从清水江文书看清代及民国时期天柱、锦屏民间的婚姻习俗

Study on Folk Marriage Customs in Tianzhu and Jinping Counties during the Period of Qing Dynasty and Republic of China Based on Qingshuijiang Documents

透过清水江文书,反映出清代及民国时期天柱、锦屏民间的婚姻习俗主要表现在:父母或长辈主婚,尤以男性直系尊亲属有主婚的特权,且婚姻必凭媒妁;财礼是婚姻礼俗中不可或缺的内容,既是男女婚姻关系确立的重要标志,又可给嫁女一方家庭适当的经济补偿和精神慰藉,并制约着男女双方不得轻言解除婚约;盛行讨八字、择婚期,以期获得最美满的婚姻;生育、尤其生男孩是婚姻的重要期盼,以使家族得以传承和发展;婚姻矛盾纠纷习惯于先族内调解或乡团基层组织调解,重大纠纷族内或基层组织无法裁决的,经由政府法律裁决。

Qingshuijiang documents reveals the marriage customs in Tianzhu and Jinping during the period of Qing dynasty and Republic of China.For example,the wedding ceremony is hosted by the male lineal elders;marriage must be done by matchmakers;betrothal gifts(esp.the cash from the bridegroom to the bride’s family)are essential which stand for the relationship between bridegroom and bride,play the role as the economic compensation for the bride’s family,and restrain bridegroom and bride from divorcing.What's more,selecting the dates of wedding based on the birth dates of bridegrooms and brides is very prevail which means the perfect marriage;reproduction,especially baby boys,is seemed as the heritage of the family;conciliation from ethnic groups or base organization would be adopted to deal with the contradiction in the family before the law verdict from the government.