Chinese Kinship System

The kinship system in Chinese tradition is much more complex than that in the English language^[1][2], supposedly due to the closer relationship among Chinese in a traditionally extended family.

Due to the widespread impact of the Cultural Revolution, as well as the “one-child policy” after the revolution, young people nowadays do not usually get to experience the traditional big families. So more and more youth are getting less familiar with the traditional addresses used among family members and relatives. For example, Flying have been in a few embarassing occasions where I met some relatives, but had no idea how to address them properly.

The diagrams below demonstrates the complexity in the traditional Chinese kinship system that includes an extended family hierarchy:

Don’t worry if the above diagrams are still not complicated enough for you. Chinese traditional kinship address is as complex, if not more so, as the kinship system.