19世纪俄国农民普遍早婚观念及其转型

The Universal and Early Marriage Concept of Russian Peasants in the 19th Century and Its Transformation

近代俄国的婚姻模式呈现出与西欧迥然不同的人口学特征,一大原因是俄国农民在农奴制时代就形成了“必须结婚”和“尽早结婚”的观念。一方面,农民家庭对女性劳动力的迫切需求、家庭在农民物质和精神生活中的核心地位、婚姻对人的社会地位的保障作用,要求农民无论男女都必须结婚;另一方面,家长制原则赋予了父母对子女婚姻的控制权,父母出于家庭利益的考虑迫使子女尽早结婚。村社土地重分制度,让早婚的农民更容易在经济上得利。家庭和村社中的道德舆论,形成了以不婚为不幸、以晚婚为耻辱的社会氛围。1861年农奴制的废除、普遍义务兵役制的实施和工商业的发展,提高了农民的结婚年龄,促进了农民婚姻观念的近代转型。总之,劳动和经济因素决定了农民的婚姻行为,家庭和村社在其中发挥了至关重要的作用。但直到19世纪末,实用主义经济原则和农村习惯法依然在农民婚姻中居于支配地位。

One of the main reasons why the marriage pattern in modern Russia was very different from that in Western Europe is that Russian peasants had formed the concept of"must marry"and"marry as early as possible".On the one hand,the urgent demand of peasant families for female labor,the core position of family in peasants'material and spiritual life,and the role of marriage in guaranteeing people's social status required that both male and female peasants must marry.On the other hand,the principle of paternalism gave parents control over their children's marriage,and parents forced their children to marry as early as possible for the sake of family interests.The commune land redistribution system made it easier for peasants who married earlier to benefit economically.The moral public opinion in the family and village commune had formed a social atmosphere in which not marrying was unfortunate and late marriage was humiliating.The abolition of serfdom,the implementation of universal compulsory military service and the development of industry and commerce pushed up the marriage age of peasants and changed their concept of marriage to a certain extent.In a word,labor and economic factors determined peasants'marriage behaviors,in which family and commune played a crucial role.But until the end of the 19th century,pragmatic economic principles and rural customary law still dominated peasant marriages.