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Abstract
Marriage and family questions are important matters of social life. They affect the vital interests of every household and have a bearing on the stability and unity of the nation and the mores and customs of society. Over two thousand years ago, the Nine Chupters o f h w s compiled by Xiao He [?-193 B.C.] of the Western Han [206 B.C.-A.D. 231 contained a section, Household Laws. In the Tang [618-9071 legal code, they were called Household and Marriage Laws. These laws were supplemented through the Ming [1368-16441 and Qing [1644-19111 dynasties. The feudal rulers clearly attached importance to marriage among the common people. However, the laws of the feudal period primarily served the ruling classes. After the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the Marriage Law of the Peoples Republic of China was promulgated in May 1950. It legally abolished the feudal family system and played a decisive role in establishing a new type of family system in which the broad masses of people obtained the freedom of marriage, monogamy, and equality of the sexes.