The Customs And Contracts Of Marriage In Republican-era Rural Northern China

As an important component part of the social life, marriage custom is not only the reflection of the economy, politics and culture, but the ruler of the level of social change as well. It was an unprecedented social transitional period in the Republic of China time in Chinese history, all the parts of society changed at that time. But the dimensions of change were different in different areas. Rural marriage custom in North China in the Republic of China time was researched in this paper. The conflict between the engagement contract, divorce contract and marriage custom and the national law was discussed to study the changes of rural area in North China in the Republic of China time.In terms of the engagement custom, the old engagement documents, which included propose letter and grant marriage letter, were used in Rural society in North China, but the content and form were simplified. In the process of marriage contracts exchange, matchmaker also acted as the witness of marriage and the future conciliator of matrimonial dispute. Though the legal effect of marriage contract became weakened in the Republic of China time, marriage contract still had significant society effect——"faith" and "right". Besides the principle of engagement, villagers followed the principles of "dictates of parents and words of matchmakers" and "a marriage between families of equal social rank".The marriage contract is the symbol of the establishment of marriage. In contrast, the divorce contract, a letter by husband to wife announcing divorce, is the proof of the end of marriage. Litigious divorce was extremely rare in rural society in North China in the Republic of China time, a letter of divorce from villager could end a marriage, and the format and content of the letter followed the Chinese traditional patriarchal society. The cause or condition of the divorce was "seven crimes", a tradition lasted thousands of years, and the husband grabbed all the power to break a marriage. However, because of the economic factor and the reputation, divorce was rare in rural society in North China in the Republic of China time.In the Republic of China time, both conflict and mediation existed between the government regulations of marriage and the marriage custom in rural society in North China. The conflict was mainly manifested in the following aspects:engagement age, engagement effect, divorce manner, custody and alimony. But the folk marriage custom was legally recognized partly, and reformed and abolished by the national law in some aspects as well.