This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

They are called guanggun, bare branches, here in China, they are 30 million strong and China doesn’t know what to do about them. Why? To answer, we must take a truly cursory look at Chinese marital history: First there was polygamy: one man, many wives. Then there was monogamy: one man, one wife. Then came the one-child policy and the Chinese preference for boys meant, at the very worst, illegal sex selection and, at best, foreign adoption of non-boys, i.e. girls. Now, the chickens have come home to roost, only this time they’re roosters. Guanggun are bachelors and just who they will marry is the issue. And marry they must: To remain childless would mean no one to care for you in your old age. One suggestion, polyandry – one woman, many husbands –has met with mixed reactions but, if it’s adopted Chinese marital history will have come full circle. Talk about restoring the yin-yang balance!

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.