Gender, marriage and migration : contemporary marriages between mainland China and Taiwan Lu, M.C.W. Citation Lu, M. C. W. (2008, May 15). Gender, marriage and migration : contemporary marriages between mainland China and Taiwan. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13001 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13001 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). Gender, Marriage and Migration: Contemporary Marriages between Mainland China and Taiwan Melody Chia-Wen Lu For my grandmothers Luwu Yin and Wudong Shiu-ying, who passed away during the course of writing this thesis Copyright 2008 Melody Chia-Wen Lu Cover design: Ting-Yi Lu Gender, Marriage and Migration: Contemporary Marriages between Mainland China and Taiwan PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof. mr. P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op donderdag 15 mei 2008 klokke 13:45 uur door Melody Chia-Wen Lu geboren te Chuanghua, Taiwan in 1969 PROMOTIECOMMISSIE Promotoren: Prof. dr. Axel Schneider Prof. dr. Carla Risseeuw Referent: Prof. dr. Hill Gates (Stanford University) Overige leden: Prof. dr. Hei-yuan Chiu (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) Prof. dr. Barend ter Haar Prof. dr. Leo Lucassen Dr. Tak-wing Ngo Prof. dr. Joyce Outshoorn Prof. dr. Wim Stokhof The research described in this thesis was carried out at the Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Leiden University. The last writing phase was conducted at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), the Netherlands. Acknowledgements Many individuals and organisations assisted and accompanied me in the journey of conducting this research and completing the thesis, to whom I am greatly indebted. First of all, I would like to thank all my informants, most of whose real names I cannot disclose here, for their trust in me and confiding me their life stories at the risk of moral judgment. Their bravery and creative ways of facing challenges taught me lessons about the insecurity and friendship at the margins of Taiwanese and Chinese society. Special thanks to Feng, Lin, Hu, Liu and Ama, who took me in as part of their families during my fieldwork in Hukou and Baihe in Taiwan and Humei village in China. I would also like to thank Association of Cross-strait Marriages (FATS, 兩岸婚姻協調 促進會) and its former chairman Mr. Huang Jiang-nan and several board members who facilitated my research by providing valuable documentations and allowing me to participate in their activities; Mr. Chang Fu-pu, Secretary-General of Hukou township and head of a Hakka clan, for his knowledge and insights on Hakka families today and his help in acquiring demographic data in Hukou; the Baihe Household Registration Office for providing me detailed registration data and for allowing me to observe the local process of conducting a census on cross-border families; the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (CCF-Taiwan) who facilitated my entry to the field site in Hsinchu. Secondly, I would like to thank my colleagues at Research Centre of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS) in Leiden University: Dr. Sabine Luning, Alex Geurds, Umut Azak, Lorena Lúñez, Victor Igreja, Chen Yi-chi, Panitee Suksomboon and many others, who give me intellectual inputs and moral support; and Dr. Willem Vogelsang, Ilona Beumer-Grill and Wilma Trommelen for their administrative support and kindness. The later stage of my dissertation-writing was conducted at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). I would like to thank the former director of IIAS, Prof. dr. Wim Stokhof and the current director Prof. dr. Max Sparreboom for giving an opportunity and space to a young scholar like me to develop my potentials and to build a scholarly network. I am grateful to Dr. Manon Osseweijer for her constant encouragement and stimulating insights as well as support and friendship from administrative staff and fellows at IIAS. In the course of doing this research I had the pleasure to meet many scholars working on marriage migration in Asia who have encouraged me and helped me developing and clarifying ideas. My gratitude is extended to (in alphabetic order) Prof. Antonia Chao (Tung Hai University, Taiwan), Prof. Delia Davin (University of Leeds, UK), Prof. Han Jialing (Beijing Academy of Social Science, PRC), Prof. Ko Chong- fang (Academia Sinica, Taiwan), Dr. Lan Pei-chia (National Taiwan University, Taiwan), Prof. Lee Hye-Kyung (Paichai University, South Korea), Prof. Rajni Palriwala (University of Delhi, India), Prof. Tseng Yen-fen (National Taiwan University, Taiwan), Prof. Patricia Uberoi (University Enclave, India), Prof. Wang Hong-zen (National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan) and Prof. Yang Wen-shan (Academia Sinica, Taiwan). When I first conceptualised this research, several former teachers of mine at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), the Hague, helped greatly by providing intellectual food to sharpen my focus as well as actual food for my survival and nurture so that I could make the Netherlands my home. I would like to thank Dr. Peter Waterman, Gina Vargas, Dr. Thang-Dam Truong, Dr. Amrita Chhachhi and their family members for their continuous support and friendship. Last but not the least, my deepest gratitude is to the persons who took care of me physically and emotionally in the course of writing. Other than the domestic labour, my partner André van Dokkum read and critically reviewed my drafts, corrected my English and translated the summary in Dutch. His presence in some parts of my fieldwork played a role in shaping my relationship with my informants and influcing the way I acquire my data. My sisters Julia Lu and Joy Lu shared the burden of domestic chores and helped collecting parts of data and organising my bibliography. My cousin Lu Ting-yi designed the cover. My cat Kiki sat with me during those long nights. Finally, to my mother who always gave me freedom and support to pursue my life goals without understanding what I was doing. Her courage and wisdom remain an inspiration for me. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements List of tables, diagram, maps and charts Pictures Introduction 1 Objective of the research and research questions 4 Contribution and limit of the research 10 Brief description of three fieldwork sites 13 Research methodology 20 Chapter 1 Changing of marriage regimes and gender relations in Chinese society 25 1.1. Conceptualising Chinese kinship 26 1.1.1 Family and kinship (jia) 26 1.1.2 Fang and fenjia 28 1.1.3 Power and pollution of women in Chinese kinship 30 1.1.4 Sketches of traditional ideals and practices or Chinese marriage 33 1.2. Marriage regimes and gender relations in contemporary China 36 1.2.1 Radical redefinition of the marriage regime in Maoist era 36 1.2.2 Marriage regimes in the era of reform 40 1.2.3 Demographic features and gender roles in economic reform era 43 1.2.4 Perceptions towards international marriages 46 1.3 Marriage regimes and gender relations in Taiwan 48 1.3.1 Traditional ideals and Japanese period: similarity and difference among ethnic groups 48 1.3.2 Post WWII development 52 1.3.3 Demographic change and gender roles 54 1.4. Matchmaking and mate choice in contemporary China and Taiwan 57 1.4.1 Criteria of mate choice 57 1.4.2 Matchmaking principles and matchmaker 61 1.4.3 Marriage transaction 63 1.4.4 Marital decision: fate and/or agency? 65 1.5 New framework of Chinese relatedness 67 Chapter 2 Migration in contemporary China 71 2.1 Literature review of marriage migration 71 2.1.1 Working definition and clarification of terminology 72 2.1.2 Situating marriage migration theory in the development of migration theories 74 2.2 Internal and international marriage migration in China 79 2.2.1 Development of the policy controlling population movement: Hukou system 79 2.2.2 Trends of women’s internal migration 82 2.2.3 Rural young girls in the city and their life choices 84 2.3 Demographic features of cross-border and cross-straits marriages in Taiwan 86 2.3.1 Some note on statistical data and methodology 86 2.3.2 Numbers and sex ratio of cross-border marriages – an historical overview 88 2.3.3 Age and age gap 92 2.3.4 Socio-economic status: education and occupation 93 2.3.5 Previous marital experience and co-habiting kin 95 2.3.6 Means of introduction 97 2.3.7 Ethnic composition and place of origin 97 2.3.8 Discussion: the links and differences between domestic labour, sex work and women’s marriage migration 99 2.4. Motivation of cross-border marriage 101 2.4.1 Why marriage and/or remarriage? 101 2.4.2 Why leaving home? Dissatisfaction and constraints experienced at home 104 2.4.3 Why going to Taiwan? Aspirations towards migratory destination 106 2.5 Concluding remark: why cross-border marriages? Significance of meso-factors 107 Chapter 3 Popular discourse and politics of cross-strait marriages in Taiwan 111 3.1. Introduction 111 3.1.1 Working definitions of key concepts: nationalism, citizenship and social exclusion 113 3.1.2 Chinese nationalism and ethnic relations in Taiwan 117 3.1.3 Taiwanese nationalism 121 3.2. Pre-1992 period: forbidden contact, illegal contacts and legalization 125 3.2.1 Political context: standoff – relaxation 125 3.2.2 Media representation on cross-strait people’s movement 1987-1991 128 3.3. 1992-1996: from resistance to acceptance.