ABSTRACT
This chapter continues the description of marital behavior in Lanzhou but shifts the focus of analysis to the Hui-Han differences in assortative mating (i.e. in-group marriage or homogamy). Homogamy indicates the preferences and prejudices of status groups in the marriage market and takes place when people marry persons close in social status. Homogamy is an established area of research in sociology because it describes in conjunction with mobility patterns how open or closed a society is.1 This chapter shows that the Hui elite members are more likely than their Han counterparts to guide their marital behavior with modern standards. There is a high degree of social enclosure and internal stratification based on achieved status and cultural attainment in the Hui community. Hui marital behavior is influenced more by status attainment than by Hui primordial ties.
