Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T03:24:47.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - The Pleasures of Old Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2022

Diana Lary
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Get access

Summary

Grandmothers found/find many ways of making old age enjoyable. They grow scented, flowering plants, indoors and outdoors. They sew and knit. Shopping tests their wits – in the past dealing with street hawkers and market stalls, now online. Home entertainment included playing musical instruments and games of skill, chief amongst them mahjong. Entertainment has expended dramatically in the Reform Era, in the home (television, streaming) and outside; public parks have become places for the ederly to dance, sing and play games.

Gossip was once a mainstay of the life of old women, within the home and in the neighbourhood. In the Mao Era old women were enlisted to watch out for politically incorrect behaviour and to enforce new rules. The advent of modern communications has reduced in-person gossip, but it still has uses, not least in the search for suitable matches for grandchildren.

In the Reform Era the horizons of old people have expanded. They can travel, embark on new careers; those widowed can remarry. Their grandchildren remain the centre of their lives, even if some of the behaviour of modern youth is incomprehensible.

Type
Chapter
Information
China's Grandmothers
Gender, Family, and Ageing from Late Qing to Twenty-First Century
, pp. 172 - 184
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Pleasures of Old Age
  • Diana Lary, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
  • Book: China's Grandmothers
  • Online publication: 14 April 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009064781.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Pleasures of Old Age
  • Diana Lary, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
  • Book: China's Grandmothers
  • Online publication: 14 April 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009064781.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Pleasures of Old Age
  • Diana Lary, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
  • Book: China's Grandmothers
  • Online publication: 14 April 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009064781.013
Available formats
×