People's Republic of China (PRC) law does not prohibit betrothal, but it does not recognize the validity of betrothal. In addition, the laws of China specifically stipulate that parents may not employ underage children.
Regarding the participation of the general public (non-active servicemen), we need to pay attention to the following issues:
1. Engagement is not a legal procedure for marriage.
2. The betrothed parties must reach a certain legal age for marriage (22 years for men and 20 years for women). Engagement must be voluntary by both men and women, and there must be no legal obstacles to marriage (bigamy, kinship and diseases that prohibit marriage, etc.). ).
3. The marriage contract concluded by a third party such as parents and elders is invalid, and the parties need not be bound by it.
4. The agreement entered into by both parties is based on their voluntary performance.
5. In the property dispute caused by the dissolution of the engagement, one party requests the return of the bride price. At the time of handling, the court supported the following three situations: 1. It is found that the parties concerned have not gone through the marriage registration formalities; Two, the parties went through the formalities of marriage registration, but did not live together; Three, premarital payment and lead to the payer's life difficulties.
Overview of wedding customs
Engagement, also called "Wen Ding", used to be called "Naji" and "Zheng Na". Although engagement is not as complicated as marriage, traditional customs still attach great importance to it. Both men and women need to prepare some gifts. The process is as follows:
The groom is getting married on the way!
The groom finishes the family sacrifice at home first, and then goes to the woman's house by car with the matchmaker to get married. Get off the bus and enter the door, and the red envelope will not run away!
(1) Gong Guan: commonly known as "Mr. Boxer", responsible for the appointment of gift-giving companies. Tribute officials must control the number of people (even number), vehicles (six or twelve vehicles), engagement money (even number and properly wrapped in red paper) and six gifts.
(2) Family Sacrifice: Before leaving for the woman's home, the man will hold an ancestor worship ceremony at home. At this time, he will give his ancestors a "box cake" or a big cake for harvesting. He will go to a virgin's home to take a job and ask his ancestors to bless this marriage.
(3) Departure: After the family sacrifice, the tribute officer is responsible for loading all the bride price on the car, and the groom and the matchmaker go to the woman's house together.
(4) Red envelopes: Before departure, Gong Li Palace should not only take care of the number of people, cars and bride price, but also remind the groom to prepare more red envelopes. For example, the uncle who came to open the groom's car door, the "pressing table" and the six accompanying relatives all need to prepare the bride's ceremony, the bride's new friend who washed the water and the gift of the matchmaker.
How to hire after a lifetime reservation?
You've always heard of "Marry a good husband after a full meal"! Therefore, sweet cakes should be included in the six gifts.
Besides, why prepare four-color sugar? It symbolizes the sweetness of newlyweds and the meaning of growing old together.
The bride price represents not only the man's gratitude to the woman's parents, but also the man's face. Therefore, most of them are willing to get a glamorous and decent appearance, and each dowry also contains the symbolic meaning of seeking good luck and increasing perfection.
Bridal gifts are usually divided into six simple gifts or twelve exquisite gifts. The amount of bride price is arranged according to personal budget. At the same time, we might as well ask the matchmaker for the advice of the woman's parents to achieve the best of both worlds.
Marriage between men and women officially appeared.
Bang bang! Firecrackers sounded and the married man arrived! On that day, ancestors should be worshipped, tea should be served, and rings holding hands with each other should be worn until they are old.
After the gift, how does the woman return the gift?
China people always pay attention to "reciprocity". After the man gives a big gift, the woman should also prepare a gift in return, but she can't let the man go home empty-handed.
Han nationality-marriage customs
In the past, most of the marriages of young Han people were arranged by their parents. Most of them got engaged when they were very young, and some even called their bellies marriage, that is, their parents established a marriage relationship for their children before they were born.
No marriage with the same surname: that is, men and women with the same surname do not marry each other, which began in the early Western Zhou Dynasty and was a rule left over from the Zhou people's practice of intermarriage. In the Spring and Autumn Period, people further realized that intermarriage with the same surname would cause abnormal infertility of offspring, but intermarriage with the same surname still occurred from time to time among nobles. After the Warring States Period, the surname Shi, regardless of the surname after the Han Dynasty, is often unavoidable. In the Tang Dynasty, intermarriage with the same surname followed the ancient system and was prohibited. There was a Tang law in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the same surname was reserved for marriage. The Ming and Qing dynasties had a large territory and a large population, and it was already a society based on region, replacing the clan based on blood. Therefore, the Ming law regulations and the Qing law regulations are divided into two parts: the same surname and the same clan. On the surface, it is forbidden for two people to get married. In fact, people with the same surname and different clans can get married. Calligraphy in the late Qing Dynasty merged unmarried relatives with unmarried surnames, and only intermarriage within the same clan was prohibited.
Please ask the matchmaker to propose marriage at the woman's house before engagement. When engaged, the man gives the woman some property as a "gift", and when married, the woman also brings a lot of property to the man's family, which is called "dowry".