ABSTRACT
Hidden in plain sight, revolutionary changes have been happening in China for the last 70 years. This contemporary revolution made its start during the modern history of China that is more familiar. As one of the oldest continuous cultures in the world, China carries a deep structure of thought and morality that descends from its millennia of recorded and unrecorded history. One unintended positive consequence of the new communist dictates about the family was that women were more highly valued than they had ever been before in China’s history. Chinese families have traditionally favored sons, looking to their sons, and especially the oldest son, to carry on the family name, the family farm or the family business. There is also an emotional investment in this tradition. The chapter discusses how the One Child Policy fundamentally altered family structure and goals.
