A Study On The Phenomenon Of Contemporary Bride Price In Shandong Rural Areas(1949-2020)

The contemporary rural bride price has been a continuous concern among official,private,and academic circles.It provides a critical lens through which to examine the state and society,tradition and modernity,and history and reality.This thesis takes the contemporary rural betrothal gift phenomenon in Shandong as a starting point and systematically explores the historical changes in the rural bride price phenomenon after the founding of New China.From the perspective of the interaction between the government and the people,this thesis analyzes archival data of official marriage bride price and field data of folk bride price to provide a historical reference for better understanding and addressing the rural bride price issue today.Over the past 70 years,the bride price in rural Shandong has undergone significant historical changes,with the new state regime persistently intervening through marriage legislation,judicial practice,and changing customs.In terms of marriage legislation,the principle of prohibiting the demand for bride price has remained unchanged from the revolutionary war period’s marriage regulations to the marriage law after the founding of New China,aiming to dilute arranged sale and purchase of brides.Regarding judicial practice,the judgment on asking for bride price has evolved from being considered a sale or disguised sale in the beginning to "not a sale" after the reform and opening-up.Similarly,the handling of the return of bride price has shifted from "in principle,no request for return" to "discretionary handling according to the actual situation" in the early stages of reform and opening-up and is now supported since the new century.Although there has been a change from forcefully"breaking the old and bracing the new" to gradually "changing the custom" in the bride price practice,the investigation and research,organization and mobilization,publicity and education,and economic development initiatives continue to this day.The intervention of the state has had a significant impact on the bride price in rural areas,resulting in notable changes.Names and categories of bride price continued to increase until after the reform and opening up,but were later simplified.Meanwhile the matchmaking gift and seasonal gift are considered as reflections of marriage autonomy.As parties to a marriage become involved in the bride price agreement,the bride price is not only a "compensation"for the woman’s parents,but also a guarantee for the woman’s life after marriage.Since the bride price has increasingly been flowing mainly to the newlyweds’ families,the implication of mercenary marriage has notably diminished.In terms of the quantity of bride price,it has generally become more in number.Since the reform and opening-up,the bride price has seen a continuous rise,which has sparked widespread discussions on the topic.However,high bride price has always existed to varying degrees in rural areas.Regarding the composition of the bride price,the specific forms of money and goods has undergone great changes.Among them,the item-based bride price mainly covers clothing,food,housing,transportation and other basic necessities of life while the money-type bride price covers various aspects such as meeting on a blind date,engagement,and seasonal gifts.To conclude,the composition of the bride price has changed from "material" during the collectivization period to "property" after the reform and opening-up.Looking at the history of the change of the bride price in rural Shandong since the founding of New China,we should,on the one hand,acknowledge the fact that the mercenary and arranged marriage has gradually disappeared under the intervention of the state,so as to promote the solution of the bride price issue in rural areas with the times.On the other hand,we should take the solution of bride price as a systematic project,not only to regulate and adjust the nature of bride price and return of bride price on marriage legislation and judicial level,but also to promote the change of customs of bride price in the countryside through investigation and research,publicity and education,organization and mobilization,and improvement of rural economy.