It is advocated that the betrothal gift should not exceed 50,000 yuan, and the follow-up gift should not exceed 300 yuan.
Longyan Court insists on using judicial assistance to solve the problem of high betrothal gifts
Investigate motives
In recent years, the issue of "sky-high price betrothal gifts" has frequently appeared in the news, triggering heated discussions in society. Betrothal gifts that often cost hundreds of thousands of yuan not only place a heavy burden on the family and affect the quality of life of the couple after marriage, but also lead to mutual comparison and damage to the social atmosphere. Public calls for "reducing the burden" of love are growing increasingly louder.
Once upon a time, Longyan City in Fujian Province was also troubled by "sky-high price betrothal gifts". As one of the main gathering places for Hakkas in Fujian, 80% of the population in Longyan City is Hakka. Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to wedding customs, and the amount of betrothal gifts has also increased. People in some counties equate the amount of betrothal gifts with the size of the family's reputation. Locals joke that the custom of high betrothal gifts is "notorious."
In response to this problem, Longyan Court has always insisted on using judicial assistance to solve the problem of high betrothal gifts, introduced a series of innovative measures, and achieved positive results. On February 1 this year, the "Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Betrothal Disputes" was officially implemented. By clarifying the adjudication rules, it helps guide the people to view the issue of betrothal gifts more rationally.
How can the judiciary help crack down on the "sky-high price of betrothal gifts"? The reporter went deep into Longyan to conduct investigations and interviews.
□ Reporter Wang Ying
"In the past, villagers were most afraid of two things. One was returning to poverty due to illness, and the other was returning to poverty due to marriage." When they came to Linghe Village, Caixi Town, Shanghang County, Longyan City, Fujian Province, the villagers heard that a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" came to interview the bride price Many people gathered around and said, "Although everyone knows that high betrothal gifts are a heavy burden, no one wants to be the first to lower the 'price' for fear of losing face."
Now, under the guidance of the local court and taking the lead of party members and cadres, the villagers have voluntarily written in black and white the prohibition of high betrothal gifts into the village rules and regulations.
This is just a microcosm of the judicial assistance of Longyan Court to solve the problem of high-value bride price management.
In recent years, Longyan Court has actively built a "five-link and four-modernization" litigation source governance system, mobilizing grassroots judges, people's congress deputies, CPPCC members, village cadres, mediators and other parties to use village rules and regulations to guide and village judges to investigate Measures such as , judicial advice and consultation, and typical case demonstrations can effectively solve the problem of managing high-value betrothal gifts and "reduce the burden" for love.
Renowned for high betrothal gifts
Divorce leads to property disputes
"Such high betrothal gifts deviate from the core values of socialism and are stereotypes and bad habits that should be abandoned in the new era and new trends..." At the end of October 2023, two village committees in Taoxi Town, Wuping County, Longyan City received reports on the same day. The judicial proposal sent by the Wuping County People's Court recommended that the two villages should widely publicize the unfairness and adverse consequences of high betrothal gifts, flaunting wealth, and extravagance and waste. At the same time, they should strengthen the role of village representative meetings and discuss the specific details of local marriage arrangements. standards and incorporate them into village rules and regulations.
More than 20 days later, both villages sent back feedback, clarifying that in the future they will strengthen publicity, education and guidance, give full play to the role of mass autonomy, guide villagers to reject high betrothal gifts, and oppose the trend of comparison.
The reason for issuing judicial recommendations stems from the Wuping Court’s previous hearing of a property dispute caused by a high betrothal gift.
Aqiang from Village A and Xiaofang from Village B, Taoxi Town, met through a matchmaker. They got engaged according to local customs and wrote a "Wedding Agreement" (a form of marriage letter), stating that Aqiang should pay a bride price of 399,000 yuan (actually paid 239,000 yuan), Aqiang spent another 10,000 yuan to buy a love token.
Later, Xiaofang lived with Aqiang's family for a period of time. Soon she left home to work and refused to return to Aqiang's family. Upon seeing this, Aqiang's father proposed to terminate the engagement and asked him to return the bride price. Xiaofang disagreed and was sued by Aqiang's family to court.
"Our family is not rich to begin with. We have spent all our family savings and borrowed money from relatives and friends to get a wife. Since the wedding is not done, we have to get back the bride price," Aqiang's father said.
Lin Fusheng, president of the Taoxi Tribunal of Wuping Court, which is responsible for hearing the case, believes that betrothal gifts are betrothal gifts and valuable gifts paid to each other during the engagement period by the man and woman who entered into the marriage contract and their parents for the purpose of getting married. "If the marriage is not registered, the bride price should be returned, but the amount of the return should be comprehensively judged based on factors such as whether the two parties are living together, the length of cohabitation, the reasons for the termination of the engagement, local customs and other factors."
In the end, the court considered various factors and decided that Xiaofang should return Aqiang’s gift of 200,000 yuan.
"In recent years, there have been many marriage contract property disputes caused by high betrothal gifts in rural areas like Aqiang and Xiaofang." Although the case has been tried, Lin Fusheng has deeper thoughts: On the one hand, high betrothal gifts breed Comparison psychology leads to a lack of real emotional foundation in marriage; on the other hand, high betrothal gifts make life after marriage overburdened, affecting the quality of life, and even leading to family breakdown and affecting social stability.
To this end, the Wuping Court extended its judicial functions and issued judicial suggestions to the village committees where Aqiang and Xiaofang were located.
"The northern part of Wuping County where Taoxi Town is located borders the southern part of Changting County and the southern part of Shanghang County. They are all located in the mountainous area of western Fujian where Hakka people live together. The transportation is relatively congested and the economy is relatively backward. They attach great importance to the inheritance of Hakka culture and family reputation, and also The amount of the betrothal gift is equated with the size of the family's appearance." Tang Yinghua, deputy director of the research office of Longyan Intermediate People's Court, told reporters.
Liu Yuexian, director of the Women's and Children's Activity Center of Changting County Women's Federation, also joked in an interview: The local custom of high betrothal gifts has long been "famous".
Last year, the daughter of Liu Yuexian's friend wanted to get engaged, and the man's family was from out of town. When the parents of both parties met to discuss their children's marriage, the first thing the boy's parents said was: "I heard that girls in Changting are very 'expensive'!"
"Actually, the other party has no ill intentions, but it sounds like the woman's family is 'selling their daughter,' and the marriage has changed." Liu Yuexian said.
Qiu Rixin, the chief judge of the Civil Tribunal of Changting County People's Court, has worked in grassroots courts for many years. In his opinion, in the past few years, the custom of high betrothal gifts in some areas of western Fujian is inseparable from the living customs of the local Hakka people. "According to the tradition of the Hakka people, if a bride price is received when marrying a daughter, the daughter will no longer have to take care of any affairs of her natal family after she gets married, which is equivalent to 'buying out' the alimony obligation at once. And if the bride price is not collected, the natal family's I have to take care of my daughter."
In addition, Hakka people have the custom of writing a marriage letter, which will state the amount of the bride price, which can be seen by relatives and friends. The higher the amount written, the more face the two families will have. "But in fact, the man may not necessarily give so much. Most of the time it is an IOU in private, and the woman's family rarely collects this debt." Qiu Rixin said.
Formulate and implement village rules and regulations
Refuse to turn wedding customs into vulgar customs
Whether it is a one-time "buyout" of the alimony obligation, or an increase in the amount of the betrothal gift in the marriage contract to gain face, high betrothal gifts are a bad traditional custom and violate the original intention of the betrothal gift.
On December 11 last year, the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the All-China Women's Federation held a press conference on "Promoting Changing Customs and Managing High Betrothal Gifts", emphasizing that high betrothal gifts not only place a heavy financial burden on the payer's family, but also undermine the stability of the marriage. There are hidden dangers and it is not conducive to the promotion of social civilization and customs.
Since 2021, the "No. 1 Central Document" has put forward work requirements for controlling high betrothal gifts and changing customs for three consecutive years.
In this regard, the Caixi Court of Shanghang County People's Court has taken the lead. The jurisdiction of the Caixi Court covers 6 towns and 170,000 people. Nanyang Town, where high betrothal gifts are prevalent, is within its jurisdiction.
In 2017, the "Implementation Measures for Further Promoting the Changing of Customs and Customs in Longyan City (Trial)" was issued, which clearly stated that the bad habit of "exorbitantly expensive" wedding gifts should be eradicated throughout the city.
In order to establish a new upright atmosphere, the Caixi Court has closely contacted the villages through daily contact, circuit trials, follow-up cases, etc., investigated the rural customs, grasped the village conditions and public opinion, and reviewed the village rules and regulations of the 90 administrative villages in 6 towns under its jurisdiction one by one. , put forward 14 modifications and guidance opinions based on local conditions, and guided 46 villages to include "advocating that the betrothal gift should not exceed 50,000 yuan, and the accompanying gifts should not exceed 300 yuan" into the village regulations.
Under the guidance of the Caixi Court, Linghe Village in Caixi Town broke with tradition and became the first village to write "all villagers boycott bad marriage habits and put an end to 'exorbitant betrothal gifts'" in its village rules and regulations.
Soon after, Li Yunxiu, the former deputy mayor of Caixi Town and a native of Linghe Village, took the lead in implementing the new village rules and regulations. When his daughter got engaged, he only received a bride price of 50,000 yuan, which caused quite a stir in the local area.
After Linghe Village successfully revised its village rules and regulations, Wang Changyu, a representative of the township people's congress, made suggestions to promote this practice throughout the town. At present, the 14 villages in Caixi Town have clearly included the amount of betrothal gifts and accompanying gifts in the village rules and regulations.
"Whether a betrothal gift is a wedding custom or a bad custom mainly depends on the 'number' and the 'degree'. Village regulations and people agree on a certain number, and the people have a 'scripture' in their hearts." Zhang Jing, president of the Caixi Court, said.
In the process of handling cases involving bride price disputes, the Caixi Court also used "living" village rules and regulations to change legal language into "local dialect" to promote the proper resolution of bride price disputes.
Xiaojian and Xiaolan from a village in Nanyang Town met through someone's introduction. In order to marry Xiaolan, Xiaojian gave Xiaolan a gift of 230,000 yuan despite his family's financial difficulties. But within a year of their marriage, Xiaolan was hospitalized for mental illness. After Xiaojian discovered the fact that Xiaolan suffered from mental illness before marriage, he filed a lawsuit in Caixi Court, requesting to annul the marriage and return the bride price.
Previously, the village's village regulations adopted the recommendations of the Caixi Court and added the clause that "the bride price shall not exceed 50,000 yuan".
“After the case was accepted, we quoted the terms of the village rules and regulations, explained the original intention of formulating the village regulations and civil regulations, explained the relevant provisions of the civil code, weakened the dispute between the two parties, and finally led Xiaolan’s family to agree to pay part of the money after deducting the expenses of organizing the wedding and other expenses. The return of the bride price properly resolved the dispute and also played a role in explaining the law through cases in the local area," Zhang Jing said.
Comprehensive consideration of various factors
Properly balance the interests of both parties
During the interview, the reporter learned that although the trend of high betrothal gifts is prevalent in Longyan, not all areas are burdened with the "yoke" of sky-high betrothal gifts.
"Take Wuping County as an example. The betrothal gifts in several towns in Wubei range from more than 200,000 yuan to 4 to 500,000 yuan. However, in several towns in the county and surrounding areas, the bride price is almost zero, or only a few thousand yuan is required. Please tell me." Lin Musheng, the chief judge of the filing division of Wuping County People's Court, told reporters.
According to him, Liangye Community in Chengxiang Town is located on the outskirts of Wuping County. The Xingfuli Community is a centralized resettlement community for welfare projects. More than 40% of the residents have moved from the economically backward Wubei area, and the Jinan Jiayuan Community is adjacent to it. 50% of the residents are also from Wubei.
"As a village judge in Hua Liangye Community, I often go to the community to chat with residents. Whenever we talk about their children's marriage, everyone shakes their heads at Wubei's custom of high betrothal gifts," said Lin Musheng.
Understanding this public sentiment, Lin Musheng and Lan Xin, secretary of the Party branch of Liangye Community, transformed into "legal attendants" and actively promoted the new trend of marriage. They used typical cases handled by the court to tell residents that high betrothal gifts are not a secret to ensuring family happiness. It may become the trigger of conflicts and disputes.
"These residents from Wubei have heard a lot and seen a lot, and have gradually been assimilated by the local custom of low-priced betrothal gifts." Lan Xin said that Aunt Wang, who lives in Jin'an Garden, came from Taoxi Town in Wubei a few years ago. When she moved to Wubei, her son gave the woman a bride price of 200,000 yuan when she got married. However, when her daughter got married a while ago, she only received a bride price of 39,000 yuan.
To solve the problem of high betrothal gifts, in addition to considering the impact of high betrothal gifts on the man's life, we must also consider the protection of women's legitimate rights and interests.
Focusing on the protection of women's rights and interests, the new "Regulations" issued by the Supreme Law clarify that women's efforts in pregnancy, childbirth, child-rearing, etc. must be taken into consideration, and this should be used as a consideration to reduce or even deny the return of betrothal gifts as appropriate. Since 2019, the Hetian Court of Changting Court has handled a series of bride price dispute cases to properly balance the interests of both parties.
A Ming and Xiao Hong from a village in Changting County agreed on a bride price of 160,000 yuan when they got engaged. After the two parties received their marriage certificate, A Ming paid a bride price of 120,000 yuan to Xiao Hong's family and issued an IOU for the balance.
Shortly after the marriage, Xiaohong gave birth to a son, but unfortunately he died in infancy. Xiaohong also had a fallopian tube cut off after giving birth. For this reason, A Ming and Xiao Hong often had disputes, their relationship broke down, and they eventually divorced through mediation.
After the divorce, A Ming asked Xiao Hong to return the bride price paid during the marriage, but Xiao Hong did not agree to the return. A Ming publicized the news in the village that Xiao Hong could no longer have children, and sued Xiao Hong to the Hetian Court of Changting Court for request. Return the bride price. After accepting the case, the court did not support the man’s claim.
"After investigation and interviews, we found that A Ming's family did not have any difficulties due to paying the bride price, and although the two were not married for a long time, Xiao Hong's pregnancy caused irreversible damage to her body, and she was advertised in A Ming's advertisement It affected his future life. Taking these factors into consideration, we rejected Amin's lawsuit in accordance with the law." Qiu Rixin said.
Before and after the judgment of this case, the Hetian Court handled several similar disputes over betrothal gifts, all of which made judgments in which the betrothal gifts were not returned or only part of the betrothal gifts were returned.
"After the judgment came into effect, we also held many discussions with the judicial office, the police station and some village committees on the issue of betrothal gifts, and provided ideas for the future mediation of such disputes through typical cases of court judgments and mediation." Qiu Rixin said, In the more than two years since then, the Hetian Court District has not received any cases similar to the bride price dispute. Similar cases in other jurisdictions also use this as a standard, and most of them can be resolved on their own. (The parties involved in the case in the Rule of Law Daily article are all pseudonyms)