To the

Confucians Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

is of important significance both in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

and in society.

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

described marriage as "the union of two surnames, in friendship and in love". In the perspective of family, marriage can bring families of different

surnames In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

(different clans) together, and continue the family life of the concerned clans. Therefore, only the benefits and demerits of the clans, instead of the individual couples, are concerned in a marriage. Socially, a married couple is the basic unit of the population; sometimes marriages can affect the country's political stability and international relations (especially to certain foreign tribes like

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

ns,

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

, and

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

); thus marriage can be related to

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. From the point of view of Confucian philosophy, one of the purposes of marriage is the cultivation of virtue. The Chinese have seen that marriage () should be founded on love. Ideographically, ''hūn'' () is derived from ''hūn'' (, literally means "evening" or "dusk") in ancient writings, though the former has the radical character ''nǚ'' (, literally means a female). This is because wedding ceremonies were typically performed in the evenings when ''yang'' (representing days/male) and ''yin'' (representing nights/female) cross over. was defined as the father of a man's wife (e.g. a man's

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law ...

) in ''

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren (1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title chara ...

'', ''

: Explaining Relatives'': "A daughter's husband is called a 婿 ( alt. form: 壻, xù), and a 婿's father is called a 姻 (yīn), and someone's wife's father is called a 婚 (hūn)." (in Pre-Classical Chinese) but now it generally means "marriage" in Modern

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern Standar ...

. ''Yīn'' (), on the other hand, was defined as the father of a daughter's husband in ''Erya'', but now generally means "marriage" or "relation by marriage" in Modern Chinese. The character has the same pronunciation as its phonetic component (yīn). According to ''

Shuowen Jiezi ''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the '' Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give ...

'', a

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

of ancient Chinese characters, in this character is not only a phonetic component but also means to "go to" or to "follow" one's husband. ''

'': "姻 means the husbands' home. It is where the woman goes to (因), thereby called so. It consists of 女 (female) and 因 (go to), and 因 is also phonetic." (in Pre-Classical Chinese) (Note that 婿/壻 can have different meanings depending on its context. It is defined as "husband" in ''Shuowen Jiezi''.)

Further influences on marriage

Due to the concept of

filial piety In Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Daoist ethics, filial piety (, ''xiào'') (Latin: pietas) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian ''Classic of Filial Piety'', thought to be written around the late W ...

and following rites of

propriety Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...

, marriage was a costly affair and seen as second only to

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

ceremonies. The use of a matchmaker was meant to ensure that the husband and wife were compatible with each other, but primarily worked in the families' best interests.

References

External links

Chinese Wedding Day - Order of Events
Marriage in Chinese culture Confucian ethics Confucian rites {{Confucianism-stub

Further influences on marriage

See also

References

External links