A Study On The Changes Of Contemporary Yi Women's Marriage In Western Yunnan

This thesis mainly studies the contemporary(1949-2017)marriage changes of women of Yi nationality in the west of Yunnan Province and focuses on their marriage behaviors and marriage characteristics under the background of the rapid change of Chinese society.This thesis focuses on the corresponding changes of their marriage which were adjusted to the changes of our national macroscopic politics and economic system during the past 60 years.Based on the backward of economic and social development and the node of marriage change in the town of Longtan,the process of their contemporary marriage changes is divided into three periods,including collectivized economy period(1949-1977),the early period of reform and opening up(1978-1999),and the deepening period of reform and opening up(2000-2017).On the basis of literature review,case interview,participant observation and statistical analysis,the paper is divided into six parts,which are the introduction,the four chapters in body part and the conclusion.In the introductory part,the relevant literature review is carried out,and the significance,research methods,content and innovation of the thesis are expounded.Chapter ? is about the profile of Longtan township.It introduces.the generalgeography,history,Yi ethnic origin,population distribution,livelihood,living conditions,religious belief and cultural customs there,and comprehensively interprets its geographical features and cultural background of Yi women marriage culture in Longtan.Chapter ? investigates women's marriage of Yi nationality in collectivized economy period(1949-1977).At that time,the males cannot prepare enough wedding necessities in a short time,thus the age at first marriage of the Yi women is rising from about seventeen or eighteen to about twenty.At the same time,political struggle is the main ideological line and income distribution system is based on work points.So class division and labor capacity are two important mate-selection criteria for females.The children of landlords and rich peasants suffer serious marriage squeeze for class division.The strong implementation of the Marriage Law abolished the traditional arranged marriage.Through the long-term struggle with the parents,the autonomy of marriage was gradually transferred from the parents to the marriage parties.As the social activities of women are concentrated in the neighboring villages,and most of the ethnic groups belong to the lolo branch of the Yi nationality,their intermarriage circle is mainly within the village and within the branch.Collectivized large-scale production makes the farmer in the state of general abject poverty and the marriage cost is limited,so the wedding consumables became the main color gift,and the daily necessities mainly the dowry.Influenced by political movements such as the Si-Qing movement and the Cultural Revolution,traditional marriage etiquette was abolished as a feudal relic,and simplified wedding ceremony was carried out.The state did not intervene in the form of marriage,keeping the traditional marriage forms-marrying to the family of a male partner and marrying to the family of a female partner.Chapter ? considers the marriage of Yi women in the early stage of reform and opening up(1978-1999).In that period,the average first marriage age of the Yi women in Longtan reached the legal age under the newly revised regulations of the marriage law and the family planning policy.Under the influence of the mainstream ideology of pursuing economic construction,the women of the Yi nationality in this township regard the personal ability and family economic situation as the main criteria for choosing a mate.With the impact of family-contract responsibility system,the parents' authority is further reduced.The parents transfer their right of mate-selecting to their daughters.In the market economy,with the expansion of the scope of activities,though the intermarriage circle of Yi women in Longtan is still mainly within the village and within the branch,the intermarriage crosses Yunnan province.Due to the increase in family income and the rise of women's family status,the family gradually increased the marriage funding to the daughters.The high Betrothal cash is generally converted into dowry,and the dowry is dominated by the household goods.Influenced by the policies of national regional autonomy,some traditional wedding ceremonies have been restored.Marrying to the family of a male partner and marrying to the family of a female partner are still the main marriage forms.The marriage of the women of Yi nationality in the deepening period(2000-2017)is discussed in Chapter ?.During this period,age at first marriage of Yi women in Longtan is influenced by the level of education of female and male marriage squeeze.A quarter of the women is in early marriage,another quarter is in late marriage and one half is marriageable.In the course of schooling and employment,more women in Longtan established the concept of marriage to satisfy the emotional needs.The first mate selection criterion is to satisfy their emotional needs.With the contact and communication between the women and the mainstream society of the town,the concept of marriage autonomy has been established.The range of women's social activities is further expanded,and its intermarriage circle shows the tendency of intra-Autonomous Prefecture marriage,intra-ethnic marriage and ever-increasing inter-ethnics marriage.The amount of the Betrothal cash is several times or even tens of times higher than the initial stage of reform and opening up.The dowry is usually in the form of physical objects and its value is more than twice that of the Betrothal cash.Engagement ceremony is gradually phased out,and the wedding fused the formal wedding ceremony and Yi's singing and dancing and so on.With the declining number of children within the family under the one-child policy,traditional marriage form cannot meet the need of both parties' family inheritance and supporting the aged.The marriage form which inherits and takes care of both families is approved and popularized.In the conclusion part,first of all,the author considers that in the process of social change,the new social system has a direct impact on the marriage practice and is the key power of marriage change.Social system change inevitably leads to marriage changes correspondingly.Secondly,in the mating process,geographical location has a growing influence on it,that is,the countryside is inferior to the city,and the mountain area is inferior to the dam area.The direct result is that the rural males living in the mountain area are forced to be single.Thirdly,with the marriage change of the women of Yi nationality,the social and family status of Yi female living in mountain area was enhanced gradually,which benefit from the public opinion on equality between men and women.Finally,women have a comparative advantage in the marriage market,while men are at a relative disadvantage in the case of serious sex imbalance between males and females.