Confucian view of marriage
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To the Confucians, marriage is of grave significance both in family and in society. In the perspective of family, marriage can bring families of different surnames (different clans) together, and continue the family life of the concerned clans. Therefore, only the benefits and demerits of the clans, instead of the individual couples, are concerned in a marriage. Socially, a married couple is the basic unit of the population; sometimes marriages can affect the country’s political stability and international relations (especially to certain foreign tribes like Mongolians, Manchus, Huns, and Turks); thus marriage can be related to politics.
The Chinese have seen that marriage (‘’hūn yīn’’,婚姻;婚姻) should be founded on love since the concept of monogamy rooted in their mindset. Ideographically, ‘’hūn’’ (婚) is identical to ‘’hūn’’ (昏, literally means an evening; a dusk) in ancient writings, though the former has the radical (Chinese character) ‘’nǔ’’ (女, literally means a female). Similarly, ‘’yīn’’ (姻) is the same as ‘’yīn’’ (因). According to Zhang Yi’s (張揖) ‘’Guangya Shigu’’ (廣雅•釋詁), a dictionary for ancient Chinese characters, ‘’yīn’’ (因) means friendliness, love and harmony, indicating that correct way of living for a married couple.
[edit] Further influences on Marriage
When people were advanced enough to realize that it would be best if one did not marry within the family, marriage became seen as a joining of two families or clans. Due to the concept of filial piety and following rites of propriety, marriage was a costly affair and seen as second to funeral ceremonies. The use of a matchmaker ensured (supposedly) that the husband and wife were compatible with each other, but primarily worked in the families' best interests.
