凉山彝族婚嫁“高额彩礼”问题研究

Research on High-Priced Betrothal Gifts of the Yi People in the Liangshan Area

改革开放以来,凉山彝族婚嫁彩礼持续走高,特别近10年来,婚嫁彩礼已经变异为“高额彩礼”。课题组自2018年至2022年,以凉山彝族“高额彩礼”为研究对象,探究“高额彩礼”的性质、形成的原因和带来的社会问题;我们认为“高额彩礼”阻碍凉山社会经济与精神文明的发展,不利于社会和谐稳定,凉山急需进行一场彻底的移风易俗洗礼,使彩礼不再“高额”,让彝族青年走出“婚嫁漩涡”,形成崇尚文明新风、抵制陈规陋习的社会风气,助力脱贫致富奔小康。

Almost all ethnic groups have a tradition of providing betrothal gifts for marriage.Findings show,however,that in recent years traditional etiquette and customs have been gradually commercialized. In addition,the price of betrothal gifts has been rising,and the traditional meaning of betrothal gifts has been slowly changing,i. e. its expression function has been weakened while its instrumentality has been enhanced. Among them,the growth rate of the price of a betrothal gift in the Liangshan Yi area appears to draw particular attention. In the long history of the Yi ethnic group,a betrothal gift has always accompanied a marriage celebration. Such a betrothal gift expresses mutual recognition and friendship for the Liangshan Yi people;in the past such a betrothal gift always has been within the acceptable price range for the Yi people. However,recently the prices of such betrothal gifts in the Liangshan Yi area has been rising sharply,and high-priced betrothal gifts appear in frequency. Up till now,many people freak out while talking about “ betrothal gifts”, the highpriced betrothal gifts has essentially become “ alienated” gifts. Exorbitant betrothal gifts appear to have caused many social problems,hindering social progress as well as economic and cultural development,and damaging regional stability and harmony.From 2018 to 2022,a research team has been tracking the phenomenon of betrothal gifts of Liangshan Yi people and got a large number of materials related to betrothal gifts in the Liangshan Yi area.The research finds that there are both voices for and against high-priced betrothal gifts. What do high-priced betrothal gifts bring to society or the young generation? Using questionnaires and interviews,results showed that the main reasons for the high-priced betrothal gifts in the Liangshan Yi area are the following:(1) the improvement of people’s living conditions and the lack of correct guidance;(2) the pursuit of the “ educational background capital” of the bride;( 3) the involvement of“ family-clan capital” into the marriage market;(4) the appearance of cross-ethnic marriages;and(5) negative examples set by local senior officials that offered high betrothal gifts.The journal article further indicates that the Liangshan Yi’s expensive betrothal gift culture has led to a series of social problems,especially in the following aspects:(1) exacerbating poverty in Liangshan;(2) creating wedding shackles and hindering the freedom of marriage;and(3) easily causing conflicts and disputes between family tribes and disturbing the social order.Because of the social ills caused by the highpriced betrothal gifts of the Liangshan Yi ethnic group,this exploration suggests the following:(1)The government should formulate relevant normative policies and management systems, supervise their implementation,and put them into practice;(2) senior cadres of the Yi at all levels should take the lead in setting positive examples;(3) relevant departments at the grass-roots level should give play to the role of education and publicity of grassroots organizations and advocate a new view of marriage;and(4) preservation and reinforcement the positive sides of the extraordinary traditional culture of the Yi people,and improve its negative aspects.