COURTSHIP. LOVE AND PREMARITAL SEX purposes, because the couple has already worked out all the details, including the amount of bridewealth and dowry. In the second type of introduction, couples do each other well beforehand, but they fall in love during the post engagement period. This type is more normal in cases of village exogamy, especially among couples where one of the betrothed lives far away from Xiajia Finally, even in some cases of spouse selection where the opinions of the parents dominate, couples develop romantic feelings after their engagement. In 1998, for instance, the son of an ordinary household was engaged to the daughter of the Party secretary. The son's mother favoured the engagement, which she regarded as a personal victory in establishing a powerful kinship alliance, and thus she offered a very high bridewealth. Her son initially was rather passive, merely accepting his mother's aggressive arrangements. But once he and the girl got to know one another after their engagement, he became a vigorous suitor who would do anything to please his fiancee. She taught the preschool class in the illage school, and he often accompanied her to her class, helping her to maintain classroom order and to collect the homework. Some children became confused and told their parents that they had two teachers in their class, which quickly became a local joke The Social Space of Courtship: 1950s to 1990s In their 1978 study, Parish and whyte concluded that, "in considering freedom of mate choice, the most important things are the opportunities young people have to meet or to be introduced to a potential mate". 9 This applies to Xiajia, where the availability of social space stands out as one of the most important factors in the development of romance and intimacy. After the land reform campaign various forms of meetings and public rallies became a part of village life. Many villagers belonged to Party-sponsored organizations such as the Youth League the women's Association, the village militia, and the association of poor Peasants, which held their own meetings and activities; while Party members had regular Party meetings and study lessons.2 Village youths were also mobilized to participate in various forms of public activities sponsored by the collectives, such as the village performance troupe, movie shows, sports activities and organized volunteer work According to many informants, the 1960s and 1970s were a springtime for the new patterns of courtship. The leadership in Xiajia village in the early 1960s took the lessons of the Great Leap seriously and tried to focus on agricultural production in a pragmatic manner. As a result, productivity started to improve Parish and Whyte, village and Family in Contemporary China, p. 180 For a detailed study of village political life during the collective era, see Anita Cha Richard Madsen and Jonathan Unger, Chen Village under Mao and Deng(Berkeley University of California Press, 1992). Chs 1-9COURTSHIP, LOVE AND PREMARITAL SEX purposes, because the couple has already worked out all the details, including the amount of bridewealth and dowry. In the second type of introduction, couples do not know each other well beforehand, but they fall in love during the post￾engagement period. This type is more normal in cases of village exogamy, especially among couples where one of the betrothed lives far away from Xiajia village. Finally, even in some cases of spouse selection where the opinions of the parents dominate, couples develop romantic feelings after their engagement. In 1998, for instance, the son of an ordinary household was engaged to the daughter of the Party secretary. The son's mother favoured the engagement, which she regarded as a personal victory in establishing a powerful kinship alliance, and thus she offered a very high bridewealth. Her son initially was rather passive, merely accepting his mother's aggressive arrangements. But once he and the girl got to know one another after their engagement, he became a vigorous suitor who would do anything to please his fiancee. She taught the preschool class in the village school, and he often accompanied her to her class, helping her to maintain classroom order and to collect the homework. Some children became confused and told their parents that they had two teachers in their class, which quickly became a local joke. The Social Space of Courtship: 1950s to 1990s In their 1978 study, Parish and Whyte concluded that, "in considering freedom of mate choice, the most important things are the opportunities young people have to meet or to be introduced to a potential mate".19 This applies to Xiajia, where the availability of social space stands out as one of the most important factors in the development of romance and intimacy. After the land reform campaign, various forms of meetings and public rallies became a part of village life. Many villagers belonged to Party-sponsored organizations such as the Youth League, the Women's Association, the village militia, and the Association of Poor Peasants, which held their own meetings and activities; while Party members had regular Party meetings and study lessons.20 Village youths were also mobilized to participate in various forms of public activities sponsored by the collectives, such as the village performance troupe, movie shows, sports activities and organized volunteer work. According to many informants, the 1960s and 1970s were a springtime for the new patterns of courtship. The leadership in Xiajia village in the early 1960s took the lessons of the Great Leap seriously and tried to focus on agricultural production in a pragmatic manner. As a result, productivity started to improve, 9Parish and Whyte, Village and Family in Contemporary China, p. 180. 20 For a detailed study of village political life during the collective era, see Anita Chan, Richard Madsen and Jonathan Unger, Chen Village under Mao and Deng (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), Chs 1-9. 35