The New Marriage Law (also First Marriage Law, ) was a

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

law passed in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on May 1, 1950. It was a radical change from existing patriarchal Chinese marriage customs, and needed constant support from

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

campaigns. It has since been superseded by the Second Marriage Law of 1980. It was formally repealed by the

Civil Code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

in 2021.

Origins

Marriage reform was one of the first priorities of the

when it was established in 1949.

Women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

were a personal interest of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

(as indicated by his statement: "Women hold up half the sky"), and had been a concern of Chinese intellectuals since the

New Culture Movement The New Culture Movement was a progressivism, progressive sociopolitical movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. Participants criticized many aspects of traditional Chinese society, in favor of new formulations of Chinese culture inform ...

in the 1910s and 1920s. Traditionally, Chinese marriage had often been arranged or forced,

concubinage Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

was commonplace, and women could not seek a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

Implementation

The new marriage law was enacted in May 1950, delivered by Mao Zedong himself. It provided a

civil registry Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in diffe ...

for legal marriages, raised the marriageable age to 20 for males and 18 for females, and banned marriage by proxy; both parties had to consent to a marriage. It immediately became an essential part of

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, as women in rural communities stopped being sold to

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

s. The official slogan was: "Men and women are equal; everyone is worth his (or her) salt." Following the passage of the 1950 Marriage Law, mass campaigns promoted the principle of freely-chosen monogamous marriages and official registration of marriage.As a result of yearly propaganda campaigns from 1950 to 1955 to popularize the law, more than 90% of marriages in China were registered, and thereby were considered to be compliant with the New Marriage Law. Nonetheless, Women's Federation reports indicated instances of violence when women attempted to exercise the rights to divorce granted to them by the law: The Shaanxi Women's Federation, for example, counted 195 instances of death related to marriage cases by the end of 1950 in that province. As a method of implementation, the Women's Federation promoted and organized "Marriage Law Month" in 1953, as an attempt to dampen the conflict which followed the law's passing. Songs and operas were performed, to show the downfall of the "old ways".

Effect on marriage registration

The New Marriage Law that was established also had a new effect on the registration system that existed in China. The law provided equality not only for women, but also warranted partners to have free choice in terms of marriage. Under the new law, the system allowed officials to reject marriages that were found to be forced, such as

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

, children and infants, and those forced by patriarchs. The couple who married would be the only authorized party to register. The system would help build a new expectation for Marriages, by allowing citizens to play a role in setting healthy standards and helping to build a new society that would be very different from the past.NIIDA, N. (1964), LAND REFORM AND NEW MARRIAGE LAW IN CHINA. The Developing Economies, p. 6-10

Impact

China's divorce rate, though lower than in the

Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

, is increasing. Chinese women also have increased financial importance in the household. There is historical debate over the effectiveness of the New Marriage Law in terms of the state's commitment to the policy, and therefore its success.

Second Marriage Law

The New Marriage Law was updated in 1980 by the Second Marriage Law, or Revised Marriage Law (RML), which liberalized divorce, bolstered the

one-child policy The one-child policy ( zh, c=一孩政策, p=yī hái zhèngcè) was a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1979 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. The progr ...

, and instructed the courts to favor the interests of women and children in property distribution in

. The law was revised and led by Chinese politician

Kang Keqing Kang Keqing (K'ang K'e-ching; ; September 7, 1911 – April 22, 1992) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. As a teenager, she joined the Chinese Red Army, fighting with the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese Civil War and participa ...

after a large amount of conflict surrounding the first law. It was changed two years after Keqing's involvement. Key changes included: *

Domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

– Changes from traditional norms where outside interference was not permitted. Now law enforcement will and can be involved in order to sue for money or justice. *Abandonment – With many members of families moving away for work, most do not return to care for their family. The Revised Marriage Law expands on who cares for the needy family member from just parents and children to three generations of family. A clause is stated that government help is only offered if no other option is available. *

Divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

– More possible reasons can result in a divorce, formally decided by a judge or a leader of a work unit. Now reasons for divorce can include domestic violence, addictions from drugs, gambling, cheating, or bigamy. *The age of a woman to get married was set to 20. As for a male, the legal age is 22. *All marriages that are under the rules of polygamy were considered to be illegal. However, the marriages that were intact before the new law were able to stay intact. *All marriages that were considered to be medically unfit were not allowed. These situations include a person that was unfit to care for themselves. For example,

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

is included in this law. *A marriage will become legally official when the court approves it, and no marriage ceremony is required. *Now the choice for the husband to join the wife's family is an option, as is the wife joining the husband's. This sub-law is set to promote the equality between male and female children. Article 28 of the 1980 Marriage Law also formalizes duties from younger generations to older, and from older generations to younger: The let-out clauses in the law ("who can afford it") are applied generously. By applying equally to "grandparents or maternal grandparents," the law also formalizes the rejection of the traditional preference for the paternal grandmother. That traditional cultural preference had disintegrated following the Communist success in the Chinese civil war. Further updates in 1983 formalized the legal procedure for marriages between Chinese citizens and foreign nationals. The Second Marriage Law was also amended in 2001 to outlaw married persons'

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

with a third party, aimed at curbing a resurgence of concubinage in big cities.

References

External links

China Divorce and Separation: The Basics (Article)

/nowiki>] {{SexGenderPRChina Women's rights in Asia Social change Campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party Marriage, unions and partnerships in China Laws of China 1950 in Chinese law