An exploration of marriage rites,customs and views in The Book of Songs
CHEN Jingchun
Abstract：There is a rich collection of poems in The Book of Songs that relate to the marriage customs of the Zhou dynasty,totaling more than 80 poems.Examples include Guan Ju and Fu Yi from Zhou Nan;Que Chao and Biao You Mei from Shao Nan;Gu Feng and Jing Nv from Bei Feng;Bai Zhou and Zai Chi from Yong Feng;Jiang Zhong Zi and You Nv Tong Che from Zheng Feng;and Heng Men and Dong Men Zhi Chi from Chen Feng,and others.These poems reflect the marriage and love life of the ancient ancestors more than 2,000 years ago.From them,it can be seen that the marriage customs of the Zhou dynasty already had the framework of the"Six Rites"and featured characteristics such as"the orders of parents","male superiority and female inferiority",and"no intermarriage between people of the same surname".They also embodied concepts such as views on reproduction,hierarchy,destiny,and aesthetics.Specifically,the view of reproduction emphasizing having many children and grandchildren,the hierarchical view of marriage matching social status,the view of marriage as predestined by fate,and the aesthetic view valuing both beauty and virtue have profoundly influenced the development of marital concepts in later generations.
Keywords：The Book of Songsmarital rites and customs of the Zhou dynastyviews on marriage
Publication Date：2025-07-15
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 63-68 )