Take my mother-in-law, please

Westerners who have been living in Shanghai for a while will be familiar with certain scenarios in Chinese television shows. A popular one is three women quarrelling while a hapless male sits close by, either unable or unwilling to join in, and often hiding his head in a newspaper.

But even the non-Chinese speakers among us can guess the relationship between this troubled foursome. The women are invariably the mother-in-law, wife and sister of the quiet man of the piece.　

And since the 1990s this, and other types of family drama, have become a regular staple of Chinese television schedules. And the trend even has its own name - "family ethics shows."

"It's not only in China, but in all of Asia, including Japan and South Korea that these family ethic shows are popular," Wang Liping told the Global Times. Wang is a playwright who has written television drama scripts since the 1990s and is today the deputy director of the China Radio and Television Association TV Series Screenwriters Committee.

Conflict and emotion

According to Wang, the reason for the popularity of such shows is because most of them are realistic and conform very closely to the daily lives and experiences of their audiences. "The conflicts and emotions in these dramas are known to all, and therefore create a strong resonance in the viewing public," added Wang.

Mao Shi'an, a celebrated art critic based in Shanghai, also believes the success of these shows in Asia is closely connected to the traditional family structure that exists across the continent.

He told the Global Times that Asian tradition has always privileged the concept of the "big family," often meaning that several generations of a family live together and take care of each other, when it's possible to do so.

"And in any extended family, there will inevitably be conflicts among people of different generations," said Mao. "But once these conflicts have been dealt with, relations between family members should become closer and more cordial, and the general atmosphere can be even better than in a much smaller family."

Early in 1997, one of Wang's television dramas, Popo, xifu, xiaogu (Mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law) proved so popular that people joked the whole of Shanghai stayed in once a week just to make sure they didn't miss it.

There is an old saying in China, san ge nuren yi tai xi, meaning "three women together is like watching a play," and this television series certainly bore out that humorous sentiment.

Wang's work has always paid particular attention to female protagonists. And in recent years, two of her other television dramas, The Beautiful Times of a Daughter-in-law, and The Honest Declarations of a Daughter-in-law both focused on the trials and tribulations of young women's relations with their husband's families.

And in the latter show, the daughter-in-law of the title had to deal not only with her in-laws, but also her husband's ex-wife and son.

"I really like to apply subtle shades to my female characters and to portray their experiences and how they change emotionally once they marry into a new family," said Wang.

Despite this focus on female roles, it is equally true to say that the importance and influence of men has not been overlooked in these family ethics shows. The dramas, The Defensive War of Marriage in 2010 and The New Life of a Son-in-law broadcast in October this year, both emphasized the roles of husbands and son-in-laws. In these works, the male characters are far from the stereotypical hen-pecked husbands, terrified of confronting the women in their life. Rather, they are portrayed as wily mediators, able to resolve feminine quarrels with both humor and sharp-witness.

Unique characteristics

Mao believes that, although this genre of shows originates in Japan and South Korea, their mainland counterparts have taken on uniquely Chinese characteristics.

"Today, many family ethics shows connect the situation of families with wider social issues in China," he said. "So, in the 1990s, you had plots involving people playing the stock market, while today we see the difficulties of young people trying to buy a house, and how this can become a source of conflict among family members."

Mao also questions the suspect attitude of some of these shows, especially with regard to extramarital affairs. "In virtually most of these dramas the leading man will have a xiaosan, or mistress," he said. "But what is shocking is that this other woman is usually portrayed as simply weak or as someone who is to be pitied more than blamed. The man's wife, conversely, is shown as a nagging shrew, who makes the man's life hell, and drives him into the arms of this other woman. The implication is that the man has no choice but to take a mistress. I don't think this sends out a very good message to society."