Chinanews client, Beijing, September 25 (Zhang Yilin) Recently, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced that 17 regions have been confirmed as the second batch of national marriage customs reform experimental areas, further expanding the coverage of marriage customs reform pilots, and eliminating outdated customs such as sky-high price gifts.
Highly-priced gifts, vulgar marriages, extravagance and waste...In recent years, bad habits in marriages in some places are not uncommon, which not only bring economic and living burdens to families, but also have a negative impact on social atmosphere.
How to change customs, change bad habits of marriage, and truly "lighten the burden" for love?
Data map: On the morning of May 20, a new couple who took a selfie with a certificate outside the Marriage Registry of Haidian District, Beijing.
Photo by Tomita
17 places are listed as the second batch of experimental areas for marriage customs reform
A few days ago, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the "Approval of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on agreeing to confirm the Feixiang District of Handan City, Hebei Province as the Second Batch of National Marriage Reform Experimental Zones", and agreed to confirm 17 units as the second batch of national marriage reform experimental zones. The experiment will last for three years, from September 2021 to September 2024.
The 17 units include: Feixiang District, Handan City, Hebei Province, Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, Hongshan District, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Fengxian District, Shanghai, Binhu District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, Sanmen County, Zhejiang Province, Hefei, Anhui Province Baohe District and He County, Fujian Province, Wuyishan City, Jiangxi Province, Guixi City, Jiangxi Province, Huangdao District and Yishui County, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, Wuchang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, Chengzhong District, Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Qionghai City, Hainan Province City, Yanchi County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Toutunhe District, Urumqi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs requires that the experimental area should, in accordance with the requirements of the relevant policy documents of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on the pilot work of reforming marriage customs, vigorously promote the migration of customs in the marriage field, curb unhealthy marriage customs, and continuously improve the civilized level of the entire society and the spiritual outlook of the masses.
In April this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs also confirmed 15 places including Hejian City in Hebei Province, Qingshan District in Baotou City in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jining District in Ulan Qab City as experimental areas for marriage customs reform.
Data map: The marriage registration authority handles marriage registration for the newlyweds.
Marriage customs reform measures blossom everywhere
In fact, my country has issued a series of documents and measures aimed at the reform of marriage customs, and various localities are also actively promoting the reform of marriage customs.
In May last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Pilot Reform of Marriage Customs." Li Bibi waits for the remediation of unhealthy trends.
This year, the Central Government’s No. 1 document once again mentioned, “increase the governance of bad practices such as high-priced gifts, comparison of favors, thick burial and thin support, extravagance and waste, feudal superstition, etc.”.
In addition to the national level, many policies and measures to standardize marriage customs have also blossomed in areas that were listed as the first batch of national marriage customs reform pilots.
For example, in terms of standardizing sky-high beauties, Ningling County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province has generally included marriage and funeral customs regulations into the village rules and regulations, advocating that the beauties should not exceed 30,000 yuan, and the red ceremonies should not exceed 350 yuan per table.
Jining District, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has also written marriage customs into the village rules and folk conventions and residents' conventions, and advocates no more than 8 vehicles for welcoming relatives.
In terms of marriage and family counseling services, Jianye District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province employs experienced social workers, marriage and family counselors, lawyers and other professionals to provide pre-marital counseling and divorce mediation services for marriage parties.
The Baiyun District and Nansha District of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province have set up "family post" in the marriage registry to provide psychological support and legal assistance to the public.
In addition, in order to enhance the sense of ceremony of the wedding, the Marriage Registry of Qingshan District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia moved the registration site to the grassland in the city on the "520" day of this year. It not only held a lawn wedding for the newlyweds, but also created a unique registration. Atmosphere.
In addition, in some areas, marriage registration windows are still requiring people who register marriages to sign a proposal for "Resisting Vulgar Marriage" to encourage a new style of civilized wedding celebrations.
Data map: newlyweds wearing wedding dresses to register their marriage.
Photo by Yang Jifeng
Expert: Marriage customs reform cannot be "one size fits all"
"Buddle House Flower Night" has always been regarded by the Chinese as one of the four great events in life. Marriage customs are also valued by many regions and families as the "conventional" rules and rituals in the marriage process.
However, it is not uncommon for high-stakes wedding gifts, exotic weddings, and grand weddings to be extravagant and wasteful. This not only makes the solemn and holy marriage more streamlined, vulgar and materialized, but may also impose a heavy financial burden on the family. It even has a negative impact on social ethos.
On the 17th, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs Zhan Chengfu said that in recent years, bad habits in marriage in some places have become a serious burden for the masses and have been criticized by all sectors of society.
He introduced that the Ministry of Civil Affairs has selected a number of experimental areas for reforming marriage customs, advocating the concept of marriage and love of "we are in the same boat through storms and hardships, sharing responsibility, mutual respect and mutual love", and promoted the introduction of the experimental areas to curb sky-high price gifts, curb large-scale operations, and curb extravagance and waste. And other bad customs, to guide the masses to consciously reduce the burden on love.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs also stated that in the next step, it will continue to strengthen the guidance of the experimental area for the reform of marriage customs, summarize and promote the innovative experience of the experimental area for the reform of the marriage customs, get rid of the old rules and bad habits such as high-priced beauties, and actively build a new marriage and childbirth culture.
Li Mingshun, the vice chairman of the Chinese Society of Marriage and Family, told the media recently that the time has come to change customs and customs, such as marriage troubles, sky-high price gifts, and grand banquets.
However, in the opinion of experts, marriage customs are customs and habits. Change requires a process and requires the guidance of correct values.
Tan Fang, deputy director of the Marriage and Family Law Professional Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association and director of the Marriage and Family Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society, also said that the reform of marriage customs must grasp the standards, and the corresponding systems and legal guarantees need to be kept up in time.
"Bad marriage customs are not formed overnight, and we must not rashly adopt rough measures such as'one size fits all' or deadline rectification. We should also proceed step by step and adjust measures to local conditions." Tan Fang said.
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