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In this type of family， wealth is acquired by the father，and it is owned in common by all the members of the family.Therefore， the father is the head of the family， and themother is the head of the household.Or， the wealth isacquired by any one of the brothers， usually the eldest， buthe is willing to give it up to the family as a whole， and regards his parents as the heads.In Chinese history， somefamilies can hold their property under the common ownership for nine generations.But the management of this isvery difficult.In the present day， the tendency is towardsthe limitation of family， basing it on the husband and wifeonly.But as long as the institution of family exists， the Chinese can never separate their parents from the family，just as they cannot separate their children from it.
Moreover， the marriage of a son is usually arranged byhis parents， before he has become a producer.Under suchcircumstances， he has nothing to call his own， and he andhis wife are economically dependent upon his parents.Howcan he be the real head of a family？ During this period，his mother takes charge of the household， and his wifeworks merely as a student or an assistant to her.In reality， it is much better for his wife to work under his mother，because Chinese social life is very complex， and a youngwoman can never understand all the affairs of her newhome.Of course she may own some private property， suchas the dower； but， when she receives， or borrows， or givesanything beyond the limit of the family， it is polite for herto ask leave from her mother—in—law.Since her mother—in—law must treat her reasonably， the asking for leave issimply a formal ceremony， otherwise the Chinese could nothave held such a family type for thousands of years.