ABSTRACT
Students of the family and kinship in various societies have long been concerned with the strength of ties among extended kin—relatives of blood, marriage, and adoption through one's father, mother, siblings, spouse, and children. Durkheim ([1915] 1965) argued that every society's members feel the need to uphold and reaffirm their past, and this need can only be met by closely united individuals expressing their common sentiments. Let us again use the analytical distinction between ideal, normative patterns and actual, behavioral patterns, this time applied to extended kinship.
Ideal, normative extended kinship ties: How do the Taiwanese answer the following questions: To what range of extended kin do we owe obligations? Should we maintain close relationships with extended kin? Give them economic or other forms of aid? Obedience? Respect? Do we have the same obligations to extended kin as to our parents?
Actual, behavioral extended kinship ties: There are various occasions that Taiwanese may or may not use to get together with extended kin. These include annual ceremonial occasions (New Year's, paipai festivals, ancestor worship) and certain rites de passage (marriage, childbirth or man yueh, an elder kin's birthday or chu shou, and funerals).
