太平天国婚礼改革辨析

Discussion about the Marriage Reforms in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

太平天国的婚礼改革主要表现在实行婚姻登记制度,颁发结婚证书,婚姻才算合理合法;婚礼程式简约、西化,需要敬拜天父上帝;婚姻缔结后不准离婚等等。长期以来,学界对太平天国婚礼改革给予了高度肯定。我们认为太平天国太平天国婚礼改革的根本原因是宗教信仰使然。而且这种改革的影响力和影响面都非常有限。在太平天国统治区内民众的婚礼和太平军中的婚礼总体上说仍然沿袭封建婚礼的传统陋习。太平天国所体现出的婚礼改革行为,是战争条件下的一种特殊反应,是维护太平天国上下有别的婚姻政策的一种特殊规定,是西方宗教信仰在婚礼上的一种表现,并不具有改革封建婚礼陋习的主观愿望。事实上,太平天国的婚礼改革并没有对传统婚姻陋习进行根本改革。呤唎关于太平天国已经把请媒人、送聘金等"结婚旧俗"全都"革除净尽"的说法,显然是不符合事实的,至少并不符合天京以外广大地区的历史真实的。

Marriage reforms in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been done mainly in the following aspects：marriage registration; issue of marriage certificate; simplified marriage procedure in a western style, requiring the married to worship God; and no permission for divorce after getting married, etc. , which has been highly valued by the researchers. The author of this article thinks that the influence of such reforms is very limited, because such reforms had been done just to meet the religious needs. Generally speaking, the marriage practice in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdoms was very traditional. Under the war conditions, such reforms were actually done for the purposes of carrying out the marriage system that has different regulations about the marriage of the ruling and the ruled, and of promoting people to worship the western religions. So, it is not a fact that such traditional marriage practice as employing go - betweens, sending gift money, etc. had been completely abandoned, as Augustus Frederick Lindley described. It is not real in the large areas beyond the ruling of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdoms.