A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China [Hardcover]

Cai Hua (Author), Asti Hustvedt (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

The Na of China, farmers in the Himalayan region, live without the institution of marriage. Na brothers and sisters live together their entire lives, sharing household responsibilities and raising the women's children. Because the Na, like all cultures, prohibit incest, they practice a system of sometimes furtive, sometimes conspicuous nighttime encounters at the woman's home. The woman's partners--she frequently has more than one--bear no economic responsibility for her or her children, and "fathers," unless they resemble their children, remain unidentifiable.This lucid ethnographic study shows how a society can function without husbands or fathers. It sheds light on marriage and kinship, as well as on the position of women, the necessary conditions for the acquisition of identity, and the impact of a communist state on a society that it considers backward.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marriage is the foundation of all societies, anthropologists have claimed. Yet the Na, an ethnic minority living in China's Himalayan foothills, have enjoyed a successful culture without it. The Na are a truly matrilineal society: heterosexual activity occurs by mutual consent and mostly through the custom of the secret nocturnal "visit"; men and women are free to have multiple partners and to initiate or break off relationships when they please. Children are raised by their mother's family, with the biological father playing no role whatsoever. Cai Hua, director of research at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences in China, lived among the Na for extended periods during the 1980s and 1990s and gathered comprehensive data on their history, religion, economic practices and social customs in particular, kinship systems. The resulting description and analysis, originally presented as his master's thesis, introduces a fascinating culture for whom "sexuality is not a piece of merchandise but a purely sentimental and amorous matter that implies no mutual constraints." (Hua does not mention whether homosexual activity is similarly tolerated.) Na men and women generally report high satisfaction with their sex lives. As in other cultures, though, physically unattractive, disabled and older individuals have few (if any) romantic options; high rates of sexually transmitted diseases also occur. This painstakingly researched book will provide social scientists with much useful information and will raise major questions about accepted views of family relationships and gender roles. Its dry prose, clinical tone and exhaustive scope, however, may prove daunting for general readers. (May 1) Forecast: Touted as a groundbreaking study, this book is clearly intended for specialists. Though thoroughly researched and meticulously presented, it lacks the kind of readability that could have made it a 21st-century Coming of Age in Samoa.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cai (anthropology, College de France) has explored a truly unique society: the Na, a minority group of approximately 12,000 living in Southwest China near the Burmese border. A matrilineal society, Na families consist of sisters and brothers, along with other consanguineous members, living together and raising the sisters' children, who result from the night visits of various male lovers. The lovers have no connection with the family, have no responsibilities, and do not acknowledge their fatherhood; the children, in turn, do not know their fathers. Cohabitation, whereby a woman or man joins a family, or marriage occur only under extremely unusual circumstances. Communist efforts to bring the Na into mainstream values met with failure and laughable results. Cai has a dry and plodding scholarly tone with much repetition, but the book still makes for fascinating reading. Recommended for public and academic libraries.
Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 505 pages
• Publisher: Zone (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890951129
• ISBN-13: 978-1890951122
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #729,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Thorough Anthropological Work from China About a Fascinating Matriarchy, July 16, 2009

By 

Bonam Pak (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China (Paperback)

I read the US edition of 2001 of this originally French book of 1997. The author, however, is a Beijing professor. Only occasionally, one gets reminded of that. ("1956, the year of democratic reform"...). His book is based on four field trips between 1985 and 1992. It's easy English with the integration of some French and Chinese vocabulary for special Na concepts. The author invented a transcription of the Na language. Na, meaning "Black", is the name the Moso/Mosuo of China give themselves. They do not like to get thrown in together with the neighbouring Naxi. There are about 30 000 Na mountain farmers.

What's so special about the Na is that they do not have any concept of fathers, i.e. there is no word for that in their language. There are also no in-laws. And no spousal fights, as there is usually no marriage. Instead, they know furtive visits at night, when men try to win the short-lived favor at the women's houses. Monogamy is also unknown. Till 13 years of age, all Na wear unisex clothes.

The book features 475 regular text pages, 20 of which are footnotes, the last 25 or so just repeat and the first 100 are used as an introduction. Which still leaves some 330 pages on the Na from an anthropological perspective. I missed his raising of the obvious question of how homosexuality works in this society, which didn't surprise me, not coming from a Chinese professor. Instead he defines marriage in strictly heterosexual measures. Which is in vain anyway, as no such thing exits (save some exceptions of official Na functionaries). What I found disturbing, was his definition of family. According to him, the Na do not live in families. Because they do not fit his definition of family. Which flabbergasted me. Grandmother, mother, kids and mother's brother living in the same house do not seem to be countable as a family...

There are some other anthropological books about the Na. And also the very recommendable autobiography of a Na woman, Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World, which is a bit atypical in so far that the protagonist DOES know as a child who her biological father is.

You may also be interested in the Zapotec matriarchy of Mexico, of which I know a German book only. And to a transformed society from matriarchy to patriarchy in Nigeria, Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Matrilineal clans: a better way, November 24, 2009

By 

Elizabeth Stoney - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China (Paperback)

The patriarchal nuclear family doesn't work. This is why almost all families are dysfunctional. A child in America is supposed to grow up in a household run by two adults, but the chances of a couple remaining together happily for life are slim to none. Maybe this is because humans aren't wired for lifelong monogamy with one mate.

The Na have a more realistic system: it is nobody's business who your mate is, and one's mate can change daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, depending on one's preference. But children are always cared for within the matrilineal clan, consisting of a mother, her sisters and brothers, and the women's children. You grow up with your mother, your aunts, your uncles and your cousins by your aunts. The "father figure" is the mother's brother.

Thus there are no impoverished single mothers; no persecuted, miserable, reviled stepmothers; no extramarital affairs; no child support payments; no abandoned children; no sexless marriages; no rape or sexual assault. What a paradise!

The only downside to this is that it takes a lot of energy on the part of men, at night. Imagine how tiring it would be to wait until some time after dark, then go out "climbing walls," as the Na call it. It seems as if they only do this in winter, though, when they aren't farming. The night visitor has to be gone around dawn. Maybe he takes a nap during the day.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Raises fascinating questions about love, November 5, 2003

By 

Brian Griffith (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China (Paperback)

This is a marvelous work of research on a society with fundamentally alternative traditions of family and sexual life. Cai Hua's study of Na culture (otherwise called the Moso) raises universal questions for our assumptions about love, marriage, and community.