Study On Uxorilocal Marriage Of Tujia Minority In Hefeng Pingshan Community

The uxorilocal marriage is a kind of marriage form that the man marries at the wife's home and becomes a member of the wife's family. In traditional rural society,as it strictly maintained patrilineal family system,the wedded marriage plays a leading role, while the uxorilocal marriage is uncommon. However, the uxorilocal marriage has been prevailing at Pingshan community in Hefeng county. This custom is the composite of Tujia historic, geographic, ethnic and other elements, it reflects the diversity of Tujia culture. Based on field survey data and historical documents, using the relevant theory of cultural anthropology and ethnology, this paper shows the history and current situation of uxorilocal marriage in Pingshan community in Hefeng County and analyzes the the reason for its long prevailing .The uxorilocal marriage in Pingshan developed tenaciously from Qing Dynasty to the modern society. Before the Qing Dynasty, there is no paternal ancestral in Pingshan community, the gender was equal and the marriage form was quite free, the women can be married to the man, and the man can also live in the woman'home, so the uxorilocal marriage was very popular at this time. However, it was opposited strongly by Liu-guan system of Han nationality. Under the influence of Chinese culture, they rebuild their cultural systems and rites, but because of traditional ideas, they are still excluded Han patrilineal kinship system and maintain the uxorilocal marriage .After the founding of New China, the uxorilocal husband's position was recognized in the new marriage law. The people take the uxorilocal marriage as their unique custom, stand for marriage freedom and gender equality.The status of women in Pingshan is relatively high, they can continue the family name , take care of elderly parents and inherit family property as man. Compared with the local wedding marriage, the uxorilocal marriage has more simple wedding ceremony, less expensive consumption and more harmonious family relations. And compared to the Han areas, the uxorilocal son in Pingshan has higher status, the established condition of marriage is more relaxed and the procedure is easier.The first part is preface. It introduces the context and the significance of the research, the predecessors'research results and the research methods in this paper . The second part describes some detail information in Pingshan community. The third part describes the historical evolution of uxorilocal marriage in Pingshan community. The fourth part describes the characteristics of uxorilocal marriage in Pingshan community. The fifth part is the conclusion and discussion , analysis the reason of this marriage patterns in Ping Shan for a long term and forecast its development trend, so it should be implemented throughout the Tujia society . The writer holds the opinion that the uxorilocal marriage is an important marriage pattern in Pingshan, not compensate for the incomplete of the wedding ceremony marriage .Its long existence is mainly because of the equality of the sexes and the local traditional concept of paternal clan which is not strong. Besides, it is connected with the adaptation to the local community and the structure and function played in Ping- shan community. It meets the various needs of the people and maintains the integration and orderly state of the community. As Marriage and the special features, we should implement this marriage patterns in the whole Tujia society.