ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the young men constructed masculinity in comparison with their fathers and grandfathers, showing the rise of chenggong (success; outstanding accomplishment) as a new masculine ideal. As an exemplary norm a man somehow has to come to terms with, chenggong constitutes a ‘hegemonic masculinity’. All the young men showed a wish, and even expectation, for chenggong. Their ideas of ‘the good life’, ‘the good person’ and ‘the good man’ all had chenggong as a prerequisite. They recognized that taking chenggong seriously entailed much personal cost, but the cost of not taking it seriously might be greater. The young men’s narratives contrast sharply with the youth life stories by their grandfathers, for whom individual achievement was irrelevant and the notion of chenggong was hardly accessible. They also contrast with the talk among their fathers (including those who achieved what was viewed as a great accomplishment at that time) about lack of awareness, motivation or conditions for chenggong when they were young. The chenggong ideal fits the young men’s subject position as ‘the aspiring individual’. It was also their way to fit into the Chinese gender order.
