Family melodrama has been one of the dominant forms of expression in Chinese cinema since its beginning in the early years of this century. The centrality of the genre in Chinese cinema derives to some extent from the position of the family in Chinese society. The family, rather than the individual or the state, was the most significant social unit in traditional China. In addition to its basic socioeconomic functions, the family constituted a unique social-security system that provided care for its needy and aging members and a religious unit where ancestor worship was performed (Eastman 1988). The Chinese family as a social institution was characterized by a hierarchical power structure, but it also represented a cultural ideal consisting of a set of norms that motivated the individual in his or her social practices.

Although the family pattern in traditional China varied, the extended family system, which was typical of the land-owning gentry class, was the culturally dominant type (Lang 1946). The hierarchical power relations within this patriarchal family system were sanctioned by Confucianism, the dominant ideology of both the state and the family. Of the five moral codes Confucianism prescribed to govern human relationships – ruler–subject, father–son, husband–wife, elder brother–younger brother, friend–friend – three concerned the family. Since the late nineteenth century, as Western capitalism has forced its way into China, this dominant social institution has been increasingly challenged by the emergence of the nuclear family as a new sociocultural norm.