The
New Marriage Law was a
civil marriageCivil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
law passed in the
People's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
on May 1, 1950. It was a radical change from existing patriarchal
Chinese marriageTraditional Chinese marriage 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....
traditions, and needed constant support from
propagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
campaigns. It was superseded by the Second Marriage Law of 1980.
Origins
Marriage reform was one of the first priorities of the
People's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
when it was established in 1949.
Women's rightsWomen's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
was a personal interest of
Mao ZedongMao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's, and a common issue for
Chinese intellectualsThe current status of Chinese intellectuals reflects traditions established in the imperial period. For most of this period, government officials were selected from among the literati on the basis of the Confucian civil service examination system. Intellectuals were both participants in and critics...
since the
New Culture MovementThe New Culture Movement of the mid 1910s and 1920s sprang from the disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture following the failure of the Chinese Republic, founded in 1912 to address China’s problems. Scholars like Chen Duxiu, Cai Yuanpei, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, and Hu Shi, had...
in the 1910s and 1920s.
Chinese marriageTraditional Chinese marriage 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....
up until this time was often
arrangedAn arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
or
forcedForced marriage is a term used to describe a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will...
,
concubinageConcubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
was commonplace, and women could not seek
divorceDivorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.
Implementation
The new marriage law was enacted in May 1950, delivered by Mao Zedong himself. It provided a
civil registryCivil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database is called civil register or registry, or population registry. The primary purpose of civil registration is to create legal documents that are used to...
for legal marriages, raised the marriageable age to 20 for males and 18 for females, and banned marriage by proxy; both parties had to consent to a marriage. It immediately became an essential part of
land reform[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
as women in rural communities stopped being sold to
landlordA landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
s. The official slogan was "Men and women are equal; everyone is worth his (or her) salt". As a result of yearly
propaganda campaignsPropaganda in the People's Republic of China as interpreted in Western media refers to the Communist Party of China's use of propaganda to sway public and international opinion in favor of its policies. Domestically, this includes censorship of proscribed views and an active cultivation of views...
from 1950 to 1955 to popularize the law, more than 90% of marriages in China were registered, and thereby were considered to be compliant with the New Marriage Law.
Impact
China's divorce rate, though lower than in the
Western countriesThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, is increasing. Chinese women also have increased financial importance in the household. Some contemporary critics argue that the New Marriage Law has made the nature of marriage in China more materialistic.
Updates
The New Marriage Law was updated in 1980 by the Second Marriage Law, which liberalized divorce, introduced the
one-child policyThe one-child policy refers to the one-child limitation applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China . The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy...
, and instructed the courts to favor the interests of women and children in property distribution in
divorceDivorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. Further updates in 1983 legalized marriage with foreigners and
interracial marriageInterracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
. It was amended in 2003 to outlaw married persons'
cohabitationCohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
with a third party, aimed at curbing a resurgence of concubinage in big cities. Recognition of same-sex marriage has been repeatedly proposed but not adopted as of yet.
See also
- Women in the People's Republic of China
Since 1949, the government of People's Republic of China has actively promoted the social, economic and political roles of women in society. While advancing progress in promoting equality among men and women, the efforts met resistance in a traditionally Neo-Confucian society of male...
- Globalization and women in China
The study of the impact of globalization on women in China examines the role and status of Chinese women relative to the political and cultural changes that have taken place in the 20th century as a consequence of globalization...
- All-China Women's Federation
The All-China Women's Federation is an organization of women established in China in March 1949. It was constructed as a mass organization supported by the Communist Party of China, and based on Marxist theory...