(Minghui.org) (Continued from Part 1)
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP ) seized power in 1949, China’s traditional culture and values were degraded beyond recognition. To start with, let’s look at what happened to the traditional marriage ceremony.
In addition to the wedding attire, the names of those witnessing the ceremony were changed from “Heaven and Earth” and “parents” to the local “CCP secretary;” people were strongly advised to hold wedding ceremonies around CCP celebration days, such as Labor Day (May 1) or National Day (October 1); honoring “Heaven and Earth” was replaced with “bowing to the portrait of Mao.”
In Part 1 of this article, we discussed “The Origins and Development of the Marriage Ceremony” and “The True Meaning of ‘A Match Made in Heaven,’” as well as stories about Liu Tingshi from the Ming dynasty and Qin Zanyuan from the Qing dynasty. In Part 2, we continue the topic with a few more stories from history for reference.
One’s Attitude Towards Marriage Reflects Your Moral Character
For thousands of years, passed down through the generations, people honored the sacred bond of marriage. From the time they were children, they watched adults “Bai Tiandi”—honoring Heaven and Earth as witnesses of their marriage—and understood that marriage was a major life event. Any betrayal of such a sacred bond was condemned by society. Let us explore a few stories from Chinese history.
Lai Junchen dismissed his wife to take a new bride, an act that even alarmed Empress Wu Zetian
According to the “Old Book of Tang”in the Twenty-Four Histories, Lai Junchen was a cruel official during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and was infamous for perverting criminal law and framing loyal officials. Many people feared him. Chancellor Li Dezhao, an upright official, often reported Lai’s abuses of power to the court, but Lai Junchen and his clique continued to do as they pleased.
When Empress Wu Zetian learned about Lai Junchen’s intent to divorce his wife so he could remarry, she asked her chancellors to investigate this very important matter.
In those days, a wife could only be dismissed for one of the following “seven circumstances:” if she cannot bear children, indulges in licentious conduct, neglects her duties towards her mother-in-law, engages in idle gossip, steals, harbors jealousy, or suffers from a grievous disease. Abandoning one’s wife without a proper reason was r as a seriously immoral act.
Li Zhaode said to the other chancellors, “Earlier, Lai Junchen, like a thief, forced Lady Wang from Taiyuan to marry him, an act that greatly humiliated our dynasty. Now, he wants to discard his wife without an acceptable reason so he can take a new bride. Isn’t he further humiliating to our regime? As a high-ranking minister of the court, such an act is indeed improper and does not adhere to moral propriety.”
After that, Lai Junchen’s wildly arrogant behavior was much more restrained.
Cui Hao married recklessly, and people avoided him
According to Tang Cai Zi Zhuan (a collection of biographies of poets of the Tang dynasty), during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods, Cui Hao achieved success at a young age, and he pursued an indulgent and extravagant lifestyle. He drank, gambled, and was particularly lustful. He sought only beautiful women when choosing a wife and would abandon them when they did not please him. Although his poetry and prose were widely read, his reputation and character were regarded as quite poor.
Li Yi, a renowned poet and calligrapher of the time, heard about Cui Hao’s talent for poetry and invited him to his home. Cui Hao presented a poem to Li Yi when he arrived, with the first line being “At fifteen, she married Wang Chang.” Upon reading this, Li Yi became furious as he considered it described lewd and licentious behavior.
“How rude you are, young man!” he said to Cui Hao. He dismissed him and never contacted him again. Even though Cui Hao was a great poet, people kept him at a distance because of his inappropriate behavior regarding marriage.
Sima Guang valued virtue and righteousness and maintained order in his household
Sima Guang was a high-ranking scholar-official during the Song dynasty. He married Lady Zhang, but she was unable to bear any children after about ten years of marriage. Lady Zhang became very anxious, but Sima Guang comforted her, saying, “Having children or not is determined by fate, not something that can be forced by will.” Still, Lady Zhang wanted him to take in a concubine, but Sima Guang did not agree.
However, Lady Zhang found a young woman she wanted to be Sima Guang’s concubine. She sent her to Sima Guang’s study, but he ignored her. To attract his attention, the young woman picked up a book and asked, “Excuse me, sir, what book is this?” Sima Guang solemnly cupped his hands and replied, “This is the Shangshu.” After that, he paid no more attention to her, and the young woman had no choice but to reluctantly leave.
Later, Lady Zhang found another young woman for Sima Guang. She made an excuse to leave the house and told the young woman to go to Sima Guang’s study. The young woman arrived in the evening with a cup of tea.
To her surprise, when Sima Guang saw her, he said sternly, “The lady of the house is not home. What are you doing here? Leave immediately!”
In the History of Song, one comment about Sima Guang says: “He maintained order in his household and observed decorum in all his deeds.”
Marriage in China After the “Proletariat Cultural Revolution”
The term “proletariat” generally refers to people who do unskilled labor and do not own property. Friedrich Engels described the “proletariat” as modern-day wage workers. It is believed that, in a socialist society, the “proletariat” become the ruling class of the state, representing a social system without private property.
In ancient times, those who ruled the state in China included the emperor, the nobility, and the scholar-officials; in the West, they were the king and nobility. From a young age, these individuals were educated in moral principles and skills, starting with cultivating their character, learning to maintain harmony within their family, and learning how to govern the state. Only then could they bring peace to society. They were very knowledgeable about history and the classics, all of which enabled them to play an irreplaceable role in cultural inheritance and moral education.
For thousands of years, marriage was regarded as a major event in one’s life. However, this tradition began to decline in modern times.
In modern China, the well-known poet Xu Zhimo divorced his wife without justification. In 1922, he ended his marriage to his first wife, Zhang Youyi, through litigation, with the excuse that he’d fallen in love with another woman and that he was divorcing to pursue free love.
By pressuring Zhang Youyi, who had just given birth to their second son and was still in postpartum confinement, he compelled her to sign the divorce papers.
Even the last imperial consort Wenxiu waited nine years to divorce the last emperor, Puyi. In 1931, under the laws of the Republic of China, she filed for divorce, citing that she could no longer bear Puyi’s neglect and the lack of freedom in the palace. She died in poverty in 1953 in Beijing at the age of 44.
Even though divorces like these occurred, traditional culture remained deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people. During the Republican era, the divorce rate stayed very low, even in Shanghai, which was already quite modern. According to a report from the Shanghai Social Affairs Bureau, in 1929, there were 23.82 divorces per 100,000 people, or 0.024%, which is equivalent to 1/104 of the 2024 divorce rate in China.
During the “Proletariat Cultural Revolution,” divorce became a common political strategy for many to survive—whether to show that they were “politically active” or simply to survive, the husband and wife were willing to sacrifice their family, their partner’s future, or even their lives.
The entire society and population had to participate in the political struggle; husbands, wives, and other family members were encouraged to turn on each other. There were even instances in which the accused were beaten to death simply because they were said to be disloyal to Mao or because they wrote a line in their diary that was used as evidence of their being “counter-revolutionary.” Countless families fell apart, and many couples distrusted each other. The bonds of obligation and affection in marriage disappeared completely.
Materialistic Marriage
In ancient times, people prioritized the obligations in marriage over personal feelings. “Well-matched families” referred to those having a similar cultural understanding and way of behaving; both parties could understand the other’s family background, upbringing, family traditions, sense of honor, marital obligations, and living habits. This mutual understanding helped lessen conflicts in family matters, such as educational goals and financial and asset distribution. Such understanding promotes harmony. As the saying goes: “A harmonious family brings success in all things.”
In today’s society, however, many young people no longer consider these traditions important. They pay more attention to their personal feelings and are ignorant of or reject traditional culture and history.
When traditional culture and values fade away, all that remains is a hollow, materialistic shell. After the devastating “Ten-Year Cultural Revolution,” China entered a phase of a commodity-based economy. “Everything is about money,” and the cost of a bride continues to rise. When a man proposes, he often has to pay between 50,000 and 100,000 yuan to the bride’s family. In Northern China, the price for a bride can range from 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, or even higher. Many men living in poor regions or in financial difficulties are forced to remain single.
Nowadays, there are no core values in marriage. Some argue that it was similar in ancient times, and that the imperial family was even worse.
The truth is that you can’t define any dynasty or era casually without a factual basis. If you look at history from the perspective propagated by the CCP, you will never find the truth. Only those brainwashed by communist ideology and socialist concepts are capable of vilifying and denying their own history and ancestors.
Whether considering China’s 5,000 years of civilization or the strength of young America, people might wonder which exemplary individuals and actions have contributed to them. Avoiding these questions is already erasing culture and disrupting its transmission.
Alarming Divorce Rate
When marriage is based on materialism and everything is judged by money and possessions, the true meaning of morality is lost. Under the CCP, from authorities to ordinary citizens, traditional values were quickly forgotten and traditional concepts of family and filial piety were abandoned.
Marriage is a major event in one’s life, but in today’s society, more and more young people take marriage lightly and can easily get divorced. Meanwhile, cohabitation without marriage and so-called trial marriages have become the social norm.
In 2024, China’s official divorce rate was 2.5‰, and the divorce-to-marriage ratio could be as high as 0.58 to 1 (58 divorces per 100 marriages). There were 6.11 million people registered for marriage in 2024, while the total number of registered divorces was 2.62 million. This does not include litigation divorce cases. If such cases are included, the total number of divorces in 2024 would be as high as 3.55 million. This is the highest divorce rate in China’s history.
Prevalence of AIDS
According to China’s official statistics in 2005, an estimated 700,000 people suffer from STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), which include five main infectious diseases in China.
However, according to Chen Xiangsheng, Director of the Epidemiology Division at the National Center for STD Control of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the officially reported number of cases may only be one-tenth of the actual infections. He said that, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, the incidence rate of STD increased from 20% to 30% each year. Since many patients sought treatment in private clinics or from unlicensed doctors, the majority of cases of infection were not reported.
According to the Chinese Central Practice webpage, from 2004 to 2018, the incidence and mortality rates of HIV/AIDS in China both showed an upward trend, with annual increases of 22.70% and 18.80%, respectively.
Sacred Marriage, Holy Matrimony
The decline in the value of marriage has directly contributed to the deterioration of social morality. At the same time, the immense karma resulting from promiscuity has led to the spread of incurable malignant diseases. We all understand that people with AIDS face a very difficult and pitiful situation, and many celebrities and dignitaries have taken up the cause of caring for those with AIDS. However, it is the devil who drives promiscuity, bringing this disaster upon humanity.
In China today, on the surface, the streets are bustling with traffic, and skyscrapers rise in large numbers, but in reality, the overall moral standards have declined to an irreparable level. Divorce has become very common, damaging not only the moral integrity of those involved but also leading to consequences for the next generation—many of whom will have to deal with these issues throughout their lives.
Now let’s look at how a wedding ceremony in a Christian church in the West might be conducted and see if we find a greater sense of solemnity and meaning.
Exchange of Vows
Priest to the Groom:“[Name of the Groom], will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall live?”
Groom:“I will.”
Priest to the Bride:“[Name of the Bride ], will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keep yourself only unto him, so long as you both shall live?”
Bride:“I will.”
Having received vows from both the groom and bride, the priest then asks their parents, relatives, and friends:“Are you all willing to be witnesses to their wedding vows?”
They reply:“Yes, we are.”
Priest:“Who gives away the bride to the groom?
The bride’s father:“She is marrying him willingly, with blessings from her parents.”
Next, the newlyweds place a wedding ring on each other’s finger.
Priest:“I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The priest then gives the final blessing and pronounces the conclusion of the ceremony.“The Lord bless you and keep you.The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you peace.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Ideally, from this moment on, the two rings never leave the couple’s fingers, and they support, understand, and compromise with each other throughout their married life, moving forward together and fulfilling their wedding vows for the rest of their lives.
Note: Holy matrimony means that when people focus on honoring God (the Divine) and taking responsibility for their spouse, marriage becomes a sacred union. A holy marriage can last a lifetime through the grace of God and the conscious effort of both parties.
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Category: Traditional Culture
