This report will describe the scholarly contributions of Kwok Pui Lan as foundation for better understanding the beginnings of the one-child policy in China. Her scholarly work can be seen as adding degrees of contextual understanding associated with the Chinese one-child policy and this serves to better frame the one-child policy insofar as grasping the ramifications associated with it. As such, Kwok Pui Lan’s scholarly contributions better inform my work focusing on China in that it provides a larger contextual sense of the relevant factors. Her feminist theology perspectives carry over into various domains. This serves to enhance my understanding of such phenomena in meaningful ways and, in turn, impacts my ethical, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formations.

Kwok Pui Lan publishes in the domains of feminist theology,?postcolonial theology?and?biblical hermeneutics.   Kwok views God through an organic lens.  As such she employs an organic model in the development of her Christology that recognizes Jesus using nature references to describe himself and his relationship with believers. Within this construct she endorses use of oral history? (stories, songs, rituals & dances) within her theological explanations. Kwok asserts that Asia has been continually reshaped through the effects of Christianity, technology and military conflicts. These phenomena have impacted family relationships and related variables to include traditional gender roles and the status of women. She concurrently believes that Christianity can help to improve the plight of woman in relation to their suffering associated with sexist contexts.   She uses her own life as illustration via her experiences as an Asian Christian woman.

Kwok is critical about weaknesses associated with traditional feminist theology. She states that traditional?feminist theory?has not sufficiently considered the experiences of?non-white?women, and the impact of?colonialism,?neocolonialism?and?enslavement.  She also espouses the desire to counter binary delineations of gender. Her overall objective is to promote a   theology that more vividly recognizes the varied degrees of?oppression?that women in postcolonial situations are confronted with.

China’s one-child policy represents a draconian measure whereby governmental edict shattered the sanctity of a woman’s deeply personal right to give birth to children. In effect, it resulted in millions of physically forced abortions in cases where the mother was desperately opposed to terminating the pregnancy.   Understanding this one-child policy necessitates focus on the dynamics that were in place in the beginning of the policy and that framed how the policy was implemented and carried out. There are far ranging implications. 

Over population is a major problem for developing countries such as The People's Republic of China. The Chinese population doubled between 1960-1990. After the ten year "cultural revolution" (1966-76) the Chinese government was stunned to find how fast its population had increased. Despite family planning that encouraged couples to raise two to three children, a demographic analysis in 1978 indicated the population would reach 1.3 billion after 20 years and 1.5 billion after 40 years with the existing birth rate of 2.3 children per couple. This implied no matter how hard people worked to improve their living conditions, a considerable amount of financial and material resources would have to be used for feeding, clothing and housing the growing population.

China actively initiated a modernization campaign in 1979 by emphasizing four modernizations (agriculture, industry, science & technology, and national defense). The aforenoted over population was recognized as an obstacle to China's modernization. As a result, in 1980 the Chinese government announced the country should reduce its population growth rate to 0.5% by 1985 and zero by the turn of the century in order to achieve its modernization objectives. This meant that each couple could have one child only. 

This conclusion posed significant challenge for Chinese society. It would be interesting to have access to the decision-making processes that result in such conclusions. Kwok Pui Lan muses “Human societies face many similar issues and problems; it would be enlightening to see how each society comes up with ways to deal with these problems.” [1] Such comparison and contrasting would reveal commonalities and differences that exist among cultures.

Chinese leadership estimated the one-child policy would have to last for at least 20 years. The one-child policy began in 1980 and ended in 2016. I spent time in China during the 1980s and witnessed how this one-child policy existed within the context of Chinese normative structures. These beginning years of the one-child policy (the 1980’s) offered a glimpse into how an authoritarian government sought to implement a significant social change that countered value systems of the people.  It is those years (the 1980’s) that I am focusing on in this essay.

Even with people understanding the importance of population control, enforcement of the one-child-per-family practice was recognized as a major task by the Chinese government. Family planning became a state policy and was written into the country's constitution.  Former Premier Zhao Ziyang acknowledged family planning would not be possible simply through economic sanctions and coercion. [2]

The one-child family campaign used various communication channels for advocating the policy. To urge people to practice family planning, the government not only employed mass media to explain why the country needed such a policy, but it also used interpersonal channels to inform citizens about birth control. These two complementary channels served the same purpose in different ways.

Mass media is a pervasive form of communication. Therefore, the government tried to make full use of all forms of mass media to convey the campaign message to the people. Newspapers, magazines, television, radio, governmental documents, novels, films, plays, songs, slogans, billboards and posters, etc. were all used as sources for advocating the policy throughout the campaign. The policy obviously called on Chinese citizens to make a very unique sacrifice. 

The People's Daily is the most widely distributed newspaper in China. It periodically offered a front-page editorial describing how the one-child-per-family campaign contributed to a better quality of life in China. This type of editorial did not present new information but it did serve as message reinforcement. The Chinese government produced a magazine called Marriage and Family Planning that promoted the one-child policy.  Poems, such as "Mother Earth", were frequently featured in such magazines.  "Mother Earth" explained the earth provides life like a mother but has limited resources that we all need to strive to conserve.  Limiting population growth helped conserve resources.

C.C.T.V. (China Central T.V.) was used to promote the policy. Benefits and updates regarding the policy were mentioned on the news, themes supporting the one-child message were found in T.V. dramas, and "The Best Child Contest" (described later in this essay) is broadcast on television. Televisions were becoming more common throughout China. Radio stations frequently carried public service announcements describing the percentage of the Chinese population that had pledged to be a one-child family and how these families received special privileges. They reported strategies used by work units to encourage members to make such a pledge.  Songs with campaign themes were also played. Two primary target groups were grandparents and farmers because these two populations tended to be least supportive of the policy.

Government documents were circulated to report on how the population control objective was being addressed.  Such documents, that described what had been achieved and what the future goals were, were generally distributed via work units. Family planning was also a regular segment of the country's annual report (much like the State of the Union address in the U.S.). A Late Awakening is a typical novel that has a one-child theme. This novel was directed at farmers.  It deals with a farm wife who realizes too late in life that having more than one child leads to a lower quality of life. This perspective needed frequent emphasis because it contradicts traditional Chinese beliefs. Similarly, a film entitled "Women Are Human Beings Too" portrays the plight of a woman who is being coerced by her mother-in-law into having a child.  The mother-in-law yearns for a grandson.  The daughter-in-law has heart disease and is warned by her doctor that a pregnancy could be fatal.  The woman becomes pregnant, at her mother-in-law's insistence, and she dies during pregnancy.

"A Family's Self-Inflicted Burden" was a popular play that is about a family that has two children (both girls) and is trying to give birth to a boy. They move from town to town since they have stigmatized themselves by violating the one-child policy. Their family has little stability and the parents must work menial labor to make ends meet.  Their drive to have a son, and the consequent violation of the one- child policy, creates a family with minimal quality of life. Thus, even if they do have a son, the happiness of having a son will be over-shadowed by not being able to provide adequately for him or the rest of the family.

Chinese society emphasizes slogans more often than what is practiced in the U.S. The slogans can be seen on billboards, banners, and work unit blackboards. Chinese slogans do not necessarily rhyme but they do generally have an equal number of characters per line.  The following examples are typical family planning slogans from the 1980’s during the launch of the one-child policy.1) "We should reduce our population by the year 2000."2) "It is good to practice family planning."3) "Practice family planning, control the population, improve quality of life...these are fundamental & national policies."4) "For the future of the nation and the happiness of future generations, practice family planning (have fewer but better children)."5) "Laws are needed to control over-population."

Kwok Pui Lan recognizes how such social movements are advanced in China via approaches that are sanctioned by the Chinese government and resonate with the public mind in a corresponding manner. “These movements have shown the rising political consciousness of the multitude. Through songs, posters, slogan, symbolism, street theater, and live-streams, the protesters have created a new political culture.” [3] This conveys insight with how the social construction of reality exists and functions in fundamental ways.

Billboards in the U.S. usually advertise a product. Billboards in China are more often public service announcements. One can frequently see, at major street intersections, billboards depicting a happy Chinese family (father, mother, and one child).  The one child is usually a girl.

Posters are mass produced for posting in work units. These posters usually convey public service type concerns (safety, etc.).  One such topic commonly stressed the one-child policy.  For example, calendars were produced that have each month emphasizing a different public service concern. Family planning was one such concern.

In 1980, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued an "open letter" urging couples to stop childbearing after one child. The letter states "the State Council has called for the practice of one-child-per-couple. The program is an important measure which concerns the speed and future of the realization of the four modernizations and the health and happiness of future generations. This measure conforms to the immediate and longer-term interests of all people." [4] In 1982, the 12th Communist Party Congress and the Fifth National People’s Congress announced that family planning must be understood as an implementation of state law and the party discipline. Article 25 of the Constitution of The People's Republic of China stipulates that the state promotes family planning so population growth may fit the plan for economic and social development. 

In 1987, at the Second Asian Population and Development Forum held in Beijing, former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang said in his opening speech that China has made population control a state policy. "It is not only for the prosperity and happiness of the Chinese people, but it also benefits the whole world in terms of population stabilization and economic development." [5] It should be pointed out that, although family planning has been written into China's constitution, the one-child- per-family policy was not a constitutional law. Rather, the need for one-child-per-family adherence was strongly stated. The government explained that population growth had to match society's ability to care for the population. Thus, one- child-per-family was seen as a temporary policy, until the population stabilized at a lower (more manageable) number.

China is divided into provinces (similar to state divisions in the U.S.). Each province made its own rule regarding enforcement of "effective family planning." The overall approach within provinces was to reward adherence first and punish violations as a last resort. Couples that signed pledges to have only one child received special privileges such as time off from work and benefits for their one child (i.e. health care and education). In general terms, the family was viewed favorably by the government. If they gave birth to a retarded child they could have a second child.

Each couple received only one "residency card" (similar to a birth certificate) for a single child. This residency card provided the basic needs for that child.  A second child was not eligible for these basic services (food, housing, health care, education, etc.). The government did not provide birthing help with the child. Basically, the second child was a non-person. Fining could occur to penalize parents for the cost of the child to society, even though the child received no formal privileges. The communist party blatantly embarrassed violators as a lesson to other couples.

Kwok Pui Lan can place the aforenoted within her assertion that recognizes the nexus involving market economy orientations with values, to include the value of human life. “Religions in China today have become enmeshed in the market economy and the rise of middle-class values. The power of money has shaped all aspects of Chinese lives, including the religious realm.” [6] Hence, the monetary penalties stressed by the Chinese government would fit with logical conclusions being recognized by the populace.

I assume that how many children a women should have is a private affair and individuals should have their own right to make decisions in this area.  The Chinese government told its people that this individual decision is directly related to the well-being of the present and future generations.  What the argument implied was that the needs of the country are more important than those of individuals.  Thus, according to the government, it was an honorary action to make a personal sacrifice by having only one child.

The argument the government provided in terms of comparison of quality is that the quality of the population could be improved by implementing the one-child-per-family policy.  One of the most frequently seen slogans of the campaign was "Giving birth to and raising healthier babies and improving the quality of the population."  The logic of this argument was that by having only one child the state and parents could afford to give better care to the children. Therefore, the children will be better off both physically and intellectually. 

During the 1980’s, the government gave special considerations to the children in one-child families in terms of nursery care, medical treatment, school, housing distribution, etc.  In order to demonstrate the benefits of having one child per couple, one of the many things the government did was to hold "The Best Child Contest" each year.  The candidates, who were all from single-child families were judged in terms of their intellectual level and healthiness. The contest was televised live to the whole country.

The government used examples and various art forms to show how life can be much different for children and parents in a family with many kids.  One such example dealt with Karl Marx, a well-known socialist theorist.  The story tells how he regretted having so many children that he could not adequately care for.  One of his children died of illness resulting from lack of good health care.  In this case the government established a qualitative comparison between the well-off and the poor.

Another line of argument was established on the basis of comparison of quantity.  During the campaign, the government released statistical information showing the interrelationships among family size, production, natural resources, and living standards. The statistical information provided people concrete pictures of what kind of problems the country would run into if the population grew unchecked. Without population control, China's population would reach two billion by 2020. Such being the case, half of China's efforts to promote the state economy would have to be used to meet the basic needs of the surplus population.

An article published in China--Facts and Figures states "if the target of controlling population growth (keeping it within 1.2 billion by the turn of the century) is successfully met, the per capita gross value of industrial and agricultural production should increase from 719.6 Yuan in 1980 to 2,333.3 Yuan in 2000."[7] The Zhongshan University Journal compared family size and basic needs in the year 2000.  The table indicated what would be the average amounts of farm land, food grain, number of children entering primary school, and total nurturing expenses incurred in relation to the average births of 3, 2.3, 2, 1.5 and 1 per couple respectively.  From these figures people could easily see the logic for choosing the one-child family option. [8]

The government also sought to combat feudalist influence. China is a country with over 2000 years of feudalism.  Therefore, many feudalist ideas are still deeply rooted in Chinese society. One example that reflects feudalist influence is that many people hold the belief that the male is preferred while the female is far less desired. Since a couple can have only one child, many people prefer a boy. There were many cases where parents abandoned or killed their female infants in the hope that they could have another baby. Realizing that this is not a simple issue of preference, but of value, the government made tremendous efforts to convince its people that men and women are equally valuable and capable. In this respect, literature and the arts have played an active role in promoting equality of the sexes.

This kind of logical thinking is commensurate with Confucianism. Kwok Pui Lan concludes “Confucianism, as a Western construct, became an exemplar of rational and natural religion. Confucius had great appeal because his tradition did not worship idols and had no false gods. In fact, Confucius was against superstition and idolatry.” [9] This allows us to speculate how the logical thought processes that led to establishment of the one-child policy were promoted by the Chinese Communist system but concurrently rested within historical Confucian orientation. Such analysis allows for greater macro level understanding.

In the mid-1980's, there was a popular Chinese movie called "The Sweet Career." It tells a story about a family of five girls whose parents want to have a boy.  In the end they get a son, a son-in-law.  The eldest daughter's husband decides to move in with the family instead of following the social custom which was to bring the wife to stay with his family. It is unrealistic to say that a movie can totally change value systems.  However, little by little, people did change. It became more common for a son-in-law to stay with the woman's family. It is not considered disgraceful or humiliating any more.  The idea that women are as capable as men gained more acceptance.

This corresponds with notions of transformation that can be found in China. Kwok Pui Lan offers insight with this. “The kingdom of God is not about getting individuals to heaven, but about transforming life on earth and redeeming the institutions of human society.” [10] This kind of thinking allows for consideration having to do with improvement of our lives in the here and now. There is a utilitarian nature to it.

The aforenoted discussion describes how various forms of mass media were used to advocate the one-child policy.  The word "mass" indicates who the audiences are. Even though the targets of family planning were younger generations, in the public propaganda the government did not make any special references as to whom it made the appeals. It gave people the impression that everybody was equally responsible for the implementation of the policy. This was an effective use of strategic ambiguity. 

Population control could be achieved through the efforts of a single generation.  It was also the responsibility of generations to come.  In this sense, the propaganda tended to influence not only the present young parents but also future parents. Moreover, the family was a system, which meant its members influenced and were influenced by each other.  By reaching to the older generations, the government could win their support for the policy and use influence from older generations to affect the child-bearing age generation.

Even though mass media was a powerful and prevalent form of communication, it could not guarantee that people would not do what they desired. Attitude and behavior do not always have a direct cause and effect relationship.  There could always exist a gap between attitude and behavior, or between knowledge and behavior.  That is why the government introduced emphasis on interpersonal communication regarding family planning.

Not long after the one-child campaign was started, the state required that each work unit set up their own family planning supervision committee. What the committee did was supervise the implementation of the policy and provide personal and professional guidance on birth control.  The committee members were very familiar with the people they were working with and were always ready to offer help when necessary.  Their efforts were directed primarily toward young parents and newly married couples.

Before any couple could get their marriage certificate, they had to go to a designated hospital for a physical check-up and for lectures on birth control. After the lectures, everybody was given some written materials to keep. All the publications stressed family planning and raising "fewer but healthier babies." Unlike mass media, the persuasion through interpersonal communication was more flexible in content and form. The members could borrow arguments from official sources. However, most of the time, they adapted to their specific audience and specific situation.

The following describes an approach used by my ex-mother-in-law who was a committee member. She held no formal meetings for her group but at each monthly production meeting she put family planning on the agenda for a report or discussion.  She frequently spoke with the women individually. She distributed free contraceptives at least once a month and generally kept an eye on their health and their attitude towards the policy. Free contraceptives were also distributed to men.

The arguments developed by the government were influential and effective. The emphasis on the relationship between population control and economic development was particularly relevant at that time.  The Chinese people had fresh memories of the cultural revolution upheaval (1966- 1976) and were anxious to improve their living standard.  People were just as eager to modernize the country as the government so they were ready to accept the one-child arguments and to respond to the government's appeals.

The use of both mass media and interpersonal communication proved to be effective.  According to the People's Daily, the country's birth rate and natural growth rate decreased from 3.34% and 2.58% in the 1970's to 1.78% and 1.12% respectively in 1985. [11] As far as the short-term objective was concerned, the campaign did not succeed in achieving the goal of reducing the natural growth rate to 0.5% by 1985. However, this did not suggest that the campaign was a failure.  As a result of birth peaks in the mid-1950's and subsequently in the mid-1960's, it was expected that some 20 million persons would enter marriage and child-bearing age annually between 1976-1982, and again from 1987-1996. 

This made the goal hardly attainable. As a result of energetic promotion of the family planning policy through the campaign, the growth rate still dropped by 1.46% in a short period of time.  In this sense, the campaign was effective and successful.  By looking at figures indicating the percentage of people who have signed one-child pledges in both urban and rural areas, a fair judgement about the effectiveness of the campaign can be made.

In Beijing (an urban area) this percentage increased from 69.94% in 1979 to 98.41% in 1982. In rural areas, it increased from 22.44% in 1979 to 74.18% in 1982. In 1983,70-90% of child- bearing couples with one child in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Shandong and other major cities accepted the one-child certificates. [12] Although the figures vary from one place to another, the trend was that more and more people were practicing birth control.

There is a dark kind of theme that permeates life in China with such bureaucratic governance controlling family planning decisions that we in the U.S. typically think of as residing with the individual. The concept of “han” is relevant in this distinction. “As a Chinese character, han is used frequently in Chinese poetry, songs, and operas, and one cannot fully grasp the sentiment of han without listening to the erhu or other Chinese musical instruments evoking the bitterness and sorrow it connotes.” [13] This is helpful to keep in mind as one seeks to understand cultural nuance in China.

The one-child family campaign was effective in terms of advocating the policy and reducing the growth rate.  However, it also produced some side effects the government did not foresee. One of the most noticeable side effects was the "spoiled child". Children in one-child families were often treated like "kings & queens," whose parents and grandparents spoiled with too much attention. Another side effect was murder or abandonment of girl infants (especially in the countryside) where boys are strongly preferred.

The government took measures to address these side effects. For example, educational programs were set up to teach parents how to raise physically as well as psychologically healthy single children in the family and to teach the children to be caring, loving, and independent. Regarding the mistreatment of females, the government established laws to protect women, girls and female infants. Similarly, it enforced severe punishment on those who mistreated female infants.

Kwok Pui Lan offers an insightful view on issues linked with gender preference. “Postcolonial theory has taught me to avoid binary thinking and to look for subtleties and nuances.” [14] The Chinese practiced such thinking during their Cultural Revolution between 1966-1976. It downplayed male-female distinctions along with other social structure experimentation. Their form of government allows for such moves.         

This Scholar Reflection Essay has described the scholarly contributions of Kwok Pui Lan as foundation for better understanding the beginnings and practices associated with the one-child policy in China. Her scholarly work has added degrees of contextual understanding connected with the Chinese one-child policy and this serves to better frame the one-child policy insofar as grasping the ramifications associated with it. Her scholarly contributions have better informed my work focusing on China in that it provides a larger contextual sense of the relevant factors. Her feminist theology perspectives carry over into various domains. This serves to enhance my understanding of such phenomena in meaningful ways and, in turn, impacts my ethical, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formations.

1. Kwok PL. Can the Native Speak Theologically? Modern Theology. 2021; 37: 1006-1015.
2. Zhao Ziyang. Report of the Second Asian Population and Development Forum.
3. Kwok PL. Postcolonial Intervention in Political Theology. Political Theology. 2016; 17: 223-225.
4. Open Letter. Report of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
5. Kwok PL. Money, Capital and Theology. Critical Research on Religion. 2021; 9: 86-89.
6. China--Facts and Figures. Beijing: Foreign Language Press. 1984; 33.
7. Zhongshan University Journal. Zhongshan: Zhongshan University Press, 1984.
8. Kwok PL. 2011 Presidential Address: Empire and the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 2012; 80: 285-303.
9. Kwok PL. Reformation Unfinished: Economy, Inclusivity, Authority. The Ecumenical Review. 2017; 69: 237-248.
10. The Chinese population is now increasing in a planned manner. 1987; 4.
11. Population control is a basic state policy. People's Daily. 1987; 1.
12. Kwok PL. The Politics and Poetics of Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz. Feminist Theology. 2011; 20: 33-38.
13. Kwok PL. Global Racism and International Publishing. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. Spring. 2022; 38: 19-21.
14. Banister J. China's Changing Population. California: Stanford University Press, 2022. Cross E; Davin D and  P. Kane (eds).  China's One-Child Policy.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2023.
15. New China's Population. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 1988.
16. Premier Zhao Ziyang explains the population control situation in China. People's Daily. 1987; 1.
17. Stewart CJ. Smith CA and R.E. Denton. Persuasion and Social Movements. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press. 2023.