ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of "house" in the family system in comparison with the concept in East Asian societies based on data collected during anthropological fieldwork. East Asian societies have been greatly influenced by Chinese culture through the interchange of a long history. Thus, they share many cultural elements such as Chinese characters, Confucian ethics, the family code, and patrilineal kinship. To understand the equivocal nature of the Chinse jia, it is helpful to compare it with the univocal Japanese ie. For example, the Japanese ie can exactly denote a family living in a house. The Japanese ie covers almost all family functions in bulk. It is a social unit equipped with many facets—not only of residence, but also the household budget, raising the children, family occupation and ancestor worship. The Vietnamese nha means the building and the people living in it, and may also have a symbolic meaning.
