，农村代际关系经历了平衡——失衡——新的平衡的变动趋势。
The old age health security in rural China: where to go?