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Marriage Across the Taiwan Strait MARRIAGE ACROSS THE TAIWAN STRAIT: MALE MIGRANTS, MARITAL DESIRE AND SOCIAL LOCATION by Joseph Leo Cichosz B.A., University of Oregon, 2003 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2011 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by Joseph L. Cichosz It was defended on November 23, 2010 and approved by Dr. Cheris Chan, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong Dr. Gabrella Lukacs, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology Dr. Andrew Strathern, Mellon Professor, Department of Anthropology Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Nicole Constable, Professor, Department of Anthropology ii Copyright © by Joseph Leo Cichosz 2011 iii MARRIAGE ACROSS THE TAIWAN STRAIT: MALE MIGRANTS, MARITAL DESIRE AND SOCIAL LOCATION Joseph Leo Cichosz, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2011 This dissertation addresses the ways in which government policies and agendas, media representations, local histories and perceptions influence marriage patterns across the Taiwan Strait. While socio-economic interactions between the Republic of China (Taiwan or ROC) and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC or Mainland China) have deepened in recent years, both governments continue to often have conflicting agendas and policies aimed at supporting their own goals. As a result, Taiwan promotes a policy of careful interaction with Mainland China which is reflected in Taiwan’s strict immigration policies with regard to Mainland brides who are considered a threat to Taiwan’s “population quality” (renkou suzhi). The PRC, on the other hand, has established policies aimed at increasing economic and social integration with Taiwan. Taiwanese men on the Mainland enjoy preferential treatment, particularly in China’s Special Economic Zones. As more people travel across the Taiwan Strait, the number of cross-Strait (PRC-ROC), marriages have increased on the Mainland. Traditional marriage and kinship practices such as patrilocal marriages are often cited as primary factors in influencing women’s place in Chinese society (Davin 2008, Johnson 1983, Lu 1997, Watson 1991). However, a Mainland woman who marries a Taiwanese man and sets up a household near her natal home can have a very different experience. This practice, in turn, has in some cases led to more flexibility with regard to gender roles and mutual upward social mobility for both partners on the Mainland. iv Finally this dissertation contributes to the academic literature regarding cross-border marriage and “global hypergamy,” which usually refers to women from less developed, poorer regions who attempt to “marry up” by finding husbands in a more developed, richer area (Constable 2005). In this study, I consider a very different situation; men who migrate from a more developed region (Taiwan) to areas that are being developed (SEZ’s). While most did not migrate for the express purpose of marrying, these unions formed as a result of the migration process. Examining these relationships reveal some interesting insights into the ways that recent shifts in the global economic landscape related to China’s economy influence marriage patterns and marital relations. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................................... 1 1.2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................ 6 1.2.1 Globalization .................................................................................................... 6 1.2.2 Transnationalism ............................................................................................. 8 1.2.3 Marriage, Migration and Gender ................................................................ 15 1.3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 19 1.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE TEXT ................................................................. 24 2.0 MARRIAGE IN MAINLAND CHINA: CUSTOMS, LAW AND COMPROMISE ...................................................................................................................................... 28 2.1 REPUBLICAN PERIOD MARRIAGE LAW ................................................ 32 2.2 MARRIAGE LAW OF 1950 ............................................................................. 35 2.3 THE DANWEI SYSTEM ................................................................................. 36 2.4 THE HUKOU SYSTEM ................................................................................... 38 2.5 THE 1980 MARRIAGE LAW .......................................................................... 39 2.6 THE 2001 MARRIAGE LAW .......................................................................... 41 2.7 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 43 3.0 MARRIAGE MIGRATION AND GENDER IN CHINA ...................................... 45 vi 3.1 CROSSING BORDERS .................................................................................... 46 3.2 MARRIAGESCAPE 1: A MILITARY MARRIAGE AND A KEPT WOMAN ............................................................................................................................. 53 3.3 MIGRANT HUSBANDS IN CHINA ............................................................... 56 3.4 FOREIGN MALE MARRIAGE MIGRANTS IN CHINA ........................... 57 3.5 MARRIAGESCAPE 2: THE WILEY BUSINESSMAN AND THE SEDUCTRESS .................................................................................................................... 59 3.6 MARRIAGESCAPE 3: ERIC AND YUE ....................................................... 63 3.7 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 66 4.0 CROSS-STRAIT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RELATIONS: POLICIES, PRACTICE AND CHANGE ..................................................................................................... 68 4.1 CONTEMPORARY CROSS-STRAITS ECONOMIC INTERACTION .... 71 4.2 CROSS-STRAIT MARRIAGE POLICIES AND DISCOURSE .................. 78 4.3 WIFE.ORG ......................................................................................................... 83 4.4 MAINLAND BRIDES AND DESPERATE HUSBANDS.............................. 88 4.5 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 94 5.0 TRANSNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS: TAIWANESE MIGRANTS AND SOCIAL LOCATIONS .............................................................................................................. 98 5.1 ONLYLADY.COM .......................................................................................... 100 5.2 LOCAL PERSPECTIVES .............................................................................. 103 5.2.1 SHANGHAI BAZI: WEALTHY BUMPKINS............................................ 104 5.2.2 ZHENJIANG: A SITE OF ABANDONMENT ........................................ 105 5.2.3 XIAMEN: THE MINNAN CULTURAL AREA ...................................... 108 vii 5.2.3.1 TEA: A PUBLIC PRACTICE ......................................................... 109 5.2.4 CONVERSATIONS AT “THE WAY”: THE PARTY LINE AND LOCAL OPINIONS ................................................................................................. 110 5.2.5 WIDOW VILLAGES AND STORIES OF ABANDONMENT .............. 114 5.3 THE LURE OF THE MAINLAND AND THE MODEL TAIWANESE BUSINESSMAN ............................................................................................................... 115 5.4 MIGRANT VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES: ANG, FENG AND CHIN- LUNG ........................................................................................................................... 118 5.4.1 ANG: SURROUNDED BY BEAUTY........................................................ 118 5.4.2 FENG: BUSINESSMAN AND CONSUMER ........................................... 123 5.4.3 CHIN-LUNG: THE VUNERABLE ELITE .............................................. 124 5.5 HIERARCHIES OF DESIRE ........................................................................ 127 5.6 DANGER, SAFE PLACES AND SELF-CENSORSHIP ............................. 134 5.7 UNSPOKEN WORDS ..................................................................................... 138 5.8 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 139 6.0 A CROSS-STRAIT COUPLE IN XIAMEN: ANG AND MEI ............................ 148 6.1 THE FIRST MEETING .................................................................................. 149 6.2 THE APARTMENT ........................................................................................ 152 6.3 MEI: HONG KONG, SHANGHAI AND XIAMEN WOMEN COMPARED ........................................................................................................................... 157 6.4 A “TRADITIONAL” WEDDING IN ZHANGZHOU ................................. 160 6.5 DISJUNCTURE AND RECOVERY IN HAIWAN PARK ......................... 162 6.6 A SHORT MEETING WITH MEI: DANCING IN HONG KONG .......... 165 viii 6.7 A FAILED CROSS-STRAIT MARRIAGE .................................................. 166 6.8 CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................
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