Family and Marriage Law

Author: Sun Bin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Overview of Marriage and Family
Marriage and family are products of human society's development to a certain stage. They are forms of superstructure that arise on a certain economic foundation, used to confirm and regulate marital and family relationships. Therefore, they are neither eternal nor unchanging. As a special social relationship characterized by sexual union and blood ties, and centered on shared living, the nature, content, and functions of marriage and family ultimately depend on the mode of production of material means. In legal research, marriage and family are distinguished between a broad and a narrow sense. Broadly speaking, marriage and family refer to various forms of marital and family structures experienced since primitive society, including group marriage, promiscuous marriage, and monogamy in class societies. Narrowly speaking, marriage and family refer only to individual marital and family units of monogamy in "civilized" societies.
Overview of Marriage
(1) The Concept of Marriage
The term "marriage" has multiple meanings and is understood differently in various eras and societies.
1. The Concept of Marriage in Ancient Times
Justinian's General Principles of Law in ancient Rome advocated: "Marriage is the union of men and women, encompassing an inseparable way of life." In ancient China, the term "" (hūnyīn) originated from "" (hūnyīn). "" (hūn) was originally a temporal concept. In the Commentary on the Rites of Zhou, Kong Yingda noted: "The ceremony of taking a wife is scheduled for twilight, hence the name. The term 'hūn' is used because it implies 'the male comes in the daytime and the female goes out at night.' The time when the sun sets is two and a half half-hours after midnight, which is considered twilight." Thus, wedding ceremonies were originally held at dusk, but later evolved into a behavioral concept. "" (yīn), according to the Shuowen Jiezi, means "to approach" or "to join." Because "the groom arrives at twilight and the bride departs after his arrival," the groom was called "" (hūn), and the bride was called "" (yīn). In other words, after the formal establishment of a marital relationship, the husband was referred to as "" (hūn), while the wife was referred to as "" (yīn).
2. The Concept of Marriage in Modern Times
…Since the forms and content of marriage have evolved along with human society and vary across different cultural backgrounds, people of the same era may have distinct interpretations of marriage. Therefore, defining the term "marriage" is a subject of diverse opinions, with no consensus.