I have thought about this issue for a long time, and now I am writing it out.
First, let's look at the cost of raising children. For Chinese people, this cost can be described as high, and I won't go into details as Chinese people should understand.
Second, let's analyze the significance of having children. For most people, this significance mainly lies in two aspects.
Firstly, it is to experience the joy of raising children and enjoy family happiness. Once you have children, you can enjoy family happiness, but it is also very hard. You have less time and energy to spend on other things, while those without children can use that time and energy to experience a different life. Because they invest more time and energy, they may also do better.
Secondly, the concept of leaving a legacy or continuing the family line is deeply rooted in the minds of most Chinese people. Many Chinese people raise children for the purpose of leaving a legacy. However, in my opinion, this concept is a bit foolish and ridiculous. Imagine this, your child inherits your bloodline and genes, but their mind is filled with someone else's thoughts. It's like you spend your whole life building a nest for someone else to live in. Unfortunately, this is the case for most people. If you agree with what is in your child's mind, then it's fine. But if not, how do you face it? Especially for Chinese people, this situation is even more serious. For example, if you identify with universal values outside the Great Firewall, but your child is brainwashed by the education system inside the Great Firewall and becomes a nationalist, and you spend all your savings to send them to school, but they turn into the kind of person you dislike, can you bear it? How do you face it? Can you decide which ideas your child accepts? Some people find meaning in propagating their bloodline, while others want to discover or create unprecedented things and leave behind enduring works. French writer Romain Rolland said, "The true continuation of humanity is not established through blood ties." Objectively speaking, the continuation of humanity can be divided into two types: genetic continuation and spiritual continuation. Most people achieve genetic continuation, while only a few achieve spiritual continuation. Human progress relies on spiritual continuation. Having only genetic continuation is no different from being an animal. To give an example, genetic continuation provides the soil, while spiritual continuation provides the seeds, which eventually grow into towering trees and bear the fruits of human civilization. I want to know, how many people are willing to be the soil and not the seeds or the trees? How many people are only willing to leave behind their genes and not make any achievements in the spiritual realm?
Finally, if you were given the chance to be reborn, would you still choose to be born in China? If not, why would you force your child to suffer in this difficult country, unless you have the ability to send them abroad.
The image below vividly depicts the living conditions of Chinese people.
(Image from りく)
So after all that, as a Chinese person, should you have children or not? I believe the answer to this question depends on your own abilities and understanding of the meaning of life. I think in addition to raising children, people should also do something else in their lives, otherwise their lives would be too meaningless. However, the reality is that most Chinese people spend their entire lives on raising children, exhausting their time, energy, and savings. From the results, they are merely tools for the continuation of the race, leaving behind only descendants. It's not a big deal if they haven't achieved anything else in their lives, but what's terrifying is that they leave their descendants in hell, as described in the image above. So for myself, if I don't have the ability to help my child escape this earthly hell, I won't bring them into this world.
Don't forget that besides propagating our bloodline, there is also the inheritance of our spirits that is worth looking forward to and striving for. And I believe the latter is even more remarkable and worth putting effort into.
I know of a well-known Chinese person in contemporary times who chose not to have children and made the continuation of his spirit his lifelong pursuit. He is the writer Wang Xiaobo. Those who don't want or can't afford children can take inspiration from his words:
"To not leave behind something puzzling for future generations is simply a waste of life."
"A person should not only have this life, but also a world of poetry."