A Research On Marital Payment Problem In Rural Area Of Eastern China

Based on a common village——the S village of Lin Qu county, Wei Fang city,in the middle of Shandong Peninsula as an example,the research mainly used social questionnaire,depth interview method of anthropology to study the marital payment of the village in60years.The marital payment had been internalized into thinking and behavior of farmers.It was a mirror,reflected the social and cultural vicissitudes in rural areas.Marital payment was not only restricted by the social structure but also reflected the initiative of the participants in the dynamic process of practice.Through a diachronic study of marital payment practice,the research revealed the process and status of social and cultural vicissitudes in rural areas and explored the vicissitudes of rural life.The research was mainly studied from three aspects.The first was presented the marital payment vicissitudes of S village in the dimension of time,refering to different participants of marital payment.Marital payment included the foundational economical payment,the behavioral payment,the belief payment and the tool payment.The second was the conflicts and adjustments in marital payment vicissitudes.Marital payment vicissitudes easily leaded to collisions and conflicts,which often existed between parents, newlyweds and parents,newlyweds.Confronted with the conflicts,participants were not negative,but positive adjusted their own behaviors.The alternative strategies of marital payment were "the presence of a matchmaker"and "love payment to reduce marital payment".In addition,the resources the family of bridegroom and bridegroom,the family of bride and bridegroom,newlyweds feelings were the action support in marital payment adjustment.They hidden in marital payment vicissitudes.The factor of newlyweds feelings increasingly played an important role in the action framework.Finally,there was the influence factors of marital payment vicissitudes.Newlyweds factors,parents factors, socio-cultural factors intertwined to affect the marital payment vicissitudes. Acceleration of social mobility and lack of resource of women were impacted on the marital payment of newlyweds.Changing of income and family size affected marital payment behaviors of parents. At the same time,the role of reference groups and popular culture can not be ignored.By marital payment practice of S village,the research drew the following conclusions:with the social vicissitudes,the amount of payment increased,the form of marital payment growed monetization,the input of bride’s family continued to strengthen,the bride’s family,which provided the "indirect dowry",had changed to offer "direct dowry".Flow direction of payment transformed into a more balanced two-way mode from the previous one-way unbalanced circulation patterns gradually,that was, form the unilateral way between the family of bridegroom and bride to the way of two families mutual fund new family.Marital payment vicissitude process was also the bride and her family status rising process.The marital payment vicissitude was the result of the parties continuous game and constantly adaptation,in this process,the power of newlyweds rised.