Marriage Traditions- Indian, Chinese Cultures - Essay Example

Marriage Traditions- Indian, Chinese Cultures 1 I. Introduction This paper basically undertakes an analytical discussion of marriage traditions in Chinese and Indian cultures, from the perspective of cultural relativism in anthropology, taking off from the perspective of viewing both cultures as having their own sets of unique practices as well as values, and that judgments of value therefore of the differences in traditions are to be set aside in favor of a stance that is characterized by judgment free observation. This paper posits the thesis that although there are similarities, the traditions of marriage in the two cultures are to be properly viewed in terms of the unique cultural, religious and social contexts in the two, within which the marriage traditions arise and have flourished through time. Stated another way, it is an eye to the culturally relativistic foundations of marriage traditions in Chinese and Indian cultures that a proper perspective of the marriage traditions in those two cultures can be properly had. It is not absolutist in that it does not try to judge the ethics and morals of the marriage traditions of the two cultures, but views them from the standards and principles within the cultures that gave rise to and which continue to promote the marriage traditions (Fluehr-Lobban, 1995; Geertz, 1984; Donnelly, 1984; Hodes, 1985; Polisi, 2003; Moschetti, 2005). II. Approach to Marriage In. China the major form of marriage is one where families gave away their female children for marriage to other families when the girl comes to marrying age, usually as early as at puberty, and the girl then goes on to live in the husband’s family home, to then become a part of that family. To fill that gap left by the married girl, the family then made space for when one of their sons took wives. This is the fundamental marriage arrangement that allowed for the addition and subtraction of members of households based on time-honored traditions in Chinese culture, and certainly prior to China turning Communist, under the old dynasties. On the other hand, the literatrure also notes that some alternate forms of marriage also formed part of the marriage traditions of China, and those include marriage arrangements where a girl is given up for adoption at birth or at a very early age, to a family who would then raise that girl to become one of their son’s wife. Alternately, in families that have no sons, a family may adopt a boy and rear that boy to become the husband of one of their daughers, to take the place of an unborn son, and to later become head of that household. These alternative forms of marriage are well-entrenched in tradition as reflected in witness accounts from many sources, even as culturally such practices were marginalized and assigned a low social preference, especially as they relate to the taking of young girls to be raised as their son’s wife by virtue of the poverty of the son’s family, and that of the girl. These latter arrangements too are more economically convenient due to the bypassing of aspects of the marriage rituals, including the dowry and the ceremonies relating to the move of the girl into his husband’s abode, this already having been effected from the time of the girl’s adoption. It is to be understood, meanwhile, that this social shunning is a value judgment within Chinese culture, rather than something imposed from without (Wolf and Huang, 1980, pp. 1-5). In India there are parallel cultural traditions relating to marriage and parallel movements away from arranged and child marriages. In India too, Indian culture is one that has traditionally espoused arranged marriages of women younger than 18, or what are termed child marriages, that persist in many parts of the country up to the present, even though they have been legally shunned for quite some time now. The statistics are that up to 70 percent of marriages are arranged with children, and this is prevalent most especially in the south of India, where the culture has supported and observed such marriage practices historically. This is the same not just for child marriages, but for arranged marriages in general, which continue to be observed in Indian culture up to the present day (Raj et al., 2009; Myers, Madathil and Tingle, 2005). Moreover, marriage traditions in Indian culture are also characterized by a heavy emphasis on caste, and prohibitions against marrying across caste lines that go to the extent of so-called honor killings for those who marry outside of their strict caste designations (Nelson, 2014). 2 II. Comparison and Contrast from the Perspective of Cultural Relativism In Chinese culture there is arguably more social and cultural flexibility in marriage options, despite the strong economic emphasis as motivation for marriage for both parties and their families, primarily because there are no caste-like parallels that act to order marriages along caste lines in the fashion of the caste system in Indian culture. Chinese culture approaches marriage from the point of view of the preservation of the family economic, social and compositional integrity, whereas Indian culture approaches marriage from the point of view of caste and of long-standing traditions that promote arranged marriages. The information for the two cultures was gathered from primary research, and via the findings of that research in the reputable journals used for this paper (Nelson, 2014; Raj et al., 2009; Myers, Madathil and Tingle, 2005; Wolf and Huang, 1980, pp. 1-5). 3 III. Differences - Ties to Other Factors of Culture Caste has religious roots in Indian culture, rather than something separate from religion, and therefore the cultural reality of caste being a strong force that shapes marriage practices and traditions in Indian culture is something innate to that culture’s way of being. This differentiates marriage practices in Chinese culture, which in turn are shaped more powerfully by family dynamics rather than caste dynamics. This for instance allows for poor Chinese boys and girls to marry into more economically affluent families. On the other hand such arranged marriage practices that transcend economic lines and also social lines in Indian culture are shunned and actively quelled. Religious caste and strong cultural factors tied to religion differentiate Indian marriage traditions from Chinese marriage traditions in this way (Nelson, 2014; Raj et al., 2009; Myers, Madathil and Tingle, 2005; Wolf and Huang, 1980, pp. 1-5).. 4 IV. Cultural Context of Marriage Marriage traditions in Indian and Chinese cultures have are anchored on cultural contexts becauseof the way both sets of traditions spring from the specific and unique social contexts in those two cultures, with Indian traditions in marriage in particular being strongly shaped by Indian cultural practices, which in turn are shaped by strong religious practices espoused by Hinduism and the caste system. In China there are strong social supports around marriages that fortify and preserve family lineages and continuity, because the family is a fundamental cultural and social construct in Chinese culture (Nelson, 2014; Raj et al., 2009; Myers, Madathil and Tingle, 2005; Wolf and Huang, 1980, pp. 1-5).. V. Changes Through Time, Impact of Globalization, Colonialism Fast forward to the 1990’s and onwards, on the other hand, the literature notes that there had been some major changes in the traditional marriage arrangements in China, even in the rural areas where change would intuitively come more slowly, given that even in the present many areas of China continue to remain rural and arguably more inclined to keep cultural traditions in marriage and other social institutions intact. Among the changes are the shifts in the way women pursued marriage independent of old cultural traditions where families and parents determined marriage arrangements, and sought economic and social mobility on their own, going to great lengths to overcome serious social and economic shortcomings in order to marry into better circumstances (Fan and Huang, 1998). Moreover, the modern Chinese cultural and political environment has come to be characterized by the clash between traditional cultural practices relating to marriage, where the emphasis is on arranged marriages and economic and social considerations decided by the families and by the parents rather than the marrying parties on the one hand; and on the other hand more modern cultural values relating to self-determination in choice of marriage partners, marrying at a more mature age rather than at puberty, marriage as one that ideally is entered into freely and under no economic predatory and mercenary compulsions, and of the shunning of all forms of coercion on the part of women to get married to men against their will. These changes have been enshrined in law, and have been in force legally since at least the 1950’s. This clash is also partly said to be attributed to a new government, Communist, that tried to do away with an older and feudal social order where marriage was leveraged for the ends of the old social order, and the supplanting of older cultural values with one based on the re-imagining of marriage as one between two people who are equal (Croll, 1981, pp. 1-4). In Indian culture too, the relaxing of inter-caste marriages as mandated by Indian elders mark a shift due to the changing times and the influences of globalization on entrenched marriage customs and traditions that stress caste and arranged marriages (Nelson, 2014). VI. Conclusion It is through the lens of the individual cultures that a proper perspective of marriage traditions can be had. An outsider perspective on the marriage traditions in Indian and Chinese cultures brings home the point of how those traditions make sense within the social, religious and even political forces that operate within those cultures, to determine the shape of the marriage practices. In Indian culture, religion and caste play powerful roles in shaping cultural rituals and practices on marriage, choosing acceptable mates from within castes, and favoring arranged marriages. In China on the other hand a strong emphasis on family in Chinese culture primarily shapes marriage traditions in that culture (Nelson, 2014; Raj et al., 2009; Myers, Madathil and Tingle, 2005; Wolf and Huang, 1980, pp. 1-5). 5 References Croll, E. (1981). The Politics of Marriage in Contemporary China. Cambridge University Press. Google Books. Retrieved from http://books.google.com Donnelly, J. (1984). Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights. Human Rights Quarterly 6 (4). Retrieved from http://hmb.utoronto.ca/Old%20Site/HMB303H/weekly_supp/week-02/Donnelly_cultural_relativisim.pdf Fan, C. and Huang, Y. (1998). Waves of Rural Brides: Female Marriage Migration in China. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88 (2). Retrieved from http://staging.vmc.be/uploadedFiles/VMC/Managers_van_diversiteit/2010_Huwelijksmigratie/Waves%20of%20Rural%20Brides.%20Female%20Marriage%20Migration%20in%20China%20-%20Cindy%20Fan%20et%20alii%20(1998).pdf Fleuhr- Lobban, C. (1995). Cultural Relativism and Universal Rights. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.neiu.edu/~circill/luedke/anth212/cultu.pdf Geertz, C. (1984). Distinguished Lecture: Anti Anti-Relativism. American Anthropologist 86 (2). Retrieved from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic228815.files/Week_8/Geertz_Anti_Anti_Relativism.pdf Hodes, M. (1985). Family therapy and the problem of cultural relativism: a reply to Dr. Lau. Journal of Family Therapy 7. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j..1985.00683.x/pdf Moschetti, C. (2005). Conjugal Wrongs Don’t Make Rights: International Feminist Activism, Child Marriage and Sexual Relativism. The University of Melbourne Political Science Department. Retrieved from http://dtl.unimelb.edu.au//exlibris/dtl/d3_1/apache_media/L2V4bGlicmlzL2R0bC9kM18xL2FwYWNoZV9tZWRpYS84Mzk3OQ==.pdf Myers, J., Madathil, J. and Tingle, L. (2005). Marriage Satisfaction and Wellness in India and the United States: A Preliminary Comparison of Arranged Marriages and Marriages of Choice. Journal of Counseling and Development 83 (2). Retrieved from http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/J_Myers_Marriage_2005.pdf Nelson, D. (2014). India’s elders lift ban on inter-caste marriage. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10778189/Indias-elders-lift-ban-on-inter-caste-marriages.html Polisi, C. (2003). Universal Rights and Cultural Relativism: Hinduism and Islam Deconstructed. The Bologna Center Journal for International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved from http://www.jhubc.it/bcjournal/articles/polisi.cfm Raj, A. et al. (2009). Prevalence of Child Marriage and Its Impact on the Fertility and Fertility Control Behaviors of Young Women in India. Lancet 373. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759702/ Wolf, A. and Huang, C. (1980). Marriage and Adoption in China: 1845-1945. California: Stanford University Press. Google Books. Retrieved from http://books.google.com Read More