[Frontiers of Migrant Work] If the betrothal gift becomes a transaction, how can you say "good luck"?

　　Chen Junyu

　　Workers Daily (Version 05, June 3, 2022)

　　It is difficult to verify when the "worship gift" that has existed since ancient times became a "bad habit".

With economic development, social changes, and changes in people's minds, the requirements and standards attached to "marriage" will always change.

　　The trend of change is acceptable, but deterioration is not acceptable.

Many migrant workers go back to the countryside to get married, and the high-priced betrothal gifts ranging from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of thousands are spoiled things.

"After decades of hard work, the first marriage returns to the poverty line" is not a joke, but a common reality.

　　When the high betrothal gifts require the government to take action, they have to reflect on what makes the betrothal gifts sour.

　　Check out a recent piece of news.

Recently, six departments including Pingxiang Civil Affairs Bureau of Jiangxi Province issued the "Implementation Plan on Curbing High-priced Betrothal Gifts and Promoting the Change of Marriage Customs", clearly opposed to high-priced betrothal gifts, and carried out special rectification actions for high-priced betrothal gifts according to local conditions, striving to achieve results in one year, and effective results in three years. Seeing a long-term effect, let the bride price return to the essence of "ceremony".

Promote zero dowry, suggesting that the dowry should not exceed 30,000 yuan.

　　One year to see results, two years to see results, three years to see long-term results, this is naturally a good wish, the effect remains to be seen.

Retrieving the news conference found that not only Pingxiang, Jiangxi, but also many places have also introduced implementation plans to rectify high-priced brides.

　　In March this year, the Civil Affairs Bureau of Qingshui County, Gansu Province, together with the Propaganda Department of the County Party Committee and the County Civilization Office, issued the "Implementation Plan for the Pilot Reform of Marriage Customs in Qingshui County" to guide the parties involved in the marriage to resist high-priced dowry gifts, large-scale weddings, extravagance and waste and other old customs and bad habits. .

Recently, Dingxi City in the province has also introduced an action plan to deal with high-priced betrothal gifts, making it clear that the wedding gift should not exceed 50,000 yuan.

　　These "guide" and "advocacy" programs are not mandatory after all, and "hydrangea" is still thrown to each specific family.

　　Dowry is an integral part of marriage customs.

The "vulgar" of marriage customs is traditional customs, public order and good customs, and should never be vulgar or vulgar.

Back to the dowry itself, we should see that the dowry is not so much money as it is the basic guarantee for the newlyweds to have a good life.

Of course, the meaning of "one in ten thousand" is also for a good luck.

　　Unfortunately, I do not know that since a certain year, there has been a wind of comparison, love has become a business, and marriage has become a market.

As a result, secret phrases such as "three jins and three taels" and "a thousand purples and a thousand reds and one green" that indicate the amount of banknotes emerge in an endless stream, and the sky-high dowry has become a heavy burden for the marriage and love of migrant workers.

　　In recent years, from the central to the local level, active efforts have been made to eliminate bad marriage customs and advocate healthy and civilized marriage customs.

In 2020, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the "Guiding Opinions on Carrying out the Pilot Work of the Reform of Marriage Customs", and carried out the rectification of unhealthy practices such as sky-high bride price, extravagance and waste, vulgar marriages, and casual comparisons, in order to promote the improvement of social atmosphere.

Correspondingly, in the past two years, many places across the country have become experimental areas for the reform of marriage customs.

　　Agreeing with a scholar's point of view, he said: "Changing customs is not a matter of a while. Marriage is also a way to communicate feelings between relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbors. It cannot be completely denied and cannot be one-size-fits-all. If you want to have a policy , regulations can eliminate it, which is not realistic, the effective way is to limit it.”

　　In the face of the change of concept, the administrative hand will not quickly and easily achieve results.

For a certain system to survive, it often requires certain concepts to support it.

And the concept that is deeply rooted in people's hearts naturally takes time to settle.

　　A happy marriage will tell people that the betrothal gift does not represent anything, it is more of an attitude of both parties towards marriage, and the amount of the betrothal gift does not represent the quality of life in the future.

Therefore, it is undoubtedly too hasty to judge whether it is true love only by the betrothal gift. The betrothal gift has become a transaction. How can you say "good luck"?