A Qing Dynasty wedding. The two parents are seated. The bride is wearing the blue hat, presenting tea to the mother. The groom usually wears a cross forming an "X" in front of him. Sometimes the "X" includes a giant bow or flower, though not in this picture

Traditionally Chinese marriage (Chinese: 婚姻; Pinyin: hūn yīn) is a ceremonial ritual within Chinese societies that involve a marriage established by pre-arrangement between families. Within Chinese culture, romantic love was allowed, and monogamy was the norm for most ordinary citizens. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 390 pixelsFull resolution (1818 × 886 pixel, file size: 331 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Every day life in old China Source old book (before 1927) Author unknown Artist unknown Place unknown Date unknown Uploaded by --Immanuel Giel 12:29... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 390 pixelsFull resolution (1818 × 886 pixel, file size: 331 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Every day life in old China Source old book (before 1927) Author unknown Artist unknown Place unknown Date unknown Uploaded by --Immanuel Giel 12:29... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Territory of Qing China in 1892 Capital Shengjing (1636-1644) Beijing (1644-1912) Language(s) Chinese Manchu Mongolian Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1636-1643 Huang Taiji  - 1908-1912 Xuantong Emperor Prime Minister  - 1911 Yikuang  - 1911-1912 Yuan Shikai History  - Establishment of the Late... An editor has expressed a concern that the tone or style of this section may not be appropriate for an encyclopedia. ... A groom nervously waits for his bride. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Marriage à-la-mode by William Hogarth: a satire on arranged marriages and prediction of ensuing disaster An arranged marriage is a marriage that is established before involving oneself in a lengthy courtship, and often involves the arrangement of someone other than the persons getting married. ... Chinese culture has roots going back over five thousand years. ... Faithfulness redirects here. ...

Etymology

Logographically, 婚 (pinyin: hūn) is identical to 昏 (pinyin: hūn, literally meaning "evening" or "dusk"). In more ancient writings though, the former has the radical 女 (pinyin: nǚ, literally "a female"). This implies that courting couples met in the evening. Similarly, 姻 (pinyin: yīn) is the same as 因 (pinyin: yīn). According to Zhang Yi's (張揖) Guangya Shigu (廣雅•釋詁), a dictionary of ancient Chinese characters, 因 (pinyin: yīn) means "friendliness", "love" and "harmony", indicating the correct way of living for a married couple. The left part of mā, a Chinese character meaning mother, is a radical that means woman A radical (from Latin radix, meaning root) is a basic identifiable component of every Chinese character. ... Zhang Yi 張儀 (???-309 BC), born in State of Wei during the Warring States Period of China. ... The dictionary is a list of words with their definitions, a list of characters with their glyphs, or a list of words with corresponding words in other languages. ...

Marriage in a Confucian context

In Confucian thought, marriage is of grave significance both to families and to society. Traditionally incest has been defined as marriage between people with the same surname. From the perspective of a Confucian family, marriage brings together families of different surnames and so continues the family line of the paternal clan. This is generally why having a boy is more preferred than a girl when giving birth. Therefore, the benefits and demerits of any marriage are important to the entire family, not just the individual couples. Socially, the married couple is thought to be the basic unit of society. In Chinese history there have been many times when marriages have affected the country’s political stability and international relations. From the Han Dynasty (漢朝, pinyin: hàn cháo) the rulers of certain powerful foreign tribes such as the Mongolians, the Manchus, the Xiongnu, and the Turks demanded women from the Imperial family. Many periods of Chinese history were dominated by the families of the wife or mother of the ruling Emperor. Thus marriage can be related to politics. Wenmiao Temple, a Confucian Temple in Wuwei, Gansu, China Confucian temple in Kaohsiung, Republic of China (Taiwan). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Chinese surname, also called a clan name or family name (姓, pinyin: xìng; or 氏, shi), is one of the over seven hundred family names used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups. ... A Chinese clan is a group of related Chinese people with a common surname and sharing a common ancestor and ancestral village (see clan). ... Han Dynasty in 87 BC Capital Changan (202 BC–9 AD) Luoyang (25 AD–190 AD) Language(s) Chinese Religion Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy History  - Establishment 206 BC  - Battle of Gaixia; Han rule of China begins 202 BC  - Interruption of Han rule 9 AD - 24 AD  - Abdication to Cao... The Manchu (manju in Manchu; 滿族 (pinyin: mǎnzú) in Chinese, often shortened to 滿 (pinyin: mǎn) are an ethnic group who originated in northeastern Manchuria. ... A Xiongnu belt buckle. ...

Prehistoric Chinese marriages

Marriages in early societies

In traditional Chinese thinking, people in "primitive" societies did not marry, but had sexual relationships with one and other indiscriminately. Such people were thought to live like other animals, and they did not have the precise concept of motherhood, fatherhood, sibling, husband and wife, and gender, not to mention match-making and marriage ceremony. Part of the Confucian "civilizing mission" was to define what it meant to be a Father or a Husband, and to teach people to respect the proper relationship between family members and regulate sexual behavior.

Sibling marriages

Sibling marriage, although forbidden in Chinese culture, was reported to a minor extent in very early Chinese mythology. There was a story about the marriage of Nüwa and Fu Xi, who were once sister and brother respectively. At that time the world was unpopulated. The siblings wanted to get married but, at the same time, they felt ashamed. So they went up to Kunlun Shan and prayed to Heaven. They asked for Heaven's permission for their marriage and said, “if You allow us to marry, please make the mist surround us.” Heaven gave permission to the couple, and promptly the peak was covered in mist. It is said that in order to hide her shyness, Nüwa covered her blushing face with a fan. Nowadays in some villages in China, the brides still follow the custom and use a fan to shield their faces. Nyuu Wa iconograph in Shan Hai Jing In Chinese mythology, Nüwa (Traditional Chinese: 女媧 Simplified Chinese: 女娲 Pinyin: nÇšwā) is mythological character best known for reproducing people after a great calamity. ... Fu Hsi (伏羲; pinyin fú xī; Pao-hsi), was the mythical First Emperor of China. ... Region containing Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun mountain range (崑崙山) is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3000 km. ... Nyuu Wa iconograph in Shan Hai Jing In Chinese mythology, Nüwa (Traditional Chinese: 女媧 Simplified Chinese: 女娲 Pinyin: nÇšwā) is mythological character best known for reproducing people after a great calamity. ...

Inter-clan marriage and antithetic marriage

In Chinese society males should not marry females of the same surname (this has been largely disregarded recently as the Chinese population has expanded to such an extent that people who hold the same surname might have little or no relation with each other at all). This is seen as incest and it is thought there is a risk that abnormal births might result. Marriage of a son to close relatives of his mother, however, is not seen as incest. Different clans might have more than one surname. Historically, there were numerous important clans living along the Yellow River in ancient China, like the tribe of Huang Di with the common surname Ji and that of Yan Di with the surname Jiang. Because marriage to one's maternal relatives was not thought of as incest these families sometimes intermarried from one generation to another. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Yellow River (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: Huáng Hé ; Wade-Giles: Hwang-ho, sometimes simply called the River in ancient Chinese) is the second longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the seventh longest in the world, at 3,395 miles long [1]. Originating in the... Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor (黄帝 Hu ng D ) is a Chinese mythical character, a culture hero said in legend to be the ancestor of all Chinese people. ... Shennong (Traditional Chinese: 神農; Simplified Chinese: 神农; pinyin: Shénnóng), sometimes known as the Yan Emperor (炎帝), is a legendary emperor and culture hero of Chinese mythology who is believed to have lived some 5,000 years ago and who taught the ancients the practices of...

Over time Chinese people became more geographically mobile. Couples were married in what is called an extra-clan marriage, better known as antithetic marriage. This occurred in the midst of the New Stone Age, i.e. around 5000 BC. According to modern Chinese scholars of a Marxist persuasion Matriarchy prevailed in society at that time, therefore husbands needed to move to, and live with, their wives’ families. Yet individuals remained members of their biological families. When a couple died, the husband and the wife were buried separately in the respective clan’s graveyard. Offspring would be buried with their mother. Antithetic marriage still happens in modern China. In Yunnan, males and females in the minority group known as Nakhi form temporary couples, and they call each other “Ahchu” rather than “husband and wife”. The male “Ahchu”s live and work in the home of the female “Ahchu”s. The Neolithic, (Greek neos=new, lithos=stone, or New Stone Age) is traditionally the last part of the stone age. ... Matriarchy is a gynocentric form of society, in which power is with the female and especially with the mothers of a community. ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally south of the clouds) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the far southwestern corner of the country. ... Categories: Ethnic groups of China ...

Maternal marriage and monogamy

In a maternal marriage, a male would become a son-in-law who lived in the wife’s home. The husband would also need to change his surname into his wife’s one. This happened in the transformation of antithetic marriage into monogamy, which signifying that the decline of matriarchy and the growing dominance of patriarchy in the ancient China. Matriarchy is a gynocentric form of society, in which power is with the female and especially with the mothers of a community. ... Patriarchy For other uses, see Patriarchy (disambiguation). ...

Traditional marriage rituals

A modern wedding held in traditional format

Chinese marriage became a custom between 402-221 B.C. Despite China's long history and many different geographical areas, there are basically six rituals, generally known as the three letters and six etiquette. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Three Letters

The marriage is initiated by a series of three letters.

• The request letter is sent from the groom's family to the bride's family, and formally requests a marriage.
• The gift letter accompanies the gifts of the groom's family to the bride's family shortly before the wedding.
• The wedding letter is given on the day of the wedding, officially accepting the bride into the groom's family.

Six Etiquette

• Proposal: When an unmarried boy's parents find a potential daughter-in-law. They then located a matchmaker whose job was to assuage the conflict of interests and general embarrassments on the part of two families largely unknown to each other when discussing the possibility of marriage.
• Birthdates: If the potential daughter-in-law's family did not object to the proposal the matchmaker would then compare the couples' birthdates. If according to Chinese astrology the couple is compatible they would then proceed to the next step.
• Bride Price (Betrothal gifts): At this point the bridegroom's family arranges for the matchmaker to present bride price (betrothal gifts), including the betrothal letter, to the bride's family.
• Wedding gifts: The groom's family will then send an elaborate array of food, cakes, and religious items to the bride's family.
• Arranging the wedding: The two families will arrange a wedding day which will bring the most luck to the couple, again based on the Chinese calendar mythology.
• Wedding Ceremony: The final ritual is the actual wedding ceremony where bride and groom become a married couple, which consists of many elaborate parts
  • Wedding Procession: The wedding procession from bride's home would march to the groom's home. The procession consists of a traditional band, the bride's sedan, the maids of honor's sedans (if there are maids of honor), and bride's dowry in the forms other than money.
  • Welcoming the Bride: The wedding procession of the bride's family stops at the door of the groom's home. There are ceremonies to be followed to welcome the bride and her wedding procession into the groom's home, which varies for locale to locale.
  • Actual Wedding Ceremonies: Equivalent to exchanging vows in the west, the couple would pay respect to the heaven and earth, paying respect to the groom's parents, paying respect to each other.
  • Wedding banquet In Chinese society, the wedding banquet is known as xǐ-jǐu (喜酒, literally joyful wine), and is sometimes far more important than the wedding itself. There are ceremonies such as bride presenting wines or tea to parents, spouse, and guests.

Before modern times, women were not allowed to choose the person they married. Instead, the family of the bride picked the prospective husband. Marriages were chosen based upon the needs of reproduction and honor, as well as the needs of the father and husband. Bride price also known as bride wealth or a dower is an amount of money or property paid to the parents of a woman for the right to marry their daughter. ... Bride price also known as bride wealth or a dower is an amount of money or property paid to the parents of a woman for the right to marry their daughter. ... A dowry (also known as trousseau) is a gift of money or valuables given to the family of the bridegroom by the family of the bride at the time of their marriage. ... A wedding reception is a party held after the completion of a marriage ceremony. ...

Traditional divorce process

In traditional Chinese society, there are three major ways to dissolve a marriage.

The first one is no-fault divorce. According to the legal code of Tang Dynasty (618-907), a marriage may be dissolved due to personal incompatibility, provided that the husband writes a divorce note. No-fault divorce is the dissolution of a marriage, upon petition to the court by either party, without the requirement that the petitioner show fault on the part of the other party. ... China under the Tang Dynasty (yellow) and its sphere of influence Capital Changan (618–904) Luoyang (904-907) Language(s) Middle Chinese Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 618-626 Emperor Gaozu  - 684, 705-710 Emperor Zhongzong  - 684, 710-712 Emperor Ruizong  - 904-907 Emperor Ai History  - Li...

The second way (义绝) is through a state-mandated annulment of marriage. This applies to when one spouse commits a serious crime (variously defined, usually defined more broadly for the wife) against the other or his/her clan.

Finally, the husband may unilaterally declare a divorce. To be legally recognized, however, it must be based on one of the following 7 reasons (七出):

• The wife lacks filial piety towards her in-laws (不順父母). This makes the in-laws capable of breaking a marriage against both partner’s will.
• She fails to bear a son (无子).
• She is vulgar or lewd/adulterous (淫).
• She is jealous (妒). This includes objecting to her husband taking an additional wife or concubine.
• She has vile disease (有恶疾).
• She is gossipy (口多言).
• She commits theft (窃盗).

Obviously, these reasons can be stretched quite a bit to suit the husband and his family. However there are 3 clearly defined exceptions (三不去), under which the unilateral divorce is disallowed: Filial piety is extended into the afterlife. ... A swampy marsh area ...

• She has no family to return to (有所取无所归).
• She had observed a full 3-year mourning for an in-law (与更三年丧).
• Her husband was poor when they married, and now is rich (前贫贱后富贵).

The above law about unilateral divorce was in force from Tang Dynasty to its final abolition by the government of Republic of China in 1930 Motto none Anthem National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital (and largest city) Taipei Official languages Standard Mandarin (GuóyÇ”) Demonym Taiwanese Government Semi-presidential system  -  President Chen Shui-bian  -  Vice President Annette Lu  -  Premier Chang Chun-hsiung Establishment Xinhai Revolution   -  Independence declared October 10, 1911   -  Republic established January... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Polygamy

This section discusses the social and legal aspects of polygamy, mostly polygyny (one man, multiple women), in traditional Chinese society. The traditional culture does not prohibit or explicitly encourage polygyny (except as a way to obtain male children). The term polygamy (many marriages in late Greek) is used in related ways in social anthropology, sociobiology, and sociology. ... The term polygyny (neo-Greek: poly+gune Many + Wives) is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology. ...

The scope of practice is limited by the number of available women, as well as the financial resource of the man, since he has to be able to support the women. Therefore polygyny is mostly limited to parts of the upper to middle class; while among the rest of the population monogamy can be regarded as the norm. Historical written records is probably skewed with regard to the actual prevalence of polygamy, since the elite can be safely assumed to be overrepresented in them. Faithfulness redirects here. ...

Sororate marriage

Sororate marriage is a custom in which a man marries his wife's sister(s). Later it is expanded to include her cousins or females from the same clan. The Chinese name is 娣媵 (娣=younger sister,媵=co-bride). It can happen at the same time as he marries the first wife, at a later time while the wife is still alive, or after she dies. This practice was frequent among the nobility of Zhou Dynasty, with incidences occurring at later times. Sororate marriage is the sociological custom of a man marrying (or engaging in sexual activity) with his wifes sister (rarely with her brother), usually after the wife is dead or has proved infertile. ... A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... Boundaries of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 - 771 BC) in China The Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chou Ch`ao; 1122 BC to 256 BC (ref) followed the Shang (Yin) Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China. ...

Multiple wives with equal status

• Emperors of some relatively minor dynasties are known to have multiple empresses.

• Created by special circumstances. For example, during wartime a man may be separated from his wife and mistakenly believe that she had died. He remarries, and later the first wife is found to be alive. After they are reunited, both wives may be recognized.

• Qianlong Emperor of Qing dynasty began to allow polygamy for the specific purpose of siring heirs for another branch of the family. Called "multiple inheritance" (兼祧), if a man is the only son of his father (单传), and his uncle has no son, then with mutual agreement he may marry an additional wife. A male child from this union becomes the uncle's grandson and heir. The process can be repeated for additional uncles.
  
  Beside the traditional desire for male children to carry on the family name, this allowance partially resolves a dilemma created by the emperor himself. He had recently banned all non-patrilineal forms of inheritance, while wanting to preserve the proper order in the Chinese kinship. Therefore, a couple without son cannot adopt one from within the extended family. They either have to adopt from outside (which was regarded by many as passing the family wealth to unrelated "outsiders"), or become heirless. The multiple inheritance marriages provided a way out when the husband's brother has a son.

The Qianlong Emperor (born Hongli, September 25, 1711 – February 7, 1799) was the fifth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China. ... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Territory of Qing China in 1892 Capital Shengjing (1636-1644) Beijing (1644-1912) Language(s) Chinese Manchu Mongolian Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1636-1643 Huang Taiji  - 1908-1912 Xuantong Emperor Prime Minister  - 1911 Yikuang  - 1911-1912 Yuan Shikai History  - Establishment of the Late... Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones fathers lineage; it generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Chinese kinship system is classified as a Sudanese kinship system (also referred to as the Descriptive system) used to define family. ...

Concubinage

Women in concubinage (妾) are treated as inferior, and expected to be subservient to the wife (if there is one). The women were not wedded in a ceremony, had less right in the relationship, and may be divorced arbitrarily. They generally come from lower social status or were bought as slaves. Women who had eloped may also become concubines since a formal wedding requires her parents' participation. Concubinage refers to the state of a woman or youth in an ongoing, quasi-matrimonial relationship with a man of higher social status. ...

The number of concubines is sometime regulated, which differs according to the men's rank. Emperors almost always have multiple royal concubines.

A somewhat different form of it is the so-called "two primary wives" (两头大). Traditionally, a married woman is expected to live with her husband's family. When the husband has to live away from his family, however, she has to stay with her in-laws and take care of them. A man who thus suffers chronic separation from his wife, such as a traveling merchant, may "marry" another woman where he lives and set up a separate household with her. Due to the geographical separation, the second woman often regards herself as a full wife for all practical matters, yet legally this marriage is not recognized, and she is treated as a concubine. In China specifically, in cases where the primary wife fail to have sons to prolong the last name, a secondary wife is allowed via the Sing-song girls concept by law. A Chinese surname, family name (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) or clan name (氏; pinyin: shì), is one of the hundreds or thousands of family names that have been historically used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups in mainland China, Taiwan, and among overseas Chinese communities. ... Sing Song Girls is an English term derived from westerners in China during the early 19th century. ...

This practice has influenced the recent surge of polygamy in mainland China. Since the opening of China's border in the 1970s, businessmen from Hong Kong and Taiwan started setting up "secondary wives" (二奶) in the mainland. Since then the practice has spread to local affluent men^[1].

According to Chinese criminal law, married people who leave home to live with their lovers are considered to have committed bigamy. [1]

Polyandry

Polyandry, the practice of one woman having multiple husbands, is traditionally considered immoral, prohibited by law, and uncommon in practice. However, there are incidences in which a man in poverty rents or pawns his wife temporarily. In social anthropology and sociobiology, polyandry (Greek: poly- many, andros- man) means a female forming a sexual union with more than one male. ... Morality is a complex of principles based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which an individual determines whether his or her actions are right or wrong. ...

Reference

See also

• Marriage
• Chinese culture
• Confucian view of marriage
• Chinese wedding album
• Wedding reception in Chinese societies
• Red envelope

This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... Chinese culture has roots going back over five thousand years. ... To the Confucians, marriage is of grave significance both in family and in society. ... A Chinese wedding album is an elaborate book of pictures that became a part of Chinese weddings in the late 20th century. ... A wedding reception is a party held after the completion of a marriage ceremony. ... Some examples of contemporary hong bao designs. ...

External Link

• The Chinese Marriage Custom and Costume