The Spring Festival is also the peak period for marriage. Last time, I introduced the traditional Chinese wedding in the article "The most noble and grand is the traditional Chinese wedding, and the three books and six ceremonies are worthy of life events", and today I will talk about the bride price and dowry that are most likely to cause controversy before marriage.
The rise of the bride price can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty in ancient China, and the fourth item of the "six rites" formulated by the Zhou Duke is equivalent to giving a bride price.
The bride price is the money and goods that the man gives to the woman before marriage, which represents the sincerity and respect of the man's family, and is also a kind of compensation for the woman's family - after all, in ancient times, when the daughter got married, she was the man's person, and the years of nurturing had to be rewarded, right? But this is not a sale, but more of a gift from the man's family to the woman's family, the man's family expresses its sincerity to the woman's family through the bride price, and at the same time shows the wealth and status of the man's family, and the woman's family expresses its acceptance and recognition of the man's family by accepting the bride price. This way of expressing mutual respect and trust became a common marriage culture in ancient societies.
Although the bride price is a traditional custom, the official has never advocated giving too high a bride price.
The "Zhou Li" stipulates that civilians "who marry a son and a wife, enter pure silk, no more than five taels".
"Tang Law Discussion and Marriage" records: "Whoever marries, the bride shall not exceed 100 taels. ”
When it comes to buying and selling, taking a concubine is the real business. "The Book of Rites: Internal Rules" says that "if you are hired, you will be a wife, and if you run, you will be a concubine", a concubine is bought, and a wife is hired, so the bride price is a dowry, not a money for selling oneself.
However, now some places distinguish between bride price and bride price, saying that the bride price is a gift and gift money given by the man to the woman at the stage of marriage proposal, and the bride price is the property given by the man to the woman before the marriage after the marriage relationship is established between the man and the woman. However, in the law, there is no such distinction, and the Civil Code only stipulates: "It is forbidden to solicit property through marriage." ”
Therefore, from ancient times to the present, whether it is levy, currency, dowry, bride price, bride price, bride price, financial gift...... In fact, these statements are the same thing, and they are all gifts from the man to the woman for the purpose of marriage.
So, if the woman does not agree to marry or regret the marriage, can the bride price given be returned?
Although the bride price is a gift, it is not an ordinary gratuitous gift, it is an obligation gift at the cost of "marriage and living together". Therefore, if the marriage is not successful, the gift loses its legal effect and the bride price should be returned to the donor. If there are reasonable expenses from the bride price before the marriage, such as a portion of the bride price for the common expenses of the wedding, this should be refunded as appropriate.
From a legal point of view, once a party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with custom, the people's court shall support it if it is ascertained that the following circumstances apply:
(1) The parties have not gone through the marriage registration formalities;
(2) The parties have gone through marriage registration formalities but do not live together;
(3) Payments made before marriage and causing hardship to the payor.
The simple summary is: the bride price can be returned.
Let's talk about the dowry.
Dowry, also known as dowry, dowry, dowry, etc., is the marriage supplies and property prepared by the woman's family to accompany the man's family when the woman gets married. Xiaoxiao mentioned in the previous article "What is the matter with three wives and four concubines? Xiaosan is a kind of dowry" mentioned in the article "What is the progress of history or regression?".
On the one hand, the purpose of the dowry is to help the new family live better, and on the other hand, the amount of the dowry reflects the status and face of the woman's family, and also relates to the status of the bride in the man's family, so as to prevent being despised by the man's family.
Since the dowry is prepared by the woman before she gets married, it can be regarded as the woman's pre-marital property, so it is generally not considered the joint property of the husband and wife.
Note, however:
This dowry must be given to the bride before the marriage is registered, and if it is given after the marriage certificate is obtained, the dowry can be regarded as the joint property of the husband and wife. After all, Article 17 of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the property acquired by the husband and wife during the existence of the marital relationship shall belong to the joint property of the husband and wife unless otherwise agreed. This includes the dowry received by one party after the marriage is registered.
Don't think that the bride price is expensive, and the dowry is not cheap.
When Princess Jincheng of the Tang Dynasty and her relatives of Tibet, Tang Zhongzong married the land of Jiuqu in Hexi as the "Tang Mu Zhiyi" of Princess Jincheng to Tubo. You must know that this place was the land of horse breeding in the Tang Dynasty, a proper strategic land, and it was sent out like this, which led to the Tang State and Tubo fighting for this land for decades, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands of soldiers, which can be described as the most expensive dowry in history.