15. Chinese Family Relationships and Titles

Traditionally, Chinese families consisted of many family members, up to three or four generations all living under the same roof.Males played the leading role in the family, and sons inherited their family names and family fortune from their fathers.

Family relationships are explicitly classified in a Chinese family, and each family member is given a specific title.In China, the classification of family relationships is primarily based on five elements:generation, age, lineal/collateral, male/female, and paternal/maternal.Titles give respect to one's elders, who would never be simply addressed by name.Chinese family titles also highlight the difference of paternal and maternal relatives.

For example, the titles of father's older brother, father's younger brother, mother's brothers, auntie's husbands are clearly distinguished in Chinese, while in English they are all called“uncle.”In English, titles are more general, so“grandpa”may indicate your father's father or your mother's father，and your older and younger siblings could be easily confused if you don't specify age.All of these family members have their own titles in Chinese—even the titles of cousins indicate whether they are older or younger, male or female and paternally or maternally related.So in China, people know exactly who you are talking about as soon as you mention a particular relative.