The New Marriage Law (1950)
“In marriage, keep an eye on your own interests, and return radiant after registration, 1953”
In 1950, China’s New Marriage Law passed, allowing autonomy in regards to marriage and divorce, and was part of Chairman Mao’s campaign to destroy China’s ties to old world mentalities. The issue was a personal one for Chairman Mao, who had taken an interest in women’s rights, providing a civil registry for marriages, raising the marriageable age to 20 for men and 18 for women, and banned marriage by proxy. In addition, the marriage had to be a mutually consensual affair, which differed radically from earlier Chinese marriages, in which women could be bought or sold and married before entering puberty. (In addition to supporting communist ideology in gender equality, the NML helped implement the essential land reform by outlawing the common practice of selling peasant women to the landlords) The New Marriage Law was often offensive to old world sensibilities, and the movement needed heavy support from the ministry of propaganda.
“Men and women are equal; everyone is worth his (or her) salt”
“A happy marriage, a happy family, 1955”
