The more sons you bear,the more happiness you receive?

I think it is sad. Unless he was a pain in the a$$ type of father and the sons were happy to leave hone , He Does not deserve this. A family Should remain close. When it doesn't , it is sad.

honestly, i am hurt by seeing this phenomena. but i know clearly that it do exsist in China. in China, we think that parents have to raise the child, and in return, the child should take care of their parents when they are old. however, in western, parents do not like to be taken care by their children. they want to be dependent.

I do not agree with this old ways of thinking. What is the point of having sons when they are queen controlled and can't contribute to the welfare of their parents. I have five brothers and 4 sisters. When my father was hospitalized in hospital, none of my brothers keep vigil at his bedside until the last hour of his days on earth. They only come to pay a short visit to see him in the hospital while we daughters took turn to take care of him 24/7 without fail. My mom is quite fair to all her children but dad was pro his sons. How I wished he lived to see his sons ungrateful and irresponsible attitude towards him at his deathbed.

Oldsix691418, Not being a cynic here. Today, I really cannot agree with this old Chinese proverb but I am sure a great majority will agree with me that the making of kids would probably be the most pleasurable part. It is the arrival and whatever that follows that is painstakingly excruciating. Parenting is indeed challenging and when they are all fully independent, they leave their aged parents like this neighbor of yours to fend by himself. So, you can see why couples today are so discouraged from having children. Out of interest, I believe your country is outlawing children who fail in their filial duties where abandoned parents like your neighbor could sue their ungrateful/insensitive child or children for maintenance or old age care. After reading this, I could not help feeling the sense of timing for this law to be introduced. What do you think?

Hi Oldsix! This is very sad, and this is not fair, for him. I wish I could talk to some of his sons... it´s not fair for him. However, he is, however he was... it´s not fair. =( Blessings!... Dainy

It's not necessarily true. One can have many sons or daughters but it does not make any difference to being childless if they are not filial or don't care about us at all. No matter how many children one has, they are all numbers, and that's all. Happiness comes from how our children treat us, and as long as there's one who treats us good, it's good enough.

Well it all depends on how you treat each of your children. I guess when children did experience good relationship with their fathers they would always take good care of their father when they grow old. I think there is something wrong with the way the children were brought up by the father that is why he is not taken good care of the children. I do not think that proverb is really that accurate at all since you can bear one son and let him grow responsibly and he could be happy being with one child.

There's no guarantee if you have children they will take care of you. I don't know this person's story maybe he was a bad or abusive father to his children and that's why they stay away.

Is that why the chinese are so obsessed with male children that they murder the female children? I do not think it is true at all. It is simply the product of a society that regards females as less than men. So many cultures do it. As a woman I have never understood why. People in both China and India are murdering female children because they only want sons. Now the sons are finding there are no girls to marry. Well at least it will reduce the population. If there are no girls then we all die out.

I think it is sad that the children have decided to ignore their father. It seems to be the way of modern society these days no matter where you go. It is a good thing that he is still able to take care of himself, but that won't last forever. I would hope that one of the kids would check up on him at some point and possibly take him into their home. I know I didn't spend enough time with my parents and grandparents when I had the chance and now it is too late. Thanks for sharing!

I don't agree with the saying. Maybe if it said children then it can be true, but that's not always the case either. It depends on the individual like your old friend there. Some people can have a lot of son who end up killing them, some can have a lot of daughters who make them happy, depends.

I think number of child's not affected how happy you are. Its depend on how you made bonding with them and teach them to respect their parent by giving an living example. My dad had 8 sibling and my mom 11 sibling, they close to each others. When my Grandma sick they filled the hospital when visiting and they share the bill.Its also when we had party we always had many guest because we had more relative because their marriages.

Maybe this saying is applicable long time ago but now with crisis of everything no way. I belong to a very big family. We are eleven siblings and I am the fourth child; there's much more hardships on my side because being a girl, I had to shoulder the responsibilities in taking care of my younger siblings when our eldest got a job and eventually get married. As you can see in your story, you cannot rely on boys. If his daughter didn't die, then maybe he has been taken care of. Just like me, next to our eldest are two boys then me but they didn't do some household chores because our culture is very much different from the West.

That is a very idealistic saying, made during the times when the economy is not yet as bad as it is today. Nowadays, it is so hard to make a living. Have more kids, and have more financial burdens, and you tire yourself out. You know what happens next. LOL

I think the man is being neglected. Apparently the modern Chinese men are not fulfilling the Chinese proverb. I believe the women are more into caring for the elders. When my mother was in the hospital after a massive stroke and was on a ventilator, she had a nurse who was Chinese. I gave instructions for the vent to be discontinued and the nurse was very upset with me. She thought I was killing my mother and did not even come into the room after the vent was off. One of the other nurses told me that the Chinese nurse just couldn't understand how I could do that.

Hello Oldsix..Yeah, I agree with that..Actually i have only one child and she really makes me happy all the time. Maybe, if they are plenty the merrier.. Happy mylotting..

The more sons we have, the better we are. It is true to me. In my mind, only the good sons I shall consider good for me. Whether my sons are good or not, it is depended on the way the parents educate them since they are young. About the case which is mentioned in your discussion, I don't agree to blame the sons of the old man. The old man should blame himself for not educating his sons well. As a result, he has to suffer all of the consequences. Anyhow, I just always pray and bless my sons to be happy and successful in their future. I never expect them to revert me for whatever I contributed. When I am old, I like to stay alone too. I love my sons and I never want to give the burden to them. We love our sons without attempting to exchange for something. This is my belief.

Actually daughters are much better, most of the offsprings that sends their parents to retirement homes are sons. usually daughters have more compassion to take care of their aging parents. Thats why i was wondering most fathers prefer a son, They were so obsessed on keeping the family name. based on what I see parents have easier time on disciplining daughters, I think there is a statistic that sons are more rebellious againts parents.

Don't rely on proverbs in predicting your life because they're just proverbs. You have your own life and you don't want to waste it in some proverb.

I think that it is sad that it sounds like his kids don't do nothing with him.I can maybe understand appointments, if they work and can't take off and he says that he will be alright going by himself but traditional festivals, that's sad that they don't enjoy it with him so he can have a better time and so he isn't so lonely!