Transformation and Acceptance of Birth and Child-Rearing Culture in Urban Areas of China - Focusing on Domestic Service Workers

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12599
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: weng wenjing 九州大学, アドミッションセンター, 准教授 (80780072)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 家政サービス員 / 月嫂 / 文化の変容と受容 / 中国の都市部 / 産後ケア / 月子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focuses on the postpartum care tradition in China known as "yuezi" and aims to explore a part of the transformation and reconstruction of this tradition through the analysis of the practices of "yue sao" or postpartum caregivers, who are experts in this tradition. The study begins by analyzing the representation and discourse of "scientific yue zi" to clarify the differences between this modern representation and the traditional "yue zi" practice. Next, using the concept of a practice community, it elucidates the formation and implementation of postpartum care practices in the training centers for "yue sao," training hospitals, and their workplaces. Finally, the study examines the transformation of "yue zi" into a qualified, medicalized, early educational, commercialized, and newly created tradition, categorizing these changes into five distinct characteristics for discussion.

Free Research Field

文化人類学および民俗学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

まず、産後養生という産育期間への着眼点の重要性が上げられる。近年の人類学的研究では出産の医療化が注目されていますが、産後のケアについてはまだ研究が少ない状況です。また、女性の健康や育児に関連する問題が増えており、この研究は産後のケアの重要性と人々との関わりの再認識を促している。さらに、中国の「月嫂」という特殊な育児専門家の活動を通じて、新しい協働関係や育児の可能性を提案している。核家族化が進む現代社会において、家族や地域との関係性に注目が集まっている。