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Chinese rural elderly in the post-Mao era: Two villages in Zhejiang Province

Ku, Yachun
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055448805

Abstract Details

1991, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Anthropology.
While aging is a universal phenomenon, the experience of growing old differs tremendously between the West and the East, the developed and developing countries, and among people of different cultural heritages and social systems. This in-depth ethnographic study is intended to make a contribution to the growing body of knowledge of cross-cultural gerontology by examining how the elderly in one part of China have fared during the first phase of China’s massive program of economic modernization. The data of this dissertation were collected as part of an NIA (1-ROI-AG06793-01) and NSF (BNS87-03588) funded project on the Impact of China’s New Reforms on the Rural Elderly. It was conducted in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, in eastern China. The study examines the elderly in two agricultural villages, one – Pingyuan – is located in the plains, while the other – Shancun – is located nearby but in the mountains. The two villages share a similar culture, but different income levels – Pingyuan has prospered far more than Shancun. The study involved 18 months of fieldwork in the two villages, and intensive work with a random sample of one hundred elderly who are 60 years or older, 50 in each village. This dissertation focuses on the current situation of the elderly, in particular on issues of: (1) household composition, (2) income sources and intra-population income variation, and (3) the elderly’s self assessment of their living situation. The data of this dissertation revealed that: (1) there were a large number of elderly living in single generation households in both rich and poor villages (56% versus 48%), but the type of living arrangements differed – more of the rich village’s elderly lived alone or with a spouse but more of the poor village’s elderly lived in “by turns” arrangements, rotating their meals and/or sleeping places in their married sons’ homes; (2) the availability of arable land, the presence of local industry, gender, and individual health and the ability to engage in sideline work, accounted for the differential income of the elderly, and (3) there was a changing attitude among the elderly with regard to filial piety and to the value of sons. The study found that the elderly in these villages had began to adapt to social and economic changes by viewing the aging process as one in which the elderly must look after themselves.
Melvyn Goldstein (Advisor)
217 p.
Chinese; rural elderly; villages; Zhejiang

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Citations

  • Ku, Y. (1991). Chinese rural elderly in the post-Mao era: Two villages in Zhejiang Province [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055448805

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ku, Yachun. Chinese rural elderly in the post-Mao era: Two villages in Zhejiang Province. 1991. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055448805.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ku, Yachun. "Chinese rural elderly in the post-Mao era: Two villages in Zhejiang Province." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1991. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055448805

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1055448805
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© 1991, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.