Abstract:There are a lot of differences between Chinese and Westerners on marital concepts. The fundamental reason lies in that views on the universe and world differ between them. These differences play a dominant role in the shaping and molding of marital culture, which, concretely, can be seen as the difference in social ideology as well as philosophical systems. Chinese philosophical system, mainly represented by Confucianism, produces a unique set of marital culture in a long history while a totally different cultural marital system shaped in the development of Western religion and natural science. Great disparity exists in marriage ceremony and marriage views. The Western people regard marriage as a private matter in which no one could interfere — marriage has nothing to do with moral ethics and people have rights to choose whom they prefer to stay together. In China, however, people put more emphasis on the love that will last once and forever. With more and more frequent communication between China and the Western world, mixed marriages appear more often than ever. Through comparing Chinese and Western marital culture, we can better understand their differences, thus bringing greater significance to globalization.

Key Words: Marriage customs; Religion; Views on Marriage

Contents

中文摘要

Abstract

Chapter 1  Introduction-1

Chapter 2  Chinese Marriage Customs-3

2.1 The History of Chinese Marriage Customs-3

2.2 Proposing-3

2.3 Non-Native Speakers’ Pause in Relation to Different Introducers-3

2.4 Asking for Fortune-3

2.5 Sending Betrothal Presents to the Girl’s Family-4

2.6. Discussing the Date of Marriage-4

2.7 Meeting the Bride-4

Chapter 3  Western Marriage Customs-5

3.1 The History of Western Marriage Customs-5

3.2 Proposal-5

3.3 Changing Surnames-5

3.4 Choosing the Day-6

3.5 Holding the Wedding-6

Chapter 4  Differences of the Marriage Customs between Chinese Weddings and Western Weddings-9

4.1 Difference of the Color in Wedding-9

4.2 Matchmaker and Priest-10

4.3 Different Purposes of Marriage-11

4.4 Arranged Marriage VS Free Marriage-11

Chapter 5  Conclusion-13

References-14

Acknowledgements-15