*** Chinese families







Chinese Families

Chinese family

Figure 1.--A HBC reader sent us this image, but without any information. We believe the individuals here are a Chinese family in the early-1900s. We notice middle-class families adopting Western influences with the man and boys, but not the women. This was a common pattern in Asia.

The family section of HBC is a very useful section. It helps to put the information we have developed on boys fashion into perspective. Family images show the fashions worn by girls and adults at the same time as those worn by boys. And the family images also provide helpful illustrations of sociological trends. Our Chinese archive is very limited so we have only begun to work on this important topic. China is a very large country, but still very backward in the 19th century. So we do not begin to find very many Chinee images until the 20h century. All of the early photograohy was European imports. China in the 19th century was a technological backwater. All modern technology was imported. We see some European influences, often Chinese who had conveted to Chistianity.

Middle-class Family (Early-1900s)

A HBC reader sent us this image, but without any information. It is a studio portrait. We believe the individuals here are a Chinese family in the early-1900s. We notice middle-class families adopting Western influences with the man and boys, but not the women. This was a common pattern in Asia. Oftern Westernized Chinese were Christians. The father here has what looks like a cross on his lapel. The boys wear Norfolk suits.

Revolutionary Family (about 1960)

Here we see a Chinese family obviously after the the Revolution. We would guess that gthe photograph wastaken on a family outing, probably about 1960. Notice the standard Maoist clothing. We are not sure here the photograph was taken, perhaps Shanghai. The buiolding in the background provides a useful clue. The family has two young children. This was before limits on children were introduced in the 1970s. We suspect the photograph was taken by a street photographer. Even such a small-scale endevor would hve been a state controlled endevor, explainiong why Chiuna remained such a poor country for so long after thr Communist victory in the Civil War (1948). China had a two-child limit for a decade (1970s) before introducing the one-child policy nation wide (1980).

Military Family (early-1980s)

Here we have a color family portrait. It is not dated, but we would guess was taken in the 1980s, probanly the early-80s. Color photography was rare in China at the time. Most color uimages come from foreign visitors. China began to open up to Western visitors. This was when the impact of the marker reforms (i.e. capitalism) began to impact Chinese society. And we can see it in the portrait here, although you have to look closely. The man wears a unifirm, problasvly that of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), although there are other uniformed groups. Notice the jacket is green, but the pants are blue. PLA soldiers mostly wore all-green unifiorms, but we do see some blue pants. We are not sure just who wore the blue pants, but this means that the man here was not out of uniform. More interesting is the beginning of Western fashion in Communist China. Now the mother and children may not look all that fashionable, but look at her pants--blue jeans. Nothing can be more indicative of Western fashions than American blue jeans. You do not sse Red Guards running around with blue jeans. They were the heighth of fashion behind the Soviet Iron Curtain during the Cold War and the same was true after the market reforms began and China began to open up to the West. It was no longer dangerous to be fashionable. Another fasionable indicator is the color. Color was now allowed. Also fashionable are the two children. China during the 70s introduced the two child family to limit the country's population growth. Then the limit was set at one child (1980). The fact that the couple here has two children may help date the photograph to the early-80s, perhaps even the late-70s. The limits were very effective. The Goverment ended the one child policy (2015) because it not created a demographic cliff that is now beginning to impact the economy with fewer workers and increasing number of retirees. It also caused a gender inbalance. here are farmor men than women in China today bcause Chinese family prerfered boys to girls. The Government reversed course and is now encouring the population to have more children, a little too late. And so far it is not affecting the low birth rate.







HBC






Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s] [The 1890s]
[The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s]



Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits] [Knicker suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer] [School sandals] [School smocks] [Sailor suits] [Pinafores] [Long stockings]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Return to the Main Chinese country page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Created: 4:02 AM 11/13/2013
Last updated: 10:32 AM 3/28/2023