Researching Chinese Cultural Understandings of Marriage via Similes and Metaphors on the World Wide Web

Abstract

In an attempt to understand how changes in the societal context of Chinese marriage are reflected in Chinese cultural understandings of marriage, we explore Chinese similes and metaphors for marriage posted on the World Wide Web. Seven themes were found: You will have to decide whether a marriage will work for you, marriage is not about romantic love, marriage is bitter and sweet at the same time, marriage is strong and real, you must work at a marriage, marriage is risky, and marriage is not always taken seriously. The themes give a picture of cultural meanings for marriage in China that reflect more traditional ideas and such recent changes as the move to greater freedom of choice of spouse and greater ease of divorce. The themes provide cultural understandings both by characterizing contemporary marriage and by capturing advice about how to find a partner and make a marriage work.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• marriage
• metaphor
• simile
• World Wide Web

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Ciloue Cheng Stewart, Laurel Davis, and Fang Wang for helpful comments on an earlier draft.