1950 Marriage Law of People's Republic of China

Back Cover - Page 14

The Marriage Law of 1950 guarantees everyone the freedom to choose his or her marriage partner. Nevertheless, especially in the countryside, there are few opportunities to meet potential mates. Rural China offers little privacy for courtship, and in villages there is little public tolerance for flirting or even extended conversation between unmarried men and women. Introductions and go-betweens continue to play a major role in the arrangement of marriages. In most cases each of the young people, and their parents, has an effective veto over any proposed match.

In the past, marriage was seen as the concern of families as well as of the two parties to the match. Families united by marriage were expected to be of equivalent status, or the groom's family to be of somewhat higher status. This aspect of marriage patterns has continued while the definitions of status have changed. Because inherited wealth has been eliminated as a significant factor, evaluation has shifted to estimates of earning power and future prosperity. The most desirable husbands have been administrative cadres, party members, and employees of large state enterprises. Conversely, men from poor villages have had difficulty finding wives. From the early 1950s to the late 1970s, when hereditary class labels were very significant, anyone with a "counterrevolutionary" background, that is, anyone previously identified with the landlord or even rich peasant class, was a bad prospect for marriage. Such pariahs often had no choice but to marry the offspring of other families with "bad" class backgrounds. At the other end of the social scale, there appears to be a high level of intermarriage among the children of high-level cadres.

The modification of the Marriage Law passed in 1980 was part of a policy to regulate the country through law, to enhance morals and to protect people's rights regarding marriage and the family, thus safeguarding the common interests of society as a whole by consolidating socialist rules on marriage. In October 1995, the 16th Conference of the Standing Committee of the eighth National People's Congress resolved to modify the Marriage Law. Under the leadership of the Leading Branch, a Marriage Law was drafted. The draft was submitted to the 18th, 19th, and 21st Conference of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress for examination and approval, and adopted by the 21st Conference of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress on 28 April 2001. The amendment extensively modifies the former Marriage Law, mainly in the areas of monogamy, domestic violence, void and voidable marriage, matrimonial property, divorce and its consequences, protective measures, and liability.