{"id":2559,"date":"2018-12-06T02:45:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T02:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/?p=2559"},"modified":"2018-12-06T02:45:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T02:45:12","slug":"no-houses-or-cars-please-china-calls-for-end-to-expensive-vulgar-wedding-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2018\/12\/06\/no-houses-or-cars-please-china-calls-for-end-to-expensive-vulgar-wedding-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"No houses or cars, please: China calls for end to expensive, &#8216;vulgar&#8217; wedding gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chinese government has taken aim at the wedding industrial complex, calling for a \u201ccomprehensive reform\u201d of the country\u2019s increasingly expensive weddings.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The ministry of civil affairs has called for an end to \u201cvulgar wedding practices\u201d like expensive wedding gifts, lavish ceremonies, and demands for increasingly high bride prices \u2014 money paid by the groom\u2019s family to the bride\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n<p>At a <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jinan.gov.cn\/art\/2018\/12\/1\/art_1862_2722409.html\">conference on wedding reform<\/a>, officials from the ministry said weddings should \u201cbetter reflect\u201d the country\u2019s values and goals and implement \u201cXi Jinping Thought,\u201d the president\u2019s much touted political ideology. Officials called current wedding practices a reflection of \u201crampant money worship.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-news--item rich-link--pillar-arts\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__arrow\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more-text\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The statements appear aimed at rural areas, where wedding costs have skyrocketed over the last two decades. Officials said grassroots government bodies and local committees that manage weddings and funerals in rural areas would be asked to manage and come up with \u201csuitable wedding etiquette\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>After decades of population control which left <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/china\">China<\/a> with about 30 million more men than women, the result of a preference for boys, the lack of eligible women has pushed bride prices up.<\/p>\n<p>The bride prices in rural areas are often dozens of times more than the annual incomes of those paying them. Families of the bride can demand not just cash but jewellery, cars, houses and more.<\/p>\n<p>In Da\u2019anliu, a farming village in Hubei province where most locals earn about 20,000 yuan ($2,800) a year growing pears, bride prices had reached more than 200,000 yuan (almost $30,000) before officials instituted a rule in August that anyone paying more than 20,000 yuan would<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/en.people.cn\/n3\/2018\/0807\/c90000-9488256.html\"> face charges of human trafficking<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bride prices, important for the status of both families, can be very specific. In Shandong province, families in 2016 require a set of gold earrings, and a gold necklace, one house, one car, and 150,050 yuan ($21,500), paid in 10,000 five-yuan notes and 1,000 one-hundred yuan notes, and one 50-yuan note, according to a CCTV report.<\/p>\n<p>Local authorities have been trying for years to rein in bride prices and wedding costs. This year, starting in December, Huzhu county in Qinghai province, where bride prices can reach more than 100,000 yuan in rural areas, authorities issued a maximum limit of 60,000 yuan.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Taiqian county in Henan province released <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/878483\/in-china-taiqian-county-in-henan-province-wants-to-ban-extravagant-weddings-and-funerals\/\">a set of restrictions<\/a>, limiting the number of guests \u2013 no more than 10 tables, or 200 people \u2013 and the value of wedding gifts \u2013 no more than 60,000 yuan ($8,600). No houses or cars could be given as gifts, and families were not allowed to take on debt to pay for the wedding.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers say changing wedding customs, especially in rural areas where such traditions are entrenched, will be difficult. Officials advised local authorities to encourage alternative events like group weddings that are \u201celegant and meaningful in content.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chinese government has taken aim at the wedding industrial complex, calling for a \u201ccomprehensive reform\u201d of the country\u2019s increasingly expensive weddings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2559"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2565,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions\/2565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}