My sisters and I often talked about how we were raised. Our parents knew almost nothing about parenting. They raised us according to their own belief and century-old traditions, simple and straightforward, honest hard work. And mostly following this belief, 万般皆下品，唯有读书高 (wàn bān jiē xià pǐn, wéi yǒu dú shū gāo), nothing is as lofty as study.
My youngest sister is a natural dancer. She doesn't need a teacher. She moves every part of her body gracefully, effortlessly and beautifully with the music, even today. When she was a little girl, she danced everywhere and our neighbors all admired her performance. Someone told my father, send her to a performance art school. There was a privileged institution called Eastern Dance and Singing Group under Tianjin mayoral administration. My father could send her there but he said no.
In old China, people in entertainment industry held low social esteem. I think back in my father's mind, he believed that entertainment was not a reliable profession, or not for decent people.
People of our parents' generation believe that with decades of life experience they know better than their children. With that, naturally they should make decisions for the children.
Since we all turned out great, they must have done something right, even though my sister spent her whole life working at a state-owned bank, an iron-bowl that she never enjoyed. On the other hand, it's not even a relevant concern whether or not you enjoy your job.