Traditional Chinese marriage

Around the end of primitive society, traditional Chinese marriage rituals were formed, with deer skin betrothal in the Fuxi era, the appearance of the "meeting hall" during the Xia and Shang dynasties, and then in the Zhou dynasty, a complete set of marriage etiquette ("six rituals") gradually formed.

For the country's political stability, during the Qing dynasty, although no "evidence of prohibitions against ethnic intermarriage within the Eight Banners",[5] "in elite families of the ruling class, primary wives were almost entirely Manchu, while qie (commonly translated as "concubines") and other partners of lower status could be Han".

[5] In the Qing dynasty, most of the high officials were mainly Manchu, so in order to protect the interests of the family, the selection of a wife will be very important.

For example, "the ethnicity apparent in the maiden names of wives in genealogies from elite Manchu descent groups, such as the Imperial Lineage.

This situation underscored the lack of economic independence for women, as their labor focused on household duties without bringing in income.

Building on these ideological foundations, Chinese male moralists developed behavioral norms of obedience and passivity expected of women.

These bonds included the allegiance of subjects to rulers, the filial obedience of sons to fathers, and the chastity expected from wives but not husbands.

Strong bonds of intimacy between the son and either mother or wife posed a potential threat to the vertical lines of loyalty and respect that upheld the family structure and the father's authority.

Women were deemed destabilizers, even though they promised of descendants, they also posed a constant threat to the bond of obedience between parents and sons.

This happened in the transformation of antithetic marriage into monogamy, which signified the decline of matriarchy and the growing dominance of patriarchy in ancient China.

Studies have shown that, "In the Ming and Qing dynasties, a number of noble families emerged in Jiaxing of Zhejiang, where marriage is the most important way to expand their clan strength.

Since "po" (婆) translates to "granny" in English, it suggests that elderly female characters dominated the "marriage market".

Indeed, in the novel The Golden Lotus (Jin Ping Mei), the four matchmakers, Wang, Xue, Wen, Feng were all elderly female characters.

[13] In ancient China, people believed that marriages belong to the "Yin" side (the opposite of "Yang"), which corresponds to females.

Feng Menglong described them as "Once they start to speak the match is successfully arranged, and when they open their mouths they only spoke about harmony.

Despite China's long history and many different geographical areas, there are essentially six rituals, generally known as the three letters and six etiquettes (三書六禮).

In such ceremonies, which are a recent innovation with no historic antecedent, the bride and groom bow and pay respects to a large portrait of Confucius hanging in the banquet hall while wedding attendants and the couple themselves are dressed in traditional Chinese robes.

If one side refused to divorce, the law had to investigate the criminal liability of the party and give a one-year prison sentence.

To be legally recognized, it had to be based on one of the following seven reasons (七出): There are, however, three clearly defined exceptions (三不去), under which unilateral divorce was forbidden, despite the presence of any of the seven aforementioned grounds:[citation needed] The above law about unilateral divorce was in force from the Tang dynasty up to its final abolition in the Republic of China's Civil Code (Part IV) Section 5, passed in 1930.

Kay Ann Johnson reported that tens of thousands of women in north central China were killed for seeking divorces or committed suicide when blocked from doing so.

[32] With rising divorce rates, public discussions and governmental organs often criticize the lack of effort in marriage maintenance which many couples express.

Parties to a marriage can apply for divorce under, and by showing, the following grounds: In ancient China, women's social status was not as good as men.

For example, "The state reinforced the neo-Confucian attitude against widow remarriage by erecting commemorative arches to honour women who refused to remarry.

[citation needed] Besides the traditional desire for male children to carry on the family name, this allowance partially resolves a dilemma created by the emperor himself.

[35] In ancient China, concubinage was very common, and men who could afford it usually bought concubines and took them into their homes in addition to their wives.

[citation needed] A compendium of miscellaneous facts compiled in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) mentioned a coastal village in present-day Zhejiang province called Shoujin'ao, where it was customary for brothers to marry the same woman.

Generally marriage is patrilocal, with men inheriting property, except in the area around Mosuo-dominated Lugu Lake and Yongning where the Pumi seem to have adopted the Mosuo practice of the 'walking marriage' where husbands visit their his wife's home at night but return to their maternal home in the day to work.

[39] Fraternal polyandry in Tibet is widely considered to be a means of preventing the division of a family's resources among its male heirs.

She claims that polyandry provides a household with a large labor force, enabling the family to pursue simultaneous and extensive involvement in the three sectors of Tibetan economy: agriculture, herding, and trading (1988).

[citation needed] Since Tibetan polyandry provides such important economic advantages to households, one can assume that the reason for the dissolution of polyandrous marriages is largely for individual interests.