- Source: China Youth Daily
- Author: Ouyang Chenyu
- Time: 2024-04-26
- Visits: 455
In recent times, there have been successive significant moves in governing the issue of "high betrothal gifts". In 2020, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the "Guiding Opinions on Carrying out the Pilot Work of Marriage Custom Reform". In August 2022, eight departments including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Central Office of Civilization, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly released the "Work Plan for the Special Governance of Prominent Issues in Key Areas of Rural Custom Transformation, Such as High Betrothal Gifts and Extravagant Weddings". In November 2023, the Supreme People's Court, together with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the All-China Women's Federation, jointly held a press conference on promoting the transformation of social traditions and customs and governing high betrothal gifts, and released typical cases of the people's courts regarding betrothal gift disputes. On February 1, 2024, the "Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Betrothal Gift Disputes" came into effect, clearly stipulating that "where one party extorts property through marriage in the name of betrothal gifts and the other party requests the return of such property, the people's court shall support it", and so on.
The background for the successive introduction of these major measures is the increasingly prevalent trend of "sky-high betrothal gifts" in some places. In recent years, the amount of betrothal gifts in some places has continued to rise, which has become an important cause of contradictions and disputes in marriage and family. Zhang Jun, President of the Supreme People's Court, frankly mentioned in the work report of the Supreme People's Court this year that "in recent years, betrothal gift disputes have increased and even led to serious cases". According to statistics, in the past five years, there have been more than 20,000 civil cases involving betrothal gifts, and the amount of betrothal gifts can reach 10 times the per capita income. Serious cases such as intentional injury and intentional homicide caused by betrothal gift disputes account for 46.26% of the criminal cases caused by betrothal gifts.
From a historical perspective, betrothal gifts are not inherently wrong and are just a traditional folk custom. In the "Six Rites" marriage system established in the Western Zhou Dynasty and followed by successive dynasties, which includes "na cai (proposal with gifts)", "wen ming (asking the name of the bride)", "na ji (divination for good luck)", "na zheng (presenting betrothal gifts)", "qing qi (fixing the wedding date)", and "qin ying (escorting the bride)", "na zheng", which is presenting betrothal gifts, is equivalent to today's "betrothal gifts". Objectively speaking, betrothal gifts have a certain social and cultural foundation in many places, which is a fact that people should face up to. However, when betrothal gifts are overly contaminated with money and material things, and even a trend of comparison is formed, it will inevitably weaken their "ritual" attribute and transform them into a pure economic burden. This change makes traditional marriage customs gradually deviate from the beautiful original intention of "making a harmonious family", and becomes a catalyst for conflicts and contradictions. It is not only unfavorable to social harmony and stability but also to the cultivation and promotion of civilized social customs.
Specifically at the governance level, it is naturally not an easy task to transform social traditions and customs and completely curb the trend of "high betrothal gifts". After all, "betrothal gifts" have the characteristics of folk customs and cannot be simply banned. What's more complicated is that due to different specific situations, "betrothal gifts" cannot be simply returned either. Looking at the "Interpretation (I) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Section of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China", although it clearly defines three situations in which betrothal gifts can be returned, such as "not having completed the marriage registration", it has, to a certain extent, clarified the principles for resolving betrothal gift disputes. However, in practice, there are still a large number of situations, such as not having completed the marriage registration but having held a wedding and lived together according to local customs, and having completed the marriage registration but having lived together for a short time, which also need to be "solved" and "broken through".
To solve these difficult problems, it is necessary to start from legislation and prescribe "prescriptions" in combination with reality. The Marriage and Family Section of the Civil Code of our country clearly stipulates that "arranged or mercenary marriages and other acts of interfering with the freedom of marriage are prohibited" and "extorting property through marriage is prohibited". By examining the typical cases released by the Supreme People's Court and the relevant judicial interpretations issued, not only the basic principle of strictly prohibiting extorting property through marriage is declared, but also full respect is given to folk customs. Based on the general recognition of the local people, the scope of betrothal gifts is reasonably determined. Different factors such as the time of living together, marriage registration, and having children are fully considered, and the rights and interests of both parties are reasonably balanced, providing a "blueprint" for judicial organs at all levels. This is conducive to resolving contradictions and disputes caused by betrothal gifts within the legal track and dispelling the profit-seeking impulse surrounding betrothal gifts.
If you want a tree to grow tall, you must strengthen its roots; if you want a river to flow far, you must dredge its source. The prevalence of the trend of "high betrothal gifts" goes against the original intention of betrothal gifts and brings many family and social problems, which urgently need in-depth governance. Admittedly, transforming social traditions and customs is not an easy task, but although the road is long, it can be reached if you keep walking, and although the matter is difficult, it can be accomplished if you keep working at it. In recent years, from formulating guiding opinions and improving work plans to releasing typical cases and introducing judicial interpretations, the "wild horse" of "high betrothal gifts" is gradually being reined in by the reins of the rule of law. While governing in accordance with the law, purposefully establishing new social customs and persistently cultivating new traditions will eventually achieve the goal of "letting marriage start with love and making betrothal gifts return to their original meaning of courtesy".
By Ouyang Chenyu, Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily Client
Publication Time： 2024-04-28Reply
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特别是江西那个地方，彩礼已成为一些家庭的敛财方法，确实不可取，应当改革