At the Chinese Family Dinner Table, Tuen Yuen. Eating together at the dinner is very important, almost religious part of the day in the Chinese culture. There is a word for that...tuen yuen in Cantonese or tuan yuan in putonghua. To be together, whole or complete. It is the only time of the day the family sits together and talk to one another. It is very important that everyone in the household family is present. The family would wait for one person to return home if he/she is not present. Unless that person called home and said they're not going to be home for dinner. Many Chinese households have several generations living in one house. Usually it would be the eldest son who continues living with the parents after he has married. But often times the youngest son wind up in this position since he was the last to marry and the eldest brother has long married and moved out. Most Chinese holidays, festivals and celebrations are marked with an elaborate dinner whether at home or at a restaurant. Certain foods are eaten during the new year, mid-autumn festival or the winter solstice. Here in the US, it is common for ABC (American Born Chinese) kids in their adolescence to take their dinner from the table and consume it in their rooms (no!...I never did that!). It is considered very rude but parents can't do much about it. This illustation shows the family dynamics at the dinner table. The setting is in a Chinese restaurant. The son is in the middle between a rock and a hard place...between his wife and mother. His mother thinks that her daughter-in-law is a lousy cook and haven't been feeding his son well. He's got three kids that can't sit still at the dinner table. That one extra at the lower left is the wife's unmarried dysfunctional sister in her 40's who lives in their basement and it doesn't look like she'll ever get married and move out. She's been in the country for more than twenty years and still cannot speak English. HOME | A-Town Graphics | 415.673.0546 | e-mail: atowngraphics@yahoo.com