The marriage in ancient China for women

By: Jinny

With the advancement of human civilization, most of us now could enjoy our rights of citizen according the law, such as the right to vote, the right to education, and the freedom of speech. Even the vulnerable groups  such as women could have more rights to enjoy their lives. But in ancient China, it was not same as now, for women had little rights about themselves. They had to be obedient to their parents, and even the rights to choose husband were deprived from them.So many women's lives in ancient China were miserable.

In feudal society, the young couple especially the woman could not decide the marrige, because it was the parents' right to do. So the desire of parents is the prerequisite and the foundation of setting up a marriage, which raises the risk of future unfortunate marriage.The women could not meet strangers and when they reached the age for marriage, the matchmaker would come to her house to see her parents and introduce some young men to her parents. Then her parents would consider if the wealth of the two families were similar and how the other family's social status was. If all of the conditions could be matched, then the marriage procedure went on. But during the process, the attitude of women was not taken into account and they even didn't know what their husband looks like.They also did not have right to divorce, only the husband had right to  abandon their wifes. Divorce is a disaster for ancient women which could ruin their lives.

The status of women was so low that they even lost their words of their own marriage. This is the true outrage to my way of thinking.

Firstly, in my opinion, life belongs to individuals themselves, so nobody has the right to take charge of other people's destinies.  Freedom is the essential right for a person regardless of the gender or the age. Women should have the right to decide which person to marry and who they will spend the rest life with.

Secondly, the deprivation of rights to choose for women is outrage which not only severely sets obstacles to social development but also weakens women's contributions to civilation. Women have no choice but obey their parents and husband, so they become self-abased, passive, and pessimistic. They are not good at expressing opinions and dealing with problems alone. This kind of attachment psychology could lead to their art vision enclosed and result in creative ability destruction.