China and Lao Tai-tai By the 17th century, China had become a "closed country", effectively limiting the amount of the "outside" world allowed into China. In essence, China had closed its doors to missionaries and anyone who would try to push Western culture (Christianity, alcohol, opium, etc.) onto the Chinese people. Tradition was very important to the Chinese. With the passing of the "unequal treaties" in the nineteenth century the doors were once again opened to missionaries, thus paving the way for an influx of Western idealization. New (modern) ways of thinking have emerged, which have had a great impact on the lives of traditional Chinese families, an example of this is the Yin family, written by Ida Pruitt, who was born to missionary parents in China but still has very close ties with the Chinese people. Traditionally it was thought that the ways of doing and living were the best. With modernization came a cultural crisis during the Qing Dynasty. What principles should be taken from the West while maintaining traditional Chinese values ​​became the key question. The unanimous response of young Chinese was: "East for essence, West for practical use." This is a resonant theme in Old Madam Yin. The Yin family came from a very traditional background. Male social rank and hierarchy were a prevalent factor in Lao Tai-tai's life: "The Chinese family system was organized around the kinship of men" (vi). The family tree was not traced by the female, but rather by the male, since the wife was the property of the husband. A woman in Chinese society was dependent on a male: whether it was her father, husband, brother or son. Divorce was generally not tolerated, and remarriage was frowned upon. Despite this, Lao Tai-tai remarried after her first husband's death and became very rich with her second husband whom she loved more than her first. Great homage and respect had to be paid to the ancestors. “There were five generations that each man hoped to be able to worship: his father and mother, his grandfather and grandmother, and the three generations before them” – although a family was simply required to “worship” three (34). Age was also an important factor in Chinese society. Lao Tai-tai comes into contact with Ida Pruitt because she wants to adopt a child for his second son's wife. They already had a girlfriend, but it was expected that they would also have a son, because he would carry on the family line.