Getting married in China - Village Magazine

August/September VILLAGE

ONFUCIUS (d.  BC) was an ethi-

cal teacher who laid down guiding

principles for intending mandarin

rulers in a feudal society. He stressed the

importance of observing traditional rites

to elicit harmonious responses from the

Will of Heaven. A central part of his teach-

ing was the duties of husbands towards

wives and the correct responsibilities of

wives towards their husbands, and the

practice of ﬁlial piety. He never intended

to found a religion and did not speculate

about the nature of deities or the origins

of the universe.

Notwithstanding his attachment to the

landowning, urban business and courtly

ruling classes Confucius’s teachings have

inﬂuenced the attitudes of all classes,

including the landless peasantry, over the

centuries. Confucianism as a body of philos-

ophy is studied by scholars today, but is not

oﬃcially taught to the masses. Communities

have made up for themselves packages of

beliefs blending elements of Buddhism,

Taoism and animism with ethical pointers

derived from Confucius.

Sun Yat-sen became modern China’s

ﬁrst President brieﬂy after the revolu-

tion of  overthrew the Qing Dynasty.

He and his western-educated Christian

wife Soong Chingling abolished the feu-

dalist practice of female foot binding and

encouraged educational and health services

for girls and women. After the commu-

nist victory in the civil war against Jiang

Kai-shek’s Guomingtang in , the com-

munist government in  moved to give

“socialist protection and dignity” to mar-

ried women. Mao Tse Tung’s Marriage Law

blended socialist gender equality ideas with

puritan Confucian ethical traditions.

In , the Chinese communist govern-

ment enacted China’s ﬁrst marriage law. It

banned arranged marriages, concubine

relationships and child betrothal. It allowed

divorce but only after “mediation and coun-

selling” had failed. The s saw a surge of

politically driven divorces as many Chinese

women opted out of arranged marriages.

In  the Marriage Law superseded

it, allowing divorce if one party was found

guilty of extramarital aﬀairs, domestic vio-

lence, or addiction to drugs or gambling.

It also accepted “complete alienation of

mutual aﬀection” as grounds for divorce

and allowed one party to ask get it, even if

the other party opposed. A husband may

not apply for divorce when his wife is preg-

nant or within one year after giving birth

to a child or within six months after abor-

tion. This restriction does not apply where

the wife applies for the divorce.

For many years, couples needed written

permission from employers or neighbor-

hood committees to end marriage. Many

unhappy couples stayed together just to

maintain privacy and standing. In ,

however, a revised marriage law simpliﬁed

procedures, enabling couples to get their

divorce certiﬁcates more discreetly.

In , the ‘Third Interpretation of

Several Issues concerning The Marriage

Law’ was promulgated, addressing the ques-

tion of property rights after divorce. One

section caused anxiety, especially among

married women. If a wife and her parents

purchase a lot of furniture and ﬁttings for

Getting

married

in China

Paternalistic though

egalitarian marriage,

guided by Communism

and Confucianism,

embraces extended

family.

By Garreth Byrne

stirrings

of equality

in Maoist

propaganda

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