essay
'Fat pigs' and women's gifts: agnatic and non-agnatic social support in Kaixiangong village
Women of China • New York • Published In 1999 • Pages: 156-174
By: Chang, Xiangqun.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a study of non-agnatic support networks and exchange in the village of Kaixiangong. Nearly three-quarters of a household's contacts for social support come from non-agnatic kin, compared to households in surrounding villages which have fewer than half as many such contacts. The author describes the different kinds of marriage arrangements, gift exchanges, and mutual aid found between in-laws. According to one informant, maintaining such networks is like "fattening pigs." Although pigs are not profitable in terms of labor expenditure, they do provide manure for crops, meat for feasts, and can be sold for needed cash in times of emergency. Similarly, locals argue that non-agnatic kin are a form of banking and insurance.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Dwellings
- Gift giving
- Mutual aid
- Household
- Kin relationships
- Lineages
- Childbirth
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Han Chinese
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- East Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard; 2019
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1996
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1979-1996
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kaixiangong (Kaihsienkung), Wujiang, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
- NotesAdditional notes
- Chang Xiangqun
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-174)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 99020111
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Yangtze Valley--Social life and customs
- Yangtze Valley--Economic conditions
- Villages--China--Yangtze River Valley