Villages Lift Centuries-Old Ban on Intermarriages
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Villages in southern China's Guangdong Province have recently reached an agreement to lift a centuries-old ban on intermarriage. The reason for the ban which has been passed down for centuries is no longer clear, however, many have attributed it to "scrambling for resources".
It is reported that villagers in Chaqiao, Gaomei, Taidong, and Xiyang have known about the ancestral teachings that prohibit intermarriage between the residents of the 4 villages for many years.
One of the villagers, Yang Lianghao, told reporters that even though younger generations do not support the ban, intermarriage within the people from the four villages remained rare.
He added that there were some men and women who intermarried, but for various reasons, their marriages did not work.
Recently, the villages have honored each other with friendship plaques and informed their ancestors at the ancestral halls that the villagers have decided to end the ban.
"Our former leader took the initiative to end the ban when he was in office, but he failed," said Yang Yantian, the party secretary of Chaqiao Village. Adding that the most difficult task was to convince the village elders to agree to end the ban.
Chaqiao Village is divided into 7 cooperatives, with a total of about 80 elderly people. "Everyone disagreed to end the ban during the first meeting, and so we worked harder to convince them otherwise. It took two months and more than ten meetings to get them to agree." Yang said.
Yang Yantian told reporters that the ban was set by their ancestors and it has been passed down for more than 200 years. Villagers can be friends and do business with each other, but they had to watch their tongues when interacting with one another, especially when mentioning past generations' affairs.
"We can do business with each other, but usually only small businesses, we can't develop deep connections on such occasions," Yang said.
Yang added: "Our parents would tell us not to marry people from such and such villages, and when we grew up, we would also tell the next generation the same. That is how the ban was passed down."
From June to October this year, the villages held formal ceremonies to publicize good neighborliness and friendship activities.
Many people showed support to the activities, although there were a few who opposed them. Most of the young and middle-aged people showed support, saying that this is the new society and it is crucial to end the ban. They also noted that it will help to facilitate doing business between the villages.
The main opponents were the elderly, who are around seventy years old and above.
Reference: GuangzhouDaily
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.*
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