118 The China Quarterly revolution,"but three particular aspects are addressed here because they lie at the heart of PRC family law:marriage,divorce and reproduction. Marriage46 Marriages in the PRC are concluded not by celebration but,rather,by registration.The basic procedure for the creation of marriage was initially introduced by Article 8 of the Chinese Soviet Republic Marriage Regula- tions 1931.47 This provision stipulated,inter alia,that "in order to contract marriage the man and the woman are required to approach together the xiang or municipal soviet to register the marriage and receive a marriage certificate."The requirement of registration (and receipt of certificate)was applied throughout the People's Republic after Liberation, and was reaffirmed in the most recent version of the marriage registration regulations (1994)at Articles 9 and 19.The strict requirement of regis- tration represented a radical break with social practice at the time of its introduction,and in fact the old practices remain to a significant extent in many parts of the mainland.In imperial China the formalities of marriage8 were primarily governed by local custom and consisted of the celebratory rituals of betrothal,procession.presentation of bride to the groom's family and ancestors,and public banquets.In the contemporary Chinese countryside it is these rites,rather than registration,that are often regarded as crucial. Despite the obvious importance that the authorities in the PRC have attached to marriage registration work,this aspect of Chinese family law and social life has received scant attention in Western-language writing on modern China.As early as 1957,however,one writer had identified the serious difficulties which the introduction of a system of compulsory registration in the face of strongly entrenched local custom was creating. Van der Valk observed the development of a great disparity between the law and social practice in a number of jurisdictions which had imposed compulsory registration.9 The failure to register marriage remains a problem today but is no longer simply a function of the continued influence of customary or"feudal"norms and values.The programme of rural reforms during the 1980s,especially the revival of the family as a unit of production,has encouraged country folk to "zao,kuai,duo"-that is,to marry early,have children quickly and bear many children-rather than to follow the official prescription to marry late,delay reproduction and give birth to one or at most two children.In these circumstances, marriage registration is to be avoided if at all possible.As a result of this 46.For an earlier treatment of problems of marriage registration in the post-Mao PRC see Michael Palmer,"China's new marriage regulations,"in M.D.A.Freeman (ed.),Annual Survey of Family Law:1986,Vol.10 (1987).pp.39-57. 47.Liu Suping.Hunyin fa xue cankao ziliao,pp.25-27 48.That is,the formalities for that type of union characterized by Wolf and Huang as "major marriage":see Arthur Wolf and Chien-shan Huang,Marriage and Adoption in China 1845-/945 (Stanford:Stanford University Press,1980. 49.Van der Valk,"The registration of marriage,"especially pp.352-53. Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core.Shanghai JiaoTong University,on 15 Oct 2016 at 08:21:12,subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use available at http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms.http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/50305741000032938118 The China Quarterly revolution," but three particular aspects are addressed here because they lie at the heart of PRC family law: marriage, divorce and reproduction. Marriage46 Marriages in the PRC are concluded not by celebration but, rather, by registration. The basic procedure for the creation of marriage was initially introduced by Article 8 of the Chinese Soviet Republic Marriage Regula￾tions 1931.47 This provision stipulated, inter alia, that "in order to contract marriage the man and the woman are required to approach together the xiang or municipal soviet to register the marriage and receive a marriage certificate." The requirement of registration (and receipt of certificate) was applied throughout the People's Republic after Liberation, and was reaffirmed in the most recent version of the marriage registration regulations (1994) at Articles 9 and 19. The strict requirement of regis￾tration represented a radical break with social practice at the time of its introduction, and in fact the old practices remain to a significant extent in many parts of the mainland. In imperial China the formalities of marriage48 were primarily governed by local custom and consisted of the celebratory rituals of betrothal, procession, presentation of bride to the groom's family and ancestors, and public banquets. In the contemporary Chinese countryside it is these rites, rather than registration, that are often regarded as crucial. Despite the obvious importance that the authorities in the PRC have attached to marriage registration work, this aspect of Chinese family law and social life has received scant attention in Western-language writing on modern China. As early as 1957, however, one writer had identified the serious difficulties which the introduction of a system of compulsory registration in the face of strongly entrenched local custom was creating. Van der Valk observed the development of a great disparity between the law and social practice in a number of jurisdictions which had imposed compulsory registration.49 The failure to register marriage remains a problem today but is no longer simply a function of the continued influence of customary or "feudal" norms and values. The programme of rural reforms during the 1980s, especially the revival of the family as a unit of production, has encouraged country folk to "zao, kuai, duo" - that is, to marry early, have children quickly and bear many children - rather than to follow the official prescription to marry late, delay reproduction and give birth to one or at most two children. In these circumstances, marriage registration is to be avoided if at all possible. As a result of this 46. For an earlier treatment of problems of marriage registration in the post-Mao PRC see Michael Palmer, "China's new marriage regulations," in M. D. A. Freeman (ed.), Annual Survey of Family Law: 1986, Vol. 10 (1987), pp. 39-57. 47. Liu Suping, Hunyinfa xue cankao ziliao, pp. 25-27. 48. That is, the formalities for that type of union characterized by Wolf and Huang as "major marriage": see Arthur Wolf and Chien-shan Huang, Marriage and Adoption in China 1845-1945 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1980. 49. Van der Valk, "The registration of marriage," especially pp. 352-53. , available at http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741000032938 Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core. Shanghai JiaoTong University, on 15 Oct 2016 at 08:21:12, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use