Source: People's Daily
Core Reading
Since 2021, the No. 1 Document of the Central Committee has put forward work requirements for outstanding problems in key areas such as high bride prices and large-scale operations for four consecutive years, and all departments have continued to make efforts to promote the change of customs and customs. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 33 village-level tracking and observation points set up in 17 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) show that the burden on farmers' families has been effectively reduced. In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will continue to consolidate the achievements of special governance, ensure that the intensity is not reduced, the momentum is not relaxed, and promote the rural area to glow with a new atmosphere of civilization.
Weddings contain people's beautiful hopes for future married life. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of high bride price, vulgar marriage troubles, extravagance and waste in some places has made the wedding that conveys happiness "taste".
Since 2021, the No. 1 Document of the Central Committee has put forward work requirements for outstanding problems in key areas such as high bride price and large-scale operation for four consecutive years, and various departments have continued to make efforts to promote the change of customs and customs: the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has included the change of customs in the pilot demonstration of the construction of the national rural governance system, and promoted the "one map" workflow for the governance of high bride price......
A series of measures have effectively promoted marriage customs to a healthy and civilized and established a new rural fashion.
Promoting the Reform of Marriage Customs——
The effect of changing customs has been revealed
"Don't hold up the façade, talk about pomp, and don't let the young couple go into debt due to marriage. In Yaxi Village, Longyuanba Town, Quannan County, Jiangxi Province, Chen Lianping, the "steward of happy events", sat around with the villagers who were preparing to hold a happy event in the near future. When it came to the new and simple handling of happy events, the villagers nodded in agreement.
As a demonstration county for the reform of marriage customs in Jiangxi Province, Quannan County advocates the establishment of new marriage customs, and 97 villages (residences) have innovatively established "happy event housekeepers" mass organizations to provide full-process wedding services. The "Happy Occasion Steward" takes the lead in formulating specific standards for the village's wedding gifts, scale, time process, etc., implements a list-based "height limit", and includes it in the village rules and regulations. Understand the wedding matters in advance, and the "wedding steward" will guide the whole process for the villagers, providing them with process arrangements, wedding invitations, venue provision, organizing volunteers and other assistance services.
In order to further promote the change of customs, Quannan County also innovated the "special guest" to witness the wedding, integrated the local characteristic regional culture into the construction of new wedding customs, and invited moral models and rural "five elders" to serve as "special guests" to attend the collective wedding, making the wedding more memorable.
"In the past, rural celebrations were more pompous, but in recent years, there have been new changes, young people pay more attention to civilized etiquette, weddings are simple and warm and in line with their hearts, saving money and meaningful. Zhong Zhiyong, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Quannan County Party Committee, introduced. At present, the average cost of marriage in Quannan County has dropped by 28,000 yuan, and the marriage process has been reduced from the original 13 to 5, and the concept of marriage and love among the masses has changed significantly.
To promote the reform of marriage customs, break the outdated and bad habits such as high bride price, extravagance and waste, and mutual comparison, we must work the "face" that the villagers value, and help the villagers establish a correct value orientation, so that the results of changing customs can be sustainable.
The civil affairs department has identified 32 experimental areas for the reform of marriage customs in two batches, and will continue to work with relevant departments to carry out the governance of bad marriage customs such as high bride prices and large-scale exercises. Give full play to the role of village (resident) autonomous organizations and red and white councils, include the new and simple handling of marriage matters in village rules and conventions, and guide the broad masses of the people to become participants, practitioners, and propagandists in the reform of marriage customs.
Carry out special governance——
Reduce the burden of peasant families
"Sister Shao, Xiaofeng and Xiao Chen are dealing with each other, Xiaofeng's family wants a bride price of 300,000 yuan, these two children are coming to me, I think about her mother's stubborn temper, you can talk and make peace. "Sister, it's not appropriate for you to ask for so many dowries, now that the marriage customs have been reformed, you can see that the new wind of marriage customs in our Yilemen Village has been blowing...... In Yilemen Village, Jinxiang Township, Yongji County, Jilin Province, an original sitcom "Marrying" performed by village cadres and villagers vividly interprets the story of the new marriage.
As a national experimental area for the reform of marriage customs, Yongji County has vigorously promoted the change of customs in the field of marriage. In Yilemen Village, the village held a villagers' congress to elect a red and white council composed of village sages and retired teachers to persuade undesirable phenomena such as weddings and funerals and high bride prices, so that the concept of marriage customs reform can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
A high bride price is not a guarantee of a happy marriage, let alone a "bargaining chip" to measure love. Bo'ai County in Henan Province instructed all villages to write the new and simple handling of marriage into the village rules and regulations, Baiyin City in Gansu Province made principle provisions on the scale of wedding banquets and banquet standards, and Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei Province included the opposition to large-scale operations and other contents into the village rules and regulations...... All localities are to take the implementation of advocacy standards for wedding and funeral customs as the starting point to promote new marriages and simple handling of happy events.
In August 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other eight departments jointly issued a work plan to carry out special governance nationwide on prominent problems in key areas of rural customs change, such as high bride price, comparison of favors, thick burials and poor maintenance, and extravagance and waste. In the past two years, according to the 33 village-level tracking and observation points set up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 17 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), the burden on peasant families has been effectively reduced.
Institutional constraints on innovation——
Promote the formation of a new style of civilization
Luo Zhiyuan and his wife are the fifth couple in Luowei Village, Shaheqiao Town, Hejian City, Hebei Province, to choose "zero bride price". For this reason, the secretary of the village party committee and the chairman of the Red and White Council went to the woman's house several times to persuade her, and finally the other party gladly accepted.
In April 2021, Hejian City, Hebei Province, was identified as a national experimental area for marriage customs reform. In recent years, positive results have been achieved in the work of breaking bad habits at weddings and funerals and changing customs: exploring the establishment of a federation of red and white councils to uniformly reduce and standardize the cost standards for weddings and funerals; all villages and communities have written the reform of marriage customs into village rules and conventions, clarified the process of handling marriages, and made specific provisions in terms of tobacco, alcohol, service hours, specifications, expenses, etc.; on May 20 every year, collective weddings with "zero bride price and low bride price" are held regularly to lead more young people to advocate a new fashion of marriage and love; The unique park-style marriage registration center has launched a "new service" for marriage registration.
According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 439,000 administrative villages across the country have completed the revision of village rules and regulations, basically realizing full coverage of administrative villages, generally enriching the content of changing customs and customs, and forming advocacy standards and binding norms in line with local conditions. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs have guided all localities to give play to the role of the first secretary and work team stationed in the village, and promote the formation of a new civilized trend in the village by participating in the formulation of village rules and conventions and the establishment of volunteer service teams.
Changing customs is a long-term and continuous work, and we must constantly improve the relevant systems and mechanisms, and truly use long-term efforts to achieve long-term results. In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will continue to promote the construction of village-level tracking and observation points for rural customs and customs, effectively grasp the changes in grassroots township customs and customs, and will further promote the revision of village rules and regulations, focus on refining binding norms and advocacy standards, and give full play to the role of mass organizations such as the Red and White Council. Earnestly grasp the consolidation of the achievements of the special governance of changing customs and customs, ensure that the intensity of changing customs is not reduced, and the momentum is not slackened, pay close attention to the "troubles" of the peasant masses in changing customs and customs, and do a good job of doing a number of practical things that can be felt by the masses, so as to promote a new atmosphere of civilization in the countryside. (Reporter He Siqi)
People's Daily (2024-05-01 Edition 06)