1058 Journal of Marriage and Family Research indicates that marriage is still early and gender relations shape these professional and nearly universal in China,in spite of three women's efforts to negotiate patriarchal tradi- decades of rapid industrialization,urbanization, tions separating the public and private spheres. and expansion of mass education after the eco- In this study I used data from semistruc- nomic reform initiated in the 1980s (Ji Yeung, tured interviews conducted with 30 educated, 2014;Jones Gubhaju,2009;Yeung Hu, unmarried women in Shanghai in 2013.The 2013).What is interesting is that the pace of interviews place at the foreground women's educated Chinese women delaying or for- narratives regarding their struggles between going marriage is actually much slower/lower modern and traditional expectations in regard compared to equally educated Chinese men to marriage formation and career development. and equally educated women in other Asian The overarching framework emphasizing the societies.At the same time,alongside rapid coexistence of modernity and tradition emerged economic reformation and modernization, from the women's own stories,as did the fol- China has witnessed a resurgence of patriarchal lowing six themes:(a)parental pressure,(b) Confucian tradition in recent years (Fincher, gender double standards of aging,(c)forced 2014;Ji Yeung,2014;Sun Chen,2014). socioeconomic hypergamy,(d)the importance According to this tradition,women are valued of compatible family background,(e)efforts to in terms of their roles as wives and mothers, balance women's independence with support for regardless of the impressive progress made family and men,and (f)the conflict of gender in terms of gender equality in China,with ideologies.The women talked about how they women participating in the labor force en masse confront tradition,challenge gendered double since even the pre-reformation Maoist period standards,develop new meanings out of tra- and receiving more and more education in the dition.attempt to confine patriarchal tradition post-reformation period.The return of patri- to the private family,and criticize traditional archal tradition seems to be at least partially gender norms of male dominance. accountable for the now-stalled,if not declining, In the following sections.I first review the his- status of gender equality in China(P.N.Cohen torical background necessary to understand the Wang,2008;Davis Harrell,1993;Fincher, marriage-versus-career struggles of single,edu- 2014;Ji Yeung,2014;Sun Chen,2014; cated women in China.Second.I outline the the- Zuo Bian.2001). oretical framework I used to make sense of the In this research I investigated how China's coexistence of tradition and modernity in a tran- so-called "leftover"women draw on and inte- sitioning China.Third,I review my methodol- grate elements of both tradition and modernity ogy and introduce the sample.I then present and as they pursue their own ambitions and negotiate discuss the six themes that emerged regarding various constraints vis-a-vis marriage and their these women's constraints and struggles.Finally, careers.In doing so.this study challenges the I argue that despite the recent resurgence of linear narratives of progress and/or convergence patriarchal traditions in the family and discrimi- claimed by modernization theories.which would nation in the marriage market,China's so-called predict that,through economic modernization, "leftover"women are actually innovative actors, the "traditional"family mode in non-Western responding strategically and agentically to con- contexts will transition to the Western "modern" straints and cultural disapprobation to construct family mode.I use the terms tradition and their blend of the modern and traditional in their modernity here in a deliberate but qualified daily lives. way in order not only to critique the natural- ization of the concepts and their assumptions BACKGROUND but also to capture their resilient currency and meaning in people's everyday efforts to make Universal,Early Marriage in China sense of a society undergoing rapid change. Over the past several decades,many Western In this study I conceptualized contemporary as well as Asian societies have witnessed a China as an uneasy mosaic,with expectations notable decline in marriage formation accom- and elements deemed alternately modern and panied by impressive improvement in women's traditional commingling in educated women's educational achievement and mass labor market marriage motivations and behaviors.I also drew participation.Yet,despite experiencing similar on feminist insights to theorize how family social changes and rapid economic development1058 Journal of Marriage and Family Research indicates that marriage is still early and nearly universal in China, in spite of three decades of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and expansion of mass education after the eco￾nomic reform initiated in the 1980s (Ji & Yeung, 2014; Jones & Gubhaju, 2009; Yeung & Hu, 2013). What is interesting is that the pace of educated Chinese women delaying or for￾going marriage is actually much slower/lower compared to equally educated Chinese men and equally educated women in other Asian societies. At the same time, alongside rapid economic reformation and modernization, China has witnessed a resurgence of patriarchal Confucian tradition in recent years (Fincher, 2014; Ji & Yeung, 2014; Sun & Chen, 2014). According to this tradition, women are valued in terms of their roles as wives and mothers, regardless of the impressive progress made in terms of gender equality in China, with women participating in the labor force en masse since even the pre-reformation Maoist period and receiving more and more education in the post-reformation period. The return of patri￾archal tradition seems to be at least partially accountable for the now-stalled, if not declining, status of gender equality in China (P. N. Cohen & Wang, 2008; Davis & Harrell, 1993; Fincher, 2014; Ji & Yeung, 2014; Sun & Chen, 2014; Zuo & Bian, 2001). In this research I investigated how China’s so-called “leftover” women draw on and inte￾grate elements of both tradition and modernity as they pursue their own ambitions and negotiate various constraints vis-à-vis marriage and their careers. In doing so, this study challenges the linear narratives of progress and/or convergence claimed by modernization theories, which would predict that, through economic modernization, the “traditional” family mode in non-Western contexts will transition to the Western “modern” family mode. I use the terms tradition and modernity here in a deliberate but qualified way in order not only to critique the natural￾ization of the concepts and their assumptions but also to capture their resilient currency and meaning in people’s everyday efforts to make sense of a society undergoing rapid change. In this study I conceptualized contemporary China as an uneasy mosaic, with expectations and elements deemed alternately modern and traditional commingling in educated women’s marriage motivations and behaviors. I also drew on feminist insights to theorize how family and gender relations shape these professional women’s efforts to negotiate patriarchal tradi￾tions separating the public and private spheres. In this study I used data from semistruc￾tured interviews conducted with 30 educated, unmarried women in Shanghai in 2013. The interviews place at the foreground women’s narratives regarding their struggles between modern and traditional expectations in regard to marriage formation and career development. The overarching framework emphasizing the coexistence of modernity and tradition emerged from the women’s own stories, as did the fol￾lowing six themes: (a) parental pressure, (b) gender double standards of aging, (c) forced socioeconomic hypergamy, (d) the importance of compatible family background, (e) efforts to balance women’s independence with support for family and men, and (f) the conflict of gender ideologies. The women talked about how they confront tradition, challenge gendered double standards, develop new meanings out of tra￾dition, attempt to confine patriarchal tradition to the private family, and criticize traditional gender norms of male dominance. In the following sections, I first review the his￾torical background necessary to understand the marriage-versus-career struggles of single, edu￾cated women in China. Second, I outline the the￾oretical framework I used to make sense of the coexistence of tradition and modernity in a tran￾sitioning China. Third, I review my methodol￾ogy and introduce the sample. I then present and discuss the six themes that emerged regarding these women’s constraints and struggles. Finally, I argue that despite the recent resurgence of patriarchal traditions in the family and discrimi￾nation in the marriage market, China’s so-called “leftover” women are actually innovative actors, responding strategically and agentically to con￾straints and cultural disapprobation to construct their blend of the modern and traditional in their daily lives. Background Universal, Early Marriage in China Over the past several decades, many Western as well as Asian societies have witnessed a notable decline in marriage formation accom￾panied by impressive improvement in women’s educational achievement and mass labor market participation. Yet, despite experiencing similar social changes and rapid economic development