Chinese Marriage Law
Oriental marital observances were rich and varied throughout the thousands of years of Chinese history and the wide expanses of the provinces. Each village had customs peculiar to themselves, but the basic fundamental of aligning two families, their bloodlines and their wealth remained constant. Today, Chinese marriage law is just as complex and laden with rules as traditional Chinese weddings. However, young couples can now choose their partners.
Other People Are Reading
-
History
-
Marital observances in contemporary China were set in law by the People's Republic of China by Chairman Mao in 1950 when he decreed that "All marriages are to be based on the free consent of men and women." The current set of laws were adopted September 10, 1980 at the Third Session of the Fifth National People's Congress and were amended April 28, 2001 at the 21st Session of the Ninth Congress.
Function
-
Pre-communist China, oriental marital observances treated women as chattel and rarely gave consideration to the choices of the individuals being married. China experienced an imbalance between the haves and the have-nots, peasants were suppressed by greedy land-owners, female babies were murdered because families could not afford the dowries. The marriage law was instituted to break the allegiances formed by powerful families and oppression of women.
-
Contents
-
Traditional Chinese weddings are still performed once every Chinese marriage law is observed. They are complex. There are six chapters in the document: General Provisions, Marriage Contract, Family Relations, Divorce, Succor Measure and Legal Liability, and Supplementary Provisions. This is, as stated in Article 1, "the Fundamental code governing marriage and family relations." Regardless of cultural tradition, the marriage code must be upheld as law.
Chinese Marriage Law Basic Components
-
The General Provisions include the practice of monogamy, gender equality, family planning and abolition of paid third-party marriage arrangements, while protecting the rights of women, children and the elderly. It is against the law to live with someone outside your marital contract, to maltreat or abandon your partner. The Chinese male must be 22 years of age or older and the female 20.
Marriage Contract
-
Once the couple has conformed to the law, processed their registration for marriage and received the marriage certificate, they are married. An actual ceremony or traditional wedding is not necessary. The contract is rendered invalid at any time that one of the partners practices bigamy, if the couple is blood related up to the third degree, if there is a prior medical condition that classifies one of the parties as unfit for marriage or if one of the parties is unfit for some other reason.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit happy wedding image by chinatiger from Fotolia.com
