Compendium of Chinese Folk Customs (Marriage)

Author: Wu Cunhao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features:
III. Current Status of Chinese Marriage Custom Research
As an important life ritual, marriage customs have attracted great attention from scholars since ancient times, leading to the study of this folk phenomenon since the advent of written records. However, throughout ancient times, research on marriage customs primarily focused on two aspects: one was the documentation of marriage customs, and the other was using marriage customs as a starting point for traditional ethics and feudal law, which consequently led to the construction of the "great separation between men and women" and the exploration of female oppression. Such research was clearly unhelpful for the deepening of Chinese marriage custom studies. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, scholars have begun to pay full attention to the marriage customs of remote regions in China, resulting in relatively detailed records of some rare marriage customs. However, these records were not only fragmented but also lacked qualitative discussions on these peculiar marriage customs. Instead, they were outrightly rejected from the perspective of feudal scholars, aligning with the feudalization trend of marriage customs in China's remote regions since the Ming and Qing dynasties.
In the modern era, scholars began to focus on the emergence, development, and evolution of Chinese marriage customs, and numerous works on the history of Chinese marriage systems were published. However, due to the lack of materials and differing perspectives of researchers, these works largely ignored the study of marriage customs in primitive society, particularly during the matriarchal era. As a result, the study of Chinese marriage customs during this period not only left many gaps but also provided incorrect interpretations of the nature of certain marriage customs.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, research on Chinese marriage customs took a winding path. In the 1950s, with the rise of folklore studies in China, marriage custom research flourished. During this period, researchers conducted comprehensive and systematic surveys of Chinese marriage customs, especially those in remote regions, leading to the publication of works such as Folklore Survey Materials of China's Ethnic Minorities. These laid a solid foundation for future in-depth studies of Chinese marriage customs. Unfortunately, due to well-known reasons, folklore studies soon fell into disfavor, and marriage custom research entered a low tide period.
After the Cultural Revolution, marriage custom research experienced a resurgence, becoming a hot topic in folklore studies. Over the past two decades, nearly 100 books and thousands of papers on Chinese marriage customs have been published, including both reference works and specialized studies, as well as comparative studies between China and the world. These works are vast and varied. Among those with high academic standards, notable works include Chen Peng's Draft History of Chinese Marriage, Zhu Ruikai's History of Chinese Marriage and Family, Bao Zonghao's Marriage Custom Culture: The Trajectory of Chinese Marriage Customs, Shang Huipeng's The Joyful Wedding Night, and Ma Zhifu's Research on Chinese Marriage Customs. These works cover both the exploration of the emergence, development, and evolution of Chinese marriage customs and in-depth studies of specific marriage customs. They rely on both literary sources and field research data, encompassing the achievements of scholars on the mainland and Taiwan. All of this fully demonstrates the prosperity of Chinese marriage custom research.
In marriage custom research, the academic achievements made after the Cultural Revolution are primarily reflected in three aspects: