114 The China Quarterly have the duty to practise family planning."Provincial family planning regulations are equally insistent:for example,those currently in force for Sichuan not only repeat this requirement (at Article 2)but also stipulate that "births may not occur outside marriage"(bude feihun shengyu) (Article 7).29 The Marriage Law 1980 at Article 18 attempts to ensure that illegitimate children are not excluded from full participation in society. But this has not meant the abolition of the concept of illegitimacy in PRC law-judicial interpretations of Article 1830 and the apparent denial of household registration to children born outside marriage both indicate its continued importance.3 Of course,the authorities are attempting through effective planning and methods of birth control to reduce the number and regulate the timing of the children that a couple produces,thereby making reproduction increasingly a matter of rational social choice.It is fairly clear,however,that outside the cities in the PRC it is not socially acceptable for a married couple to remain childless nor,indeed,to be content with just one child,especially if that child is a daughter,and to some extent provincial family planning regulations have had to take this into account.32 PRC law also requires that the family undertakes the crucial tasks of providing protection for children and socializing them into society. Article 15 of the Marriage Law 1980 specifies that"parents have the duty to rear and educate their children"33 and insists that "infanticide by drowning and other acts causing serious harm to infants are prohibited. 29.Sichuan sheng jihua shengyu tiaoli(Sichuan Province Planned Birth Regulations) 1987,in Zhongguo falu nianjian bianjibu,Zhongguo falui nianjian 1988 (Law Yearbook of China /988)(Beijing:Falu chubanshe,1988).pp.482-83 at 482. 30.The status"illegitimate children"or"children born out of wedlock"(feihunsheng zinii) was judicially defined,with reference to a 1953 Central People's Government"explanation" (jieda).by the Supreme People's Court in 1974 in an official reply to an enquiry from the Higher People's Court of Shanxi Province.The court stated that"children who are born of a man and woman who are not yet married,or of a man or woman who is already married and who has improper sexual relations with another person.are all illegitimate children."The court was clearly confirming the existence of a legal status in this interpretation.A judicial instruction issued by the Supreme People's Court in 1980 also dealt with a question of illegitimacy in a manner which suggests that it continues to have a formal significance in Chinese law.Finally,it is difficult to see how Article 19 can be read as abolishing the status of illegitimacy when the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is also referred to in the Inheritance Law of the PRC 1985.Paragraph 5 of Article 10 of that law provides as follows:"the children referred to in this law include legitimate children, illegitimate children and adopted children as well as step-children who supported or were supported by the deceased."In addition,it should be noted that the unofficial English-language text of the Inheritance Law as provided by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress specifically translates the term"feihunsheng zini"as "illegitimate children." 31.For further details see Michael Palmer,"The People's Republic of China:reacting to rapid social change"in M.Freeman(ed.).Annual Survey of Family Law:1988,Vol.12(1990), pp.438460atpp.445-47. 32.For example,those for Shandong which allow a married woman over the age of 30 to attempt a second pregnancy if her first child is a daughter-see Palmer,"Reacting to change,"p.448. 33.See also the Constitution 1982 at Article 49. 34.Law of the PRC for the Protection of Minors 1991.Article 8 of the Law also prohibits discrimination against female children and"drowning or abandoning"infants.The Criminal Law 1979 at Article 182 makes abuse (niiedai)of a family member which leads to serious Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core.Shanghai JiaoTong University,on 15 Oct 2016 at 08:21:12,subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use available at http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms.http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/50305741000032938114 The China Quarterly have the duty to practise family planning." Provincial family planning regulations are equally insistent: for example, those currently in force for Sichuan not only repeat this requirement (at Article 2) but also stipulate that "births may not occur outside marriage" (bude feihun shengyu) (Article I).29 The Marriage Law 1980 at Article 18 attempts to ensure that illegitimate children are not excluded from full participation in society. But this has not meant the abolition of the concept of illegitimacy in PRC law-judicial interpretations of Article 1830 and the apparent denial of household registration to children born outside marriage both indicate its continued importance.31 Of course, the authorities are attempting through effective planning and methods of birth control to reduce the number and regulate the timing of the children that a couple produces, thereby making reproduction increasingly a matter of rational social choice. It is fairly clear, however, that outside the cities in the PRC it is not socially acceptable for a married couple to remain childless nor, indeed, to be content with just one child, especially if that child is a daughter, and to some extent provincial family planning regulations have had to take this into account.32 PRC law also requires that the family undertakes the crucial tasks of providing protection for children and socializing them into society. Article 15 of the Marriage Law 1980 specifies that "parents have the duty to rear and educate their children"33 and insists that "infanticide by drowning and other acts causing serious harm to infants are prohibited."34 29. Sichuan sheng jihua shengyu tiaoli (Sichuan Province Planned Birth Regulations) 1987, in Zhongguo falii nianjian bianjibu, Zhongguo fate nianjian 1988 (Law Yearbook of China 1988) (Beijing: Falii chubanshe, 1988), pp. 482-83 at 482. 30. The status "illegitimate children" or "children born out of wedlock" (feihunsheng zinii) was judicially defined, with reference to a 1953 Central People's Government "explanation" (Jieda), by the Supreme People's Court in 1974 in an official reply to an enquiry from the Higher People's Court of Shanxi Province. The court stated that "children who are born of a man and woman who are not yet married, or of a man or woman who is already married and who has improper sexual relations with another person, are all illegitimate children." The court was clearly confirming the existence of a legal status in this interpretation. A judicial instruction issued by the Supreme People's Court in 1980 also dealt with a question of illegitimacy in a manner which suggests that it continues to have a formal significance in Chinese law. Finally, it is difficult to see how Article 19 can be read as abolishing the status of illegitimacy when the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is also referred to in the Inheritance Law of the PRC 1985. Paragraph 5 of Article 10 of that law provides as follows: "the children referred to in this law include legitimate children, illegitimate children and adopted children as well as step-children who supported or were supported by the deceased." In addition, it should be noted that the unofficial English-language text of the Inheritance Law as provided by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress specifically translates the term "feihunsheng zinii" as "illegitimate children." 31. For further details see Michael Palmer, "The People's Republic of China: reacting to rapid social change" in M. Freeman (ed.). Annual Sun-ey of Family Law: 1988, Vol. 12(1990), pp. 438-460 at pp. 445-47. 32. For example, those for Shandong which allow a married woman over the age of 30 to attempt a second pregnancy if her first child is a daughter - see Palmer, "Reacting to change," p. 448. 33. See also the Constitution 1982 at Article 49. 34. Law of the PRC for the Protection of Minors 1991. Article 8 of the Law also prohibits discrimination against female children and "drowning or abandoning" infants. The Criminal Law 1979 at Article 182 makes abuse (niiedai) of a family member which leads to serious , available at http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741000032938 Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core. Shanghai JiaoTong University, on 15 Oct 2016 at 08:21:12, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use