China is calling for the end of increasingly lavish weddings, claiming they go against the country’s socialist values. The ministry of civil affairs has condemned the practice of holding extravagant ceremonies and giving expensive gifts.
Weddings, instead, should “integrate core socialist values and Chinese traditional culture into the construction of marriage and family,” the ministry said.
Officials further stressed at a conference on wedding reform over the weekend that it is “necessary” to incorporate “Xi Jinping Thought,” the Chinese president’s oft-heard political ideology, into wedding and marriage planning.
Local authorities will also now be asked to come up with more specific “wedding etiquette” rules.
In China, weddings are a way for people show off their wealth – in a culture where the concept of “saving face” is incredibly important, families from all socioeconomic classes prioritise keeping up appearances.
The more lavish the wedding, the more expensive the gifts must be from the guests.
Authorities have for years been trying to rein in extravagance at traditional ceremonies, first going after excessive funerals – some families go into severe debt to hold elaborate rites, even hiring strippers and professional mourners – and now, cracking down on opulent weddings.
Last year, one Chinese county was an early adopter in announcing restrictions limiting everything from the number of guests – stipulating there must be fewer than 10 tables, and the guestlist can’t exceed 200 people – as well as the value of wedding gifts, which must be under 60,000 yuan (£6,820), with houses and cars inadmissable as presents.
Some of the crackdown has been aimed directly at reining in “bride prices,” which have been on the rise in China as four decades of the “one-child policy” has led to a scarcity of women.
Last year, Dengzhou city in Henan province attempted to rein in the practice by capping the cost for a bride at 30,000 (£3,400).
These “reverse dowries” typically include the cost of an expensive wedding and a cash payment to the bride and her family. Prices, however, have been rising significantly in rural areas the gender imbalance is more acute than in cities.
More recently, authorities are worried the tradition of playing pranks on the bride and groom – originally thought to ward off evil spirits and help the happy couple relax – have been been getting out of hand with stunts that are humiliating and become violent.
One groom was hit by car last week while trying to escape a pre-wedding hazing that involved being tied up and beaten. And last year, a group of bridesmaids were injured with broken glass when a groomsman tried to break down a door.