Marriage has undergone change during the reform and opening up period, especially as a result of new legal policies such as the New Marriage Law of 1950 and the family planning policy in place from 1979 to 2015. The major transformation in the twentieth century is characterized by the change from traditional structures for Chinese marriage, such as arranged marriage, to one where the freedom to choose one’s partner is generally respected. However, both parental and cultural pressures are still placed on many individuals, especially women, to choose socially and economically advantageous marriage partners. In 2024, China was on track to record fewer marriages since records began in 1980. In 2010, 1.96 million couples applied for divorce, representing a rate 14% higher than the previous year, and twice as high as ten years before. Despite the rising divorce rate, marriage is still thought of as a natural part of the life course and as a responsibility of good citizenship in China.
Background Traditionally, marriage life was based on the principles of the Confucian ideology. This ideology formed a culture of marriage that strove for the “Chinese family idea, which was to have many generations under one roof". Confucianism grants order and hierarchy as well as the collective needs over those of the individual. It was the maintenance of filial piety that dictated a traditional behavior code between men and women in marriage and in the lifetime preparation for marriage. The segregation of females and the education of males were cultural practices that separated the two sexes, as men and women would occupy different spheres after marriage.
“Marriage was under the near-absolute control of family elders and was considered an important part of a family's strategy for success”. The system of patrilineal succession and ancestral worship left no place for daughters within their natal family trees. Traditionally, brides became a part of their husband’s family and essentially cut ties with their natal families with special emphasis placed on a wife’s ability to produce a male heir. As arranged marriages were customary, husband and wife often did not meet each other until the day of the wedding. Married life consisted of a complex and rigid family arrangement with the role of the male to provide for the family and that of the female to care of the domestic duties within the home, as dictated by the ideas conveyed in Song Ruozhao’s Analects for Women. Although Confucianism is no longer thought of an explicit belief system in China, it has created a lasting legacy of traditional assumptions and ideas about marriage. Thus, it is still a major barrier to achieving gender equality and women’s sexual autonomy in marriage. On the other hand, the higher house prices squeeze the marriage in China. The house price plays an important role on the influence of marriage and fertility. The increasing house price leads to the lower marriage rate and cause the other serious social problems in China. For the rapid reduction of marriage and fertility, the center government should establish the policy to deal with the high house price.
Although these are common Han practices, many minority groups in China practice different marriage and family lineage practices. For example, the small ethnic minority of the Mosuo practice matrilineal succession,The Mosuo Sisters. Directed by Marlo Poras. Distributed by Women Make Movies. 2013. and for the entire process from pregnancy, childbirth, to raising a family, the wife-husband pair work together and there is little gendered division of labor in the practices of the Lahu people.
In the 1950s, the political campaign for "Five-Good Families" urged families to practice the principles of (1) "harmony between husbands and wives"; (2) "equality between men and women"; (3) "frugality in housekeeping"; (4) "solidarity among neighbors"; and (5) "honoring elders and caring for the young."
Marriage laws
In Nationalist China, a man could only have one official wife, but polygamy remained in wealthier households where a man might have an official wife (termed, big wife) and a concubine with lower status than the big wife (termed, small wife).
The minimum age for marriage in the Republic of China was 16 for women and 18 for men.
Soon after its founding, the People's Republic of China passed the Marriage Law of 1950. It prohibited concubinage and marriages when one party was sexually powerless, suffered from a venereal disease, leprosy, or a mental disorder. The law abolished arranged marriages, paying money or goods for a wife, and outlawed polygamy and child marriage. It raised the minimum age to marry to 18 for women and 20 for men. Following the passage of the 1950 Marriage Law, mass campaigns promoted the principle of freely-chosen monogamous marriages and official registration of marriage.
On September 10, 1980, the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China was adopted as the modified law code from the 1950 Marriage Law. The 1950 Marriage Law was the first legal document under the People's Republic of China to address marriage and family law. The 1980 Marriage Law followed the same format of the 1950 law, but it was amended in 2001 to introduce and synthesize a national code of family planning. This Marriage Law abolished the feudal marriage system, which included arranged marriage, male superiority, and the disregard for the interests of children.Tamney, J. B., & Chiang, L. H. (2002). Modernization, Globalization, and Confucianism in Chinese Societies. p. 133. Westport, CT: Praeger. This law also guaranteed the right to divorce and the free-choice marriage.Hershatter, G. (2007). Women in China's Long Twentieth Century. (p. 16) Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
The law was revised by a group that included the All-China Women’s Federation, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, among others. The changes introduced in the 1980 Marriage Law represent the principle transition of the traditional structure of marriage to a modern legal framework. The law enforces provisions to value that gender equality and family relations are emphasized in the reform, and is divided into four major subsections: general principles, marriage contract, family relations, and divorce.
General principles of marriage The 1980 Marriage Law stipulates that marriage is based on the freedom to choose one’s partner, the practice of monogamy, and equality of the sexes. Article 3 of the law emphasizes the freedom to choose one’s spouse by forbidding marriage decisions made by third parties and the use of money or gifts involved into the arrangement of a marriage. The law also prohibits maltreatment and desertion of family members.
The 1980 law also states that marriage must be a willing action where coercion by a third party is strictly not permitted. The age requirement for marriage is 22 years of age for men and 20 years of age for women and the 1980 law also encouraged late marriage and later child birth. This provision in the law shows a change from the 1950 law which set the age requirements at 18 and 20 for women and men respectively, showing state support of marriage at a later age.
The law bans marriage between close relatives, which is defined as lineal relatives, blood relative in the direct line of descent, and collateral relatives, such as cousins or uncles, to the third degree of relationship. Furthermore, after a marriage has been registered and a certificate for marriage is obtained, the newlyweds can freely choose to become a member of each other’s families if they so desire, meaning they are not obligated to choose one family and abandon the other as was tradition for Chinese women.
Anthropologists often identify the 1980 Marriage Law as an important turning point in the gradual shift of marriage to increasingly focus on affective ties and frameworks of romantic love.
The 1980 Marriage Law described birth planning as a national duty.
The 1980 law decriminalizes concubinage, which was strictly banned back in 1950; some lawyers believe that the sugar-baby activities or concubinage started to flourish again since early 1980s.
The 2001 Amendment of Marriage Law Article 3 bans the cohabitation between a married person with another opposite sex, again.
Family relations This section of the marriage law states that men and women are of equal status in the home and each have a right to use their own family name if they choose. Both also have the freedom to work, to engage in society, and to pursue an education where neither is allowed to restrict the other from pursuing these choices. The Law emphasizes marriage planning between the couple as well. Mistreatment of children, including infanticide or any serious harm to infants is prohibited. Property gained during a marriage belongs to both husband and wife and both have equal rights to such property. Familial relationships include the duty to support and assist each other; parents to provide for their children; and grown children have the obligation to care for their parents. This provision “[stresses] the obligation of children to care for aging parents.” Women now are not required to be obedient to or to serve their in-laws anymore, and married couples are able to have more intimate relationships.Yao, E.L. (1983). Chinese Women: Past & Present. Mesquite, TX: Ide House, Inc. p. 179. .
Children are given the freedom to choose either parent’s last name and have the right to demand the proper care from their parents. Children born out of wedlock have the same rights as children born to a married couple and the father has the duty to provide for that child. Adoption is legal and the same rights apply between adopted children and parents as with biological children.
Rights between adopted children and birth parents become null after the child has been adopted. Stepchildren should not be mistreated and have the right to the same relations between parents and children. Grandparents have the duty to care for grandchildren whose parents are deceased and grandchildren have the duty to care for grandparents whose children are deceased. Older siblings who are able to care for younger siblings that are orphaned have the duty to provide for their siblings.
Divorce Divorce can be granted when both husband and wife desire it. Both should apply for a divorce and make arrangements for children and property so a divorce certificate can be issued. Divorces initiated by one party should be taken to the people’s court and will be granted when reconciliation is not possible. This law also specifies that divorce does not cut parental ties and that those relationships should be maintained.
The 2020 Minfadian (civil code) introduced a 30-day "cool-off period" for uncontested divorces, which are handled by the Civil Affairs Bureau. This rule does not affect contested divorces handled by the court. However, the judicial system is known to habitually deny initial petitions. In one extreme case, Ning Shunhua v. Chen Dinghua, a Hunanese women took five petitions to divorce her gambling husband.
Divorce laws Divorce laws in China have undergone significant changes throughout history, reflecting the evolution of Chinese societal and cultural norms. Divorce in China has existed for at least two thousand years, yet the right to divorce was mainly available to men. Historically, there were seven grounds for a man to repudiate his wife including adultery, infertility, and disobedience to his parents. Women, on the other hand, only had three grounds to prevent such repudiation.Platte, Erika. “Divorce Trends and Patterns in China: Past and Present.” Pacific Affairs 61, no. 3 (1988): 428–45. . In the most extreme cases, a woman could only escape a marriage by running away or committing suicide.
Imperial era