Covariates of Men's Age at First Marriage: The Historical Demography of Chinese Lineages

Abstract

Age at first marriage is studied in one historical Chinese population reconstituted from the genealogies of 39 lineage groups for the period 1520–1661. By using event-history methods, descriptive measures of age at marriage for various categories of men are generated from fathers' ages at birth of first son as a proxy measure. The covariates of the likelihood of marriage at specific ages are also examined, using Cox's regression analysis. This study confirms an early average age at first marriage of 21–22 years for men, which is comparable to other historical Chinese populations. Some evidence for large proportions of celibate men and marriage in the teens for women in these lineage populations is also presented. Considerable variation in men's age at marriage is evident, primarily accounted for by differences in social status. The study demonstrates the utility of lineage genealogies in Chinese historical demographic studies and shows that the late imperial marriage pattern for this part of China was a ‘European’ one, but for men only.