Chapter Eight - Family Loyalty, State Loyalty

CHAPTER EIGHT

Family Loyalty, State Loyalty

IN MOST CHINESE homes, family still comes first.

Children are raised to honor their elders.
Parents sacrifice for their kids.
Grandparents cook, clean, teach, and care.
Three generations under one roof isn’t unusual — it’s tradition.

You grow up knowing your role: study hard, bring pride, provide support later.
Your parents worked for your future. You’ll work for theirs.

But somewhere in that structure… something has shifted.

The Party is now in the family, too.

It shows up in the textbooks.
It shows up in the school chants.
It shows up in the wedding photos, where red flags and Party slogans sometimes hang beside portraits of the bride and groom.

For older generations — born before China’s economic boom — loyalty to the state is often automatic. It’s what they were taught, what they survived through, what they credit with lifting them from hunger to stability.

They remember the ration cards. The famines. The chaos.
They see today’s skyscrapers and smartphones as proof: the system works.

Younger people feel differently.

They still love their country.
But they also love anime. And K-pop. And memes. And foreign YouTubers (when they can find them).
They know how to download VPNs, how to dodge censorship, how to roll their eyes without saying a word.

At dinner tables, there are awkward silences.
A grandfather praises the Great Leap Forward.
A granddaughter stares at her rice.
No one corrects him. Everyone knows it would be a fight.

But even disagreement has its limits.

During COVID lockdowns, some cities sealed entire apartment buildings for weeks. People starved. Pets were culled. Drones flew overhead telling residents to “Control your soul’s desire for freedom.”

When videos of the suffering leaked out, some young people protested online.
Many were silenced.
Some were detained.
Some just vanished from the feed.

Their parents didn’t always defend them.
Some even scolded them.

“Why risk your future over a few posts?”
“Don’t bring trouble to the family.”

Fear can wear the mask of love.

And when survival is on the line, even family can be asked to choose sides.