UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Obliged to Care: Rural Chinese Families, Migration, and the Changing Intergenerational Contract A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Erin Elizabeth Thomason 2017 Copyright by Erin Elizabeth Thomason 2017 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Obliged to Care: Rural Chinese Families, Migration, and the Changing Intergenerational Contract by Erin Elizabeth Thomason Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2017 Professor Yunxiang Yan, Chair Based on eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork in rural Henan province, this dissertation fleshes out the multiple ways that families have reorganized their emotional and economic resources in response to rural development and internal migration. I consider how traditional gender and age-based hierarchies are transformed and reworked within village life. Each chapter in this work focuses on a different intergenerational problem of care. In particular, I investigate family efforts of identity formation, socialization, marriage arrangements, filial piety, and the everyday deployment of painful, collective-era memories. Attending to how families respond to change, and particularly changes in economic and emotional roles within the household, is a critical and important question that adds to our understanding of how development impacts subjectivity and experience. ii The dissertation of Erin Elizabeth Thomason is approved. Douglas W. Hollan Christopher J. Throop Chi-Fun Cindy Fan Yunxiang Yan, Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2017 iii To Finnian and his generation iv Table of Contents Abstract of the dissertation ii List of Figures vi Acknowledgements viii Vita x Introduction 1 Interlude: Pear Branch Township 29 1 Return to the Soil: Backwardness, Dirt, and Rural Spaces of Inhabitability 42 2 Governmentality and the Confucian Family, or Why Families Matter 72 3 “Give him to his Grandmother, don’t call a baomu” 107 4 Teaching Morality in the Face of Contingency 137 5 Girl’s Power, Mother’s Sacrifice 172 6 Filial Fears 202 7 “My life is long; my life is full of trouble” 234 Conclusion 270 Glossary of Chinese Terms 286 Bibliography 289 v List of Figures Figure 1 Pear Branch Township is outside of Shangqiu, Henan ................................................. 13 Figure 2 Henan divided into Administrative Units ..................................................................... 14 Figure 3 Pear Branch Township during a market festival. .......................................................... 16 Figure 4 A Courtyard Garden and Harvest of Wheat ................................................................. 18 Figure 5 A Christian Service at the Township Church ............................................................... 21 Figure 6 Jiatian Village during Harvest ..................................................................................... 32 Figure 7 Village Temple on New Year's .................................................................................... 45 Figure 8 The patriline offers food and burns sacrifices to ancestral burial mounds ..................... 65 Figure 9 The act of grandmothering includes countless acts of care to maintain the intergenerational family ................................................................................................... 101 Figure 10 Cleaning Blankets ................................................................................................... 110 Figure 11 Grandmother and Granddaughter ............................................................................. 122 Figure 12 Children of both genders were described as ‘suan.’ ................................................. 150 Figure 13 Playing in the village. .............................................................................................. 157 Figure 14 A Bride and her sister-in-law. A marching band is seen in the background. ............. 174 Figure 15 A village wedding ceremony ................................................................................... 199 Figure 16 Filial piety is an ethical emotion woven into the fabric of kinship relations. ............. 204 Figure 17 Family members of the deceased wear white during a funeral. ................................. 210 Figure 18 Grandmother Zhu's Chronological Life Events ........................................................ 241 Figure 19 Transcription Conventions....................................................................................... 242 Figure 20 "When it’s not too hot, when it’s not raining, I can sit on the bench, even a child can do it." .................................................................................................... 243 vi Acknowledgements I am deeply appreciative of all the support I have received from many people and organizations along the road to completing this dissertation. First, I am deeply indebted to the families and individuals that hosted me in Pear Branch Village, shared their lives with me, and endured my endless questions. While the ethics of anonymity prevent me from naming them directly, I offer my gratitude to all of the families featured in this dissertation for their support. I am especially thankful for my host family and the hospitality they offered my family. Additionally, I would like to thank my two student research assistants, Christina Guo and Chen Chen who transcribed some of my recorded interviews and gave insightful comments into village life. This project has been generously funded by the U.S. Fulbright Institute for International Education, the Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Award, the UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA Department of Anthropology and the Laurie Duthie Scholarship, U.S. State Department Foreign Language and Area Studies, the U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship, and the UCLA Graduate Student Mentorship Award. I am grateful for Yunxiang Yan, the chair of my doctoral committee and his insightful comments and calls for a common-sense grounding to my work. I am appreciative for the time and attention that he has given to improve my writing and scholarship and I am truly a better anthropologist thanks to his guidance. I owe my thanks to Doug Hollan who has offered endless encouragement and support. He has also endured my teasing and complaints of his native state of Texas, and is always ready to remind me of how complicated real life is. I am obliged to Jason Throop who has contributed an incredibly keen theoretical insight to many of these chapters, pointing out connections that I had missed myself. Cindy Fan has been the voice of gracious vii support and despite her heavy administrative responsibilities, has contributed her acumen to the pages herein. I also thank Ellie Ochs who contributed her expertise to Chapter 7 and Teresa Kuan who gave comments on Chapter 4. To Ann, Tracy, and Kate in the front office, thank you for handling my paperwork and daily tasks with humor, graciousness, and kindness. Without the sponsorship of the Department of Humanities and Development at China Agricultural University and the support of Ye Jingzhong, this work would have not been possible. I am grateful to the community of scholars at the working group for Left-Behind Children. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge Shen Yifei, Vivian Xiong, and Jin Xiong who each have been encouraging of my work and have given insightful comments. I’m appreciative for all my undergraduate professors at Whitman College, especially Jason Pribilsky, who supervised my first anthropology project so many years ago has continued to offer sage advice and wisdom ever since. To my advisors and mentors at CSULA, I owe an unrepayable debt. ChorSwang Ngin is probably single handedly responsible for any future success, she has continually cheered me along, encouraged me to study China, and always reminded me of the value of a good meal. Kate Sullivan has shared her love of science fiction and social analysis with me and helped me to think broadly about my own future. Jim Brady always knows how to add the sparkle to essays and applications and his insight has surely been foundational in the awards that I’ve received. I am thankful to the many peers and supportive community at UCLA. I’m especially indebted to my writing group, Camille Fraiser, Ashley Fent, and Jody Washburn. Our mutual support has been a major factor in finishing this project. I also want to thank Keziah Conrad, Claudia Huang, Eva Melstrom, Spencer Chen, Courtney Cecale, Jayden Smith, Chris Peterson, viii Aiden Seale-Feldman, and the countless unmentioned others who have offered support, commiseration, and insight into my work. To my parents and family, especially my mom and sister, who visited us in China and supported the writing of the dissertation with childcare and companionship, thank you for your time, energy, and love. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the support of my partner and husband, Ben Thomason. He has been there with me not only for every step, but every stumble as well. I am thankful for his countless hours of proof-reading, language practice, and brainstorming that have transformed my scholarship and my personal experience of China. Our son, Finnian William has offered his own form of encouragement, love, and support in high-fives, toddler kisses, and lots of snuggles. His contribution in offering me the experience of intergenerational relationships from