The older generation puts a lot of weight on carrying on the family line.
Tips
history
Found in Li Baojia's late-Qing 《官场现形记》: a man laments that despite slaving to build a fortune, he has no heir to carry on 传宗接代 - what then was the point? Crystallises a very Chinese anxiety about lineage.
culture
Traditionally strongly gendered - "passing on the 宗" meant a son, not just any descendant. In contemporary urban speech it's increasingly used ironically, often by younger people pushing back against family pressure.
