A Study on the First Chinese Mother: Yan Zhengzai

The term “hot mum” (La Ma, 辣妈) has become popular in the Chinese media in the 21st century, being regarded as a “feminist” image of the modern mother, as it breaks with the stereotype of the traditional Chinese mother. Departing from a historical framework of motherhood and feminism, as well as western theories of subjectification and individualization, the article explores the discourses of hot mums in contemporary China. Based on an analysis of more than eight hundred articles in a Chinese database, this article explores the impacts of the image of the hot mum upon practices of motherhood among contemporary Chinese women. The findings show that the notion of the hot mum has been transformed into the concept of “all-around hot mums” who take care of both their families and their careers. It is argued that this process has not changed power relations between men and women, nor the roles of father and mother. Commercial and market aspects have turned hot mums from an initial expression of women’s subjectivity with particular maternal values into subjects of consumerism. The hot mum discourse is apparently contributing to the oppression rather than empowerment of Chinese women, let alone their increased sense of individuality.

Paternal body mass index before conception associated with offspring's birth weight in Chinese population: a prospective study

10.1101/2021.06.17.21258438 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Renying Xu ◽

Weixiu Zhao ◽

Tao Tan ◽

Haojie Li ◽

Yanping Wan

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Body Weight ◽

Birth Weight ◽

Body Mass ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Gestational Weight ◽

A Prospective Study ◽

The Relationship ◽

Multivariable Adjustment ◽

Chinese Mother

Whether paternal epigenetic information of nutrition might be inherited by their offspring remained unknown. evaluate the relationship between preconception paternal body weight and their offspring's birth weight in 1,810 Chinese mother-father-baby trios. Information on paternal and maternal preconception body weight and height was collected via a self-reported questionnaire. Birth weight was collected from medical records. Paternal preconception body weight was associated with offspring's birth weight (p trend=0.02) after multivariable adjustment. Each standard deviation increment of paternal body mass index was associated with an additional 29.6 g increase of birth weight (95% confident interval: 5.7g, 53.5g). The association was more pronounced in male neonates, and neonates with overweight mothers, and with mothers who gained excessive gestational weight, compared to their counterparts (all p interaction<0.05). Sensitivity analyses showed similar pattern to that of the main analysis. Paternal preconception body weight was associated with birth weight of their offspring.

The use of headed and headless DE-marked referential expressions in Chinese mother–child conversation

Language Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.langsci.2010.09.004 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 435-458

Author(s):

Tuyuan Cheng ◽

Hintat Cheung ◽

Shuanfan Huang

Keyword(s):

Referential Expressions ◽

Chinese Mother

Temporal reference in Chinese mother–child conversation: morphosyntactic, semantic and discourse-pragmatic resources

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000900004189 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 421-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

CHIUNG-CHIH HUANG

Keyword(s):

Background Knowledge ◽

Situational Context ◽

Temporal Reference ◽

The Past ◽

Maternal Scaffolding ◽

Aspect Markers ◽

Semantic Aspect ◽

Chinese Mother

This paper explores two Mandarin-speaking children's (3;2 and 3;3) ability to refer to the past in mother–child conversation. The approach encompasses morphosyntactic, semantic and discourse-pragmatic perspectives. The results show that the children tend to refer to immediate past spontaneously, but rely heavily on elicitation when referring to earlier past. It is suggested that maternal scaffolding functions as a discourse support for children to participate in conversation involving earlier past. When establishing past reference with overt temporal markers, the children resort mainly to aspect markers. In addition, they also rely on semantic and discourse-pragmatic resources for temporal inferencing, such as inherent semantic aspect, shared background knowledge and situational context.

Extension sémantique de lexie chez des apprenants chinois plurilingues

FRANCISOLA ◽

10.17509/francisola.v4i1.20338 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xian LIU ◽

Zhihong PU

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Mother Tongue ◽

Research Question ◽

French Language ◽

Semantic Extension ◽

Target Languages ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

Processing Mechanism ◽

Chinese Mother

RÉSUMÉ. L’extension sémantique, un genre d’erreur interlinguale dans la production en français (L3) des apprenants chinois dont L2 est l’anglais, présenterait-elle des influences translinguistiques des deux langues : chinois (langue maternelle) et anglais ? Telle est la question de cette recherche réalisée par le biais d’une enquête menée auprès de 137 étudiants de français dans quatre universités chinoises, afin de découvrir le mécanisme de mental processing des apprenants plurilingues. Avec les analyses quantitatives (Test-t) et qualitatives des productions écrites et en s’appuyant sur des théories de transfert (Swan, 1997 ; Jiang, 2000 ; Wei, 2009) et la théorie du prototype, on découvre que l’interférence des lemmes plurilingues (chinois-français, anglais-français, chinois-anglais-français) remonte à des extensions sémantiques : Les catégories sémantiques des lemmes n’étant pas les mêmes, les apprenants auraient tendance à construire certains lemmes de L3 (le français dans ce cas) en se balançant entre ceux de L1 et de L2. Ainsi, il faut considérer davantage les influences des langues non-cibles, notamment l’interférence de L2 dans l’enseignement/apprentissage de L3. Mots-clés : Extension sémantique, habileté, influence translinguistique, lemme, source de transfert ABSTRACT. Semantic extension, a typical interlingual error in French-language production (L3) of Chinese students (their L2 is English), does it present the cross-linguistic influence of two languages: Chinese (mother tongue) and English? This is the research question, realized by a survey conducted among 137 students of French in four Chinese universities, in order to discover multilingual learners’ mental processing mechanism. With quantitative (T test) and qualitative analysis of written productions, using the transfer theories (Swan, 1997; Jiang, 2000; Wei, 2009) and prototype theory, the research discovers that the interference of multilingual lemmas (Chinese-French, English-French, Chinese-English-French) accounts for semantic extensions: the learners tend to construct some lemmas of L3 (French in the case) by swaying between lemmas of L1 and L2. Thus, it needs to consider further the influences from non-target languages, particularly the interference of L2 in teaching/learning of L3. Keywords: cross-linguistic influence, lemma, semantic extension, skill, source of transfer

Image of the Great Mother Yan Zhengzai in the Chinese Culture and Literature

Tyumen State University Herald Humanities Research Humanitates ◽

10.21684/2411-197x-2019-5-3-117-132 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 117-132

Author(s):

Fu Yongju ◽

Zhu Yufu

Keyword(s):

Chinese Culture ◽

Teaching Method ◽

Family Education ◽

Great Mother ◽

Chinese Traditional Culture ◽

Teaching Principles ◽

New Vision ◽

Mother’S Day ◽

Education In China ◽

Chinese Mother

This article aims to present Confucius’ mother, Yan Zhengzai, in the Chinese ancient literature and history, remembering her feats of home education and praising her wisdom as the first representative of wise women in the Chinese traditional culture. China has never had a Mother’s Day, because there is no consensus on the typical representative of a Chinese mother. Confucius (28 September 551 B.C. — 11 April 479 B.C.) is one of the representatives of Chinese culture, his doctrine — Confucianism — is the foundation and spiritual mentality of the Chinese nation. Yang Zhengzai was both Confucius’s mother and first teacher. With her unique and new vision, concept, content, and teaching method, she brought up Confucius as the “Wise Teacher of Antiquity”, a great thinker, and educator of the traditional society of ancient China. She left the precious wisdom for Chinese matriarchal culture behind, making this great woman a worthy Chinese Holy Mother. This paper details the hard mental journey of the great mother and her teaching principles for the dignified development of the great son, as well as presenting other Chinese great mothers. The authors note that Yan Zhengzai is the most successful female model of family education in China and the world. Therefore, the authors propose to establish a Mother’s Day in China honoring Yang Zhengzai.

Intergenerational Similitude of Ethnic Identification and Ethnic Identity: A Brief Report on Immigrant Chinese Mother-Adolescent Dyads in Canada

Identity ◽

10.1207/s1532706xid0304_04 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 367-373 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Karen Kester ◽

Sheila K. Marshall

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Identity ◽

Ethnic Identification ◽

Chinese Mother

Zu Chinesischen Perlmuttlacken des 14. Jahrhunderts (On 14th Century Chinese Mother-of-Pearl Lacquers)

Artibus Asiae ◽

10.2307/3250130 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 38 (2/3) ◽

pp. 128

Author(s):

Beatrix Von Rague

Keyword(s):

14Th Century ◽

Chinese Mother

Cinematography in Motherhood: a Hong Kong film adaptation of Ghosts

Nordlit ◽

10.7557/13.3384 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 393

Author(s):

Kwok-kan Tam

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Film Adaptation ◽

Chinese Film ◽

Cross Media ◽

Media Adaptation ◽

Mother Figure ◽

Master Builder ◽

A Doll's House ◽

Chinese Mother ◽

Made In

This is a study of a Hong Kong Chinese film adaptation of Ghosts made in 1960. It deals with processes of cross-cultural and cross-media adaptation, and probes issues of how stage techniques are turned into cinematographic devices. Ibsen’s plays, except Ghosts, have been adapted numerous times for the Chinese stage and screen in Hong Kong and China. Unlike in China, the reception of Ibsen in Hong Kong is not meant for political purposes. In most Hong Kong adaptations, Ibsen is valued for the purpose of theatrical experimentation. Among the stage adaptations, A Doll’s House and The Master Builder are the most popular. However, there was a film adaptation of Ghosts in 1960, which has never been discussed in Ibsen scholarship. In this adaptation, Director Tso Kea borrowed the plot from Ghosts and made a perfect Chinese melodrama film highlighting the Chinese emotions and relations in a wealthy family that undergoes a crisis. In traditional Chinese drama, there is the lack of psychological rendering in characterization and characters act according to moral considerations. In Tso Kea’s film, the portrayal of the mother provides a new sense of characterization by combining Mrs Alving with the traditional Chinese mother figure. The borrowing from Ibsen makes it possible for the Chinese film to create a character with emotional and psychological complexities. Images from the film are selected as illustration in the article.

Scaffolding Singaporean Students to Write Vividly in the Chinese ‘Mother Tongue’, Mandarin

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ◽

10.7575/aiac.alls.v.5n.1p.40 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 40-52

Author(s):

Tzemin Chung ◽

Neil Anderson ◽

Munkew Leong ◽

Waiyin Choy

Keyword(s):

Mother Tongue ◽

Chinese Mother