The first wave that impacted the feudal marriage system
The first wave that impacted the feudal marriage system was undoubtedly the "marriage revolution" represented by the May 4th New Culture Movement. New marriage requires breaking all old morals and bad customs, breaking the inhumane marriage system, establishing a gender union based on equality, freedom, and love, so that the male and female parties become the subjects of marriage.
The reason why the "marriage revolution" became one of the important contents of social liberation during the May Fourth period is because the main line of the New Culture Movement was to strive for personality liberation, self-awakening and affirmation of individual value. The leaders of the New Culture Movement linked the transformation of Chinese society with the transformation of the family system. He believes that only by "changing the individual orientation for the family orientation" can China truly achieve political democracy and material prosperity, and stand on its own among the nations of the world. Therefore, feudal familism, which suppresses individuals, has become the first target of criticism.
Both young men and women are oppressed by feudal patriarchy and feudal ethics, but women suffer more from the oppression due to the additional power of their husbands. Therefore, in their actions to resist feudal ethics and fight for the right to freedom of marriage, women have shown Be bolder and more passionate, even fighting in the most brutal way.
On November 14, 1919, blood was flowing out of a sedan chair on the streets of Changsha, Hunan Province. The 20-year-old bride Zhao Zhenwu resisted her parents and forcibly betrothed her to a 40-year-old antique dealer. , committed suicide with a razor in Huaqiao. The death of Zhenwu aroused the hatred of young men and women against their parents' arranged marriages. More than 20 articles were published in newspapers. Within a few days, young Mao Zedong published 9 articles in "Xiangjiang Review" and "Ta Kung Pao". The article angrily condemned the inhumanity of the feudal marriage system. Criticizing the feudal "cannibalistic ethics" and breaking through all feudal snares, he became the strongest voice of that era.
In the May Fourth New Culture Movement, the process of fighting for "freedom of marriage" was regarded as a process of social liberation, and the "marriage revolution" was closely linked to women's liberation. At that time, regardless of men and women, all those who cared about social progress and supported social reform did not care about women's issues and spoke loudly for women's liberation. In the discussion of "Where should we start to liberate women?", reforming the family, together with striving for equal education, economic independence, ideological emancipation and respect for personality, have become the focus of women's liberation. Communist Li Dazhao once pointed out: Without the liberation of women, Chinese civilization will be "hemiplegic". Due to the spread of new ideas, the rise of the women's movement and the demand for freedom of marriage, the slogans of "Sacred Love" and "Women's Liberation" resounded throughout the country.
In June 1918, "New Youth" published the "Ibsen Special Issue", which translated and introduced the famous play "A Doll's House" by the Norwegian playwright Ibsen to expose the evils of the old-style family. . The work describes Nora, a woman who is unwilling to be her husband’s doll and leaves home because of her awakening. "A Doll's House" has been welcomed by the majority of intellectuals and has been performed on the stage several times, setting off a "Nora whirlwind" in China. What the heroine Nora said in the play: "I am a person, a person just like you" and "My first priority is to strive to be a 'person'" became the most popular declaration of the new women of that era. La also became a role model for women of that era to resist family constraints and fight for freedom and rights. In the autobiographical "Diary of a Female Soldier" by Xie Bingying, a rebellious woman from Hunan, China, she described in detail the story of her many escapes from marriage. "Diary of a Female Soldier" was a best-seller, and running away became a way for women to escape from feudal families and fight for the freedom of marriage. The revolutionary Xiao Chunv once wrote an article summarizing the reasons why women run away from home, which are nothing more than fighting for marital independence by escaping from marriage and opposing authoritarian marriages by the idea of ??free love.
Under the wave of liberation, women were "discovered" and women also discovered themselves. Women's groups here actively strive for equal social rights, including autonomy in marriage, and propose "the establishment of a marriage law for equality between men and women."
The second wave of struggle for freedom of marriage
The second wave of freedom of marriage was undoubtedly the Marriage Law promulgated on May 1, 1950 after the founding of New China, and the subsequent propaganda The implementation created a stir.
Although as early as December 26, 1930, the "Civil Law·Relatives" promulgated by the National Government had formally established the right to freedom of marriage that "the marriage contract shall be concluded by the male and female parties themselves"; the ancient patriarchal law divided relatives into The old concept was changed to two kinds of kinship: blood relationship and marriage, so that the status of husband and wife is basically equal in law; the prohibition of early marriage, bigamy and concubinage and other feudal bad habits were also written into the clauses. However, due to the incompleteness of the bourgeois revolution, the "Civil Law·Relatives" Chapter" still upholds husband's rights in terms of name rights, residence rights, property rights, inheritance rights, family management rights and the right to educate children, etc., and there is obvious discrimination against women. For example, "the wife takes her husband's surname by her own surname" and "the wife takes her husband's residence as her residence". The wife will hand over her original property to the husband for unified management. The right to use, benefit and disposal belongs to the husband. The husband's property is owned by direct blood relatives. Inheritance, the wife cannot inherit by subrogation, the family has a head of household, the children take the father's surname, the father is the legal representative of the minor children, etc.
The Marriage Law promulgated in 1950 held high the banner of anti-feudalism and equality between men and women. It clearly stated that the four ropes entangled by feudalism around women must be destroyed: political power, clan rights, Divine right and husband’s right. The new marriage system should of course implement "freedom of marriage between men and women" and "monogamy" and "protect women who have been exploited and oppressed for thousands of years."
The promulgation of the "Marriage Law" completely abolished the two thousand-year-old feudal marriage system of forced arrangement, men's superiority to women, and disregard for the interests of children in China. It stipulated that bigamy, concubinage, and child brides were prohibited. It is prohibited to interfere with the freedom of marriage and prohibit the sale of marriage. It establishes the freedom of marriage between men and women, monogamy, equal rights between men and women, and protects the legitimate rights of women and children.
The promulgation of the "Marriage Law" announced the establishment of a marriage system based on the equality of men and women and the freedom of marriage, laying the foundation for the liberation of Chinese women. Women have shown greater enthusiasm and courage in dissolving arranged marriages, liberating child brides, and remarrying widows. When young people challenged the feudal marriage system, they also encountered stubborn resistance from the feudal forces. The novel "Xiao Erhei's Marriage" by the writer Zhao Shuli, which reflected the confrontation between the old and new forces in that period, ended in a comedy. As soon as the "Marriage Law" came out, all the old forces and old ideas that hindered free love ceased. However, the relationship between a young man and a young man who served as its prototype was violently interfered with by parents and village cadres. The young man was beaten to death and the young woman hanged herself. At the same time, a series of tragic cases of persecution of remarried widows occurred in the early 1950s.
On March 8, 1950, "People's Daily" published an editorial on "Correctly Solving the Problem of the Marriage System": "The entire Chinese people, first and foremost the working people, must understand and support women's struggle against feudal marriage oppression." , it pointed out: In reality, women's struggle against the feudal marriage system is no longer "a struggle against the oppression of women by landlords, but a struggle within the working people against the customs and habits left over from the feudal system." The editorial emphasized that "our party members and cadres should never support the feudal marriage system, and should never 'suppress' women's liberation struggle" and pointed out that the key to correctly solving the problem of the marriage system lies in the central people's government formulating and promulgating laws to protect the freedom of marriage. Marriage law, secondly, relies on ideological education of rural cadres and party members against the feudal marriage system. And the latter is more important.
After the promulgation of the Marriage Law, the government, while vigorously publicizing the Marriage Law, took a series of actions to remove obstacles to the freedom of marriage, such as combating feudal clan forces, resolutely supporting women’s efforts to fight for the freedom of marriage, liberating Child brides, outlawing the prostitution system, prompting the dissolution of concubine families, etc.
The 1950s was an era of devastation and an era of liberation for women.