In an incident that ignited a wave of mockery on Chinese social media platforms, a man expressed outrage about the hefty bride price demanded by his would-be in-laws. The man, identified by his surname Liu, sought government intervention after being expected to pay a sum of 288,000 yuan (around US$40,000) as bride price.
The controversy surfaced when Liu registered his complaint on June 15 with the mayor of Zhenyuan county, situated in Gansu province in north-central China. Liu was flummoxed by his girlfriend’s parents’ demand, which significantly exceeded the average bride price of about 120,000 yuan in their county.
In his grievance letter, Liu expressed his anxiety about disclosing to his girlfriend his inability to meet the hefty bride price. “Since we really like each other, I don’t even dare to tell her that my family cannot afford such a high bride price,” Liu wrote.
In an attempt to argue his case, Liu mentioned the “No 1 Central Document” for 2023, a set of guidelines released by the China Central Committee and State Council calling for regulation to rein in exorbitant bride prices.
In response, the local government’s publicity department replied in a letter published on the government website. They acknowledged that the overall trend for bride prices in the county has been downwards and stated their commitment to working towards further reductions.
However, Liu’s complaint failed to evoke much sympathy among the online community. His plea became the butt of jokes and ridicule after it was published and started trending. One person retorted, “I really don’t understand; if you cannot agree on the bride price, just don’t marry her. You should marry someone else who doesn’t ask for a bride price.”
Another person echoed the sentiment, adding, “By stirring up such a fuss, even if the girl doesn’t ask for a bride price in the end, she won’t marry you.” A third commenter humorously suggested that they too could write a complaint to the county mayor about high housing prices, low high school enrollment rates, excessive hospital charges, and the lack of film choices in the cinema.
The incident has reignited debate over China’s age-old custom of the bride price, traditionally paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s to signify the transfer of rights to control a woman’s body and labor. This practice, along with rising marriage costs, has been a deterrent for many Chinese couples considering marriage, adding to the country’s declining marriage and birth rates. As China grapples with a rapidly aging population, these sociocultural issues pose significant challenges to its demographic dynamics.
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