ABSTRACT
A general survey of marriage in Chinese history with an emphasis on how marriage was defined in Confucian ritual texts and dynastic law codes, marriage practices such as cousin marriage, interethnic marriage, exclusive intermarriage, uxorilocal marriage, afterlife marriage, concubinage, polygyny, and polyandry, divorce, and remarriage. In addition, this chapter examines the evolution of the twin institutions of marriage and the family and their intersectionality.
Primary sources introduced: ritual texts, imperial decree, legal codes, wedding prayer, divorce agreement, ghost story, and most importantly, legal cases.
