China's First Generation of the Only-Child to Step into Marriage 'Citadel'

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 03, 2003

China's First Generation of the Only-Child to Step into Marriage 'Citadel'

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Growing up on having Mcdonald's and with strong modern conception, they, the first generation of the only-child, ever been known as "little emperor", have begun to talk about the marriage now. With their own styles of life they are now altering by and by the traditional love and marriage conception and the family pattern in China.

By the end of 1970s, to alleviate the heavy pressure of a large population China put forward a population policy of long and profound significance, advocating one couple to have only one child. In 1979, the first batch of the only-child in China, 6.1 million in number obtained the only-child certificates.

In the course of growing up, all these only-child showed to be " a bit too egocentric, seeking for comfort and enjoyment and afraid of hardship", for which the public felt worried, labeling them as the "little emperors".

Diao Weixiong, one out from the large contingent of those "little emperors", has now graduated from university and as he's quite talented he has now been employed by a joint-venture insurance company. Though falling in love with his girl friend for three years now he's still not eager to get married. "The marriage is in jeopardy without enterprise and material base", and so he plans his age for marriage to be at 28 years old.

Another only-child bearing the same idea as of Diao Weixiong is Xu Chen. He has now been working in the marketing department of a telecom company for three years. Though with a stable work post and also having certain amount of savings he thinks that it still needs some time for him to get married. "Perhaps the day is the date for my wedding when I have amassed a deposit of some 300,000 yuan."

Being free and late marriage represent the new attitude in love and marriage for the first generation of the only-child in China. In the past, it was quite normal to get married and give birth to child at 24 years of age and a responsibility for carrying on the family line. Those who overstepped the age without getting married would be taken as "the eccentric". But now, the new younger generation in China is taking the marriage for a choice of a mode in life. Based on their own economic strength and needs in passion they may decide their own wedding days and mates with great changes taken place as to the contents and forms of wedding ceremonies.

In their point of view it is already an old rut to hold a grand banquet for wedding ceremony and it's rather extravagant and too widely known. Nevertheless, they lay more emphasis on something new, exciting and significant, such as honeymoon tour, photograph taken in wedding gauze, underwater marriage, to be baptized in church and parachute-wedding and so on. "Marriage must not be a 'child-play' but marriage ceremony can be a kind of 'play'," said Miss Sun Aijin who's working in a foreign owned company.

In as early as 1950s - 60s in China, with just a few sweets and a plate of peanuts, two rolls of bedding and with revolutionary songs sung loudly that was a sort of wedding then. Towards 1970s, it began to pay some attention to wedding and dowry that were the three "turn-rounds and one bell-sounding", namely bicycle, electric fan, sewing machine and a radio-receiver. However, this was furthered in 1980s, those taking their place were the "three big ones", the TV set, refrigerator and washing machine. But up to now, what is required for the wedding is to have apartments and a sedan-car.

According to a recent investigation by city investigators in the whole city of Tianjin, the average expense spent by a newly-married couple on their wedding is RMB 191,100 yuan, almost 50 times that in 1978. These expenses are mainly spent on housing, household electric appliance, sticks of furniture and banquet at wedding ceremony, of which that occupy the major part is on buying and furnishing the new house with an average expense of 110,900 yuan. That used for buying electric appliances averages 20,100 yuan and the expense on banquet is 9300 yuan on the average.

In line with the statistics by the State Family Planning Commission, up to 2003, China has witnessed a number of 80 million children who have now drawn certificates for an only-child. The marriage event for the only-child occurred due to the practice of the family planning policy in China has now roused the attention of the social public. In China, the marriage of the only-child will constitute the main-body in the marriage affairs in the days to come, held Wang Jie, associate research-fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Tianjin Chapter. The simplified family mode both in structure and contradiction is going to take the place of the traditional one of a pattern of "a large family".

But a married family is still a "citadel". Notwithstanding, the first generation of the only-child in China have been less fastened and pressed and been rather freer, held Yuan Xin, associate professor and expert in psychological hygiene with the Nankai University. And so there is no need for them to "squeeze" nor to "take to heels" in front of the "citadel".

By People's Daily Online

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