Revolutionizing the Family: Politics, Love, and Divorce in Urban and Rural China, 1949–1968 - Hardcover

Diamant, Neil J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520217209 ISBN 13: 9780520217201

Publisher: University of California Press, 2000

Synopsis

In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of the most dramatic efforts ever by a state to change marital and family relationships. In this comprehensive study of the effects of that law, Neil J. Diamant draws on newly opened urban and rural archival sources to offer a detailed analysis of how the law was interpreted and implemented throughout the country.

In sharp contrast to previous studies of the Marriage Law, which have argued that it had little effect in rural areas, Diamant argues that the law reshaped marriage and family relationships in significant--but often unintended--ways throughout the Maoist period. His evidence reveals a confused and often conflicted state apparatus, as well as cases of Chinese men and women taking advantage of the law to justify multiple sexual encounters, to marry for beauty, to demand expensive gifts for engagement, and to divorce on multiple occasions. Moreover, he finds, those who were best placed to use the law's more liberal provisions were not well-educated urbanites but rather illiterate peasant women who had never heard of sexual equality; and it was poor men, not women, who were those most betrayed by the peasant-based revolution.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

In 1950 China's new Communist government passed a Marriage Law that ranks as one of the most dramatic efforts ever by a state to change marital and family relationships. The law prohibited arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, and citizens were now given free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. In this comprehensive study of the effects of that law, Neil J. Diamant draws on newly opened urban and rural archival sources for a detailed analysis of how the law was interpreted and implemented throughout the country.

In sharp contrast to previous studies of the Marriage Law, which have concluded that it had little long-lasting effect in rural areas, Diamant argues that the law reshaped marriage and family relationships in significant -- but often unintended -- ways throughout the Maoist period. His evidence reveals a "bumbling" and at times conflicted state apparatus, as well as cases where Chinese men and women took advantage of the law to engage in multiple sexual encounters (some to "class enemies"), to marry for desire and beauty, to demand expensive gifts for engagement, and to divorce frequently. Moreover, he finds, those who were best placed to use the law's more liberal provisions were not modern, well-educated urbanites but rather illiterate peasant women who had never heard of sexual equality and who even insisted upon maintaining the traditional sexual division of labor in the family; those whose interests were most damaged by the Marriage Law were not women, who have often been portrayed as victims of communist patriarchy, but rather poor men in whose name the revolution was carried out.

Filled with a detailed depiction of the workings of multiple levelsof the Chinese state, as well as many anecdotes about urban and rural family life, this original and provocative book will have broad appeal in political science, legal and gender studies, history, sociology, and history.

About the Author

Neil J. Diamant is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0520217209
• ISBN 13: 9780520217201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 458