When you see a range of TV pro-grams and Websites playing matchmaker for young Chinese people, it's hard to believe just 50 years ago a marriage partner was decided by the parents and young people had no freedom to choose a spouse.
More liberal views on marriage have evolved as the country has opened up.
Young people now have more ways to get to know each other. TV programs providing chances for the young to communicate began screening at the end of the 1990s. "Date on Saturday," a TV program from Shanghai Oriental Television, is a place for single young men and women to meet.
The country now has dozens of well-known Websites serving as go-betweens. The Website of E-Friend (51friend.com) has a membership system and organizes social activities for registered members. Many members have fallen in love through the Website.
"Many of them are still high on the various gatherings organized by the Website," said Liang Lida, who works at E-Friend.
Young people today do not set great store by material factors like a diploma, financial status and overseas relations, which were once the attractions of eligible young men. Instead such factors as personality and abilities have become more important.
In a survey of 370 high-earning single people in Guangdong Province, 86 percent put kindness at the top of desirable characteristics for a spouse. Filial to parents was the second most-important trait.
Only 12.5 percent preferred a partner with a car and house.
"Similar family and educational backgrounds, complementary personalities and matching social and psychological ages are the major factors modern people consider when choosing their spouse," said Chen Yiyun, professor at the women's research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Sexual matters weigh heavier in marriage. In a survey made in the six big cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian, Chengdu and Xi'an, more than 80 percent of correspondents said Chinese people should attach greater importance to sex. That percentage rose to more than 95 among people with high incomes and high educational background.
Wu Changzhen, vice chairman of the Chinese Law Society, said people now have a more open attitude to the issue of divorce. Statistics show that the ratio of divorces settled through negotiation to through the court has increased from 1/3 in the early 1980s to 3/1 at present, indicating people can handle divorce in an amicable and civilized way.
Zhang Tianle, director of the cultural anthropology research center at Fudan University, believes that the dramatic changes over marriage are closely related to developments in culture, society and economics.
(eastday.com September 3, 2002)
