Between Ideal And Reality:The Practice And Transition Of Marriage Law In Fujian Province In The Early Days After The Founding Of The PRC

The Movement of the Implementation of Marriage Law was put into effect by the CPC from 1950 to 1953.The new Marriage Law was aimed at establishing a new society featuring the freedom of marriage,and abolishing the feudal marriage system represented by arranged and mercenary marriages where men were superior to women.This paper focuses on the dynamic implementation of the Marriage Law in Fujian Province.Firstly,this paper emphasizes the timeline of 1949 and describes the practice of marriage system carried out in Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region by the CPC to demonstrate the diversity and complexity of marriage laws in practice.Secondly,this paper studies the controversy and logic in the enactment of Marriage Law to reveal the urgency of revolutionary ideal and the tendency of implementation in the early period.Finally,by means of analyzing opinions of cadres at the basic level and the masses,the author holds that the stress laid before and after the implementation of the Marriage Law was obviously different.With reference to relative papers and books of marital laws and policies,introduction of controversy in its enactment and specific legal practice,plus a review of the era when the Marriage Law was conducted,we can get hold of the logic and structure of the Marriage Law implementation in Fujian Province in the early days after the founding of the PRC.To summarize,the author holds that the Movement of the Implementation of Marriage Law primarily attached importance to “marriage freedom” in the early period but shifted its attention to “family togetherness” later,which proves opinions collected from grassroots are not prejudice but authentic reflections of the marriage policies and practice.The practice of marriage policies in turn exerted influence on the implementation of new marriage policies.From this perspective,public opinions collected during the movement constituted an important part of political participation in the early days of New China.In addition,studies on the Movement of the Implementation of Marriage Law from 1950 to 1953 is conducive for us to learn from lessons in the past and promote reforms of the marriage system nowadays.