Imagining the Matrilocal Husband: Spatial Politics and Male Anxieties in Contemporary China

A matrilocal husband, or zhuixu in Chinese, refers to a man who, upon marriage, leaves his family and takes up residence in his wife’s household. In a patriarchal society like traditional China, such husbands usually came from modest economic and social backgrounds and were compelled to choose matrilocal residence for various reasons. As a result, matrilocality was often considered a source of humiliation and an impediment to masculinity. In premodern Chinese literature, stories frequently satirized the masculinity of matrilocal husbands. However, recent years have witnessed a surge in web fiction that features the unexpected turn of fortune for these husbands. Adapted into various formats, including short videos, films, TV dramas, animations, and games, this subgenre of digital entertainment has emerged as a multiplatform phenomenon and has garnered immense popularity among male readers, particularly those from grassroots backgrounds. These narratives tend to adhere to a formulaic pattern, exposing deep-rooted anxieties and fantasies surrounding manhood in the quest for an entrepreneurial self. This article delves into the evolution of the matrilocality motif in Chinese literature and popular culture, focusing on the imagination and representation of matrilocal space and identity, as well as various forms of male anxiety associated with the spatial politics of marriage. In particular, it investigates the factors contributing to the popularity of the matrilocal husband motif among Chinese men and examines the insights this subgenre provides concerning the relationship between male subjectivity, entertainment, and fantasy in the context of a neoliberalized Chinese society.