Marriage certificates evolve in 60 years
- Source: Global Times
- [18:07 September 27 2009]
- Comments
Since the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, marriage certificates have undergone distinct changes, reflecting the social environment, over the past six decades.
The newly-founded government advocated gender equality and marital freedom. At that time, newlyweds had to register and get their license in person. The first generation of marriage certificates had Hun Yin Zi Zhu "Independent Marriage" printed on them, as opposed to arranged marriage, which was most often the case for thousands of years.
Following the old practice, the certificate includes the photograph of the couple, the names of the matchmaker, wedding presider and the chief witness, as well as a list of prenuptial property. A common list comprises of items like the number of family members, home, land possession and livestock.
A marriage certificate from November 1949, with the red characters "Freedom of Marriage" printed on the paper. Beside the portraits of the couple, the names of the matchmaker and prenuptial property were also included.
A marriage certificate issued in 1951.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, China launched land reforms to boost agricultural output and alleviate hunger and poverty. Food therefore became the greatest concern for the people and so images of crops were frequently used on marriage licenses.
A 1954 marriage certificate where China's red flag and a big red Chinese character xi or "happiness" was printed on the paper.
A marriage certificate issued in 1965 by the Tianjin Municipal government.
1958
A 1958 marriage certificate.
