The Research On Gentlefolk Family Marriage Of Jin And Southern Dynasties

The gentlefolk made its first appearance in Wei and Jin Dynasties. In order toconsolidate its own interests and maintain the purity of descent, they regard “thefamily status” as the basis of the marriage, which refers to the marriage between thetwo upper classes with the same status in whatever society or economics. Thegentlefolk family marriage formed in the Western Jin Dynasty, reached its peak in theEastern Jin Dynasty, Then, under the impact of power changes between the gentry andcivilian and other factors, it gradually decline in Southern Dynasties period. Therefore,the marriage with the same social status goes through the parabolic process ofunstrictness from the beginning to strictness and to the unstrictness.This paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter expounds thecharacteristics of the evolutionary process of the gentlefolk family marriage fromprosperity to decline. Firstly, the reason why the gentlefolk family marriage went to adecline should be analyzed from the economic perspective in the second chapter. TheLandownership system, developing fast with the background of the Jin and SouthernDynasties, plays a vital role in the development of the gentlefolk family marriage.Then, the second part makes an analysis of the Nine-rank system’s influence on thegentlefolk which safeguards the family status and lays a political basis on thegentlefolk family marriage. Finally, the development of the gentlefolk familymarriage and what it is in their mind as they get married are elaborated in this paperinfluenced by the hierarchy, especially shows its character to the peak in the SouthernDynasty. The third chapter analyses the gentlefolk family marriage and marriageculture during the period of the Jin and Southern Dynasties, the family marriage’spost--development to the Six Manners, together with the marriage policy during theperiod of the Jin and Southern Dynasties, in addition to the other marriage states.The fourth chapter focuses on the series of impact of the gentlefolk familymarriage. What’s more, the rising of genealogy with the influence of the hierarchy isalso mentioned, which is valued by the noble. In that case, it results to the narrowrange of the noble and the prevailing state of the marriage between the differentgenerations. Finally, it leads to the poor quality of the upper class and obvious conflict in society.The gentlefolk family marriage regarded as the special system in ancient China,which not only widely popular at the time, but also plays a profound role in themarriage of later times.