Traditionally, '''Chinese [[marriage]]''' in Chinese societies (‘’hūn yīn’’,婚姻) has been an arrangement between families. Originally, Chinese culture allowed for romantic love and [[monogamy]] was the norm.
==Introduction==
Traditionally [[marriage]] in Chinese societies (‘’hūn yīn’’,婚姻) has been an arrangement between families. Originally Chinese culture allowed for romantic love and [[monogamy]] was the norm. Ideographically, ‘’hūn’’ (婚) is identical to ‘’hūn’’ (昏, literally means evening or dusk). In more ancient writings, though the former has the [[radical (Chinese character)]] ‘’nǔ’’ (女, literally means a female). This implies that courting couples meet in the evening. Similarly, ‘’yīn’’ (姻) is the same as ‘’yīn’’ (因). According to [[Zhang Yi]]’s (張揖) ‘’Guangya Shigu’’ (廣雅•釋詁), a [[dictionary]] for ancient Chinese characters, ‘’yīn’’ (因) means friendliness, love and harmony, indicating that correct way of living for a married couple. In [[Confucians]] thought, marriage is of grave significance both to families and to society. Traditionally [[incest]] has been defined as marriage between people with the same surname. From the perspective of a Confucian family, marriage brings together families of different [[surnames]], or rather [[clans]], and so continues the family line of the paternal [[clan]]. Therefore, the benefits and demerits of any marriage are important to the entire family, not just the individual couples. Socially, the married couple is thought to be the basic unit of society. In Chinese history there have been made times when marriages have affected the country’s political stablity and international relations. From the [[Han dynasty]] the rulers of certain powerful foreign tribes such as the [[Mongolians]], the [[Manchus]], the [[Xiongnu]], and the [[Turks]] demanded concubines from the Imperial family. Many periods of Chinese history were dominated by the families of the wife of the ruling Emperor. Thus marriage can be related to politics.
