China's Universal Cultural Systems: Marriage and Family - Annotated Bibliography Example

The paper "China's Universal Cultural Systems: Marriage and Family" is a perfect example of an annotated bibliography on culture. Lim, Louisa. “For Chinese Women, Marriage Depends On Right Bride Price.” Npr.org. Web 31 March 2014. The article describes the influence of Chinese values on today’s society. In the article, it is clear that there is a decline of women in society. This has been due to Chinese inclination for boys. Consequently, most of the Chinese men have been unable to get wives in the recent past.

The other effect is that this has led to increasing in the bride price. As a result, the one who pays the highest amount of bride price gets women to marry. In the article, there is also mention of some of the wedding rituals. One of such rituals is known as chuangmen. In this ritual, men are required to give money through the door. The negotiation process as long as the groom waits to get access to the house. However, it is said that sometimes men lose patience. This makes them force their way into the room with battle cries.

The article also argues that a reduced number of women has made the bride price expensive. As a result, this has affected the Chinese economy in a positive way. In this, article it shows how cultural values influences today’s Chinese marriage. The difference with other articles is that instead of focusing on other ceremonies, it has only addressed one ceremony of the bride price. Moreover, it addresses how the marriage price has influenced the economy. The Knot Network. “Ancient Chinese Wedding Traditions.

” Weddings.com. Web 31 March 2014. In this article, there is a description of traditional Chinese ceremonies. One of the ceremonies involved cleansing the bride and groom homes of evil spirits. The groom led a procession. This was followed by a visit to the bride home by the groom. In this place, the groom was forced to engage in various performance and stunts.The bride did the other visit. This was done in procession. In the process, a fire would be lit before the arrival of a procession.

Moreover, a red mat was placed before to prevent the bride from contacting the bare earth. The role of the fire was to cast out evil influences. Some of the ceremonies in this era involved paying homage to heaven and earth. There was also according to respect to the ancestors and Tsao-Chun. There was also offering of tea to the groom’s parents. Each cup of tea comprised of two lotus seeds or two red dates. After the ceremony, the couple would sit on the bed. After these ceremonies, there were several celebrations.

The article clearly describes traditional Chinese marriage ceremonies. There is a clear description of items involved as comparing to the other two articles.Yee Lee, Wong. “Chinese Marriage and Chinese Marriage Traditions.” Chinatownconnection.com. Web 31 March 2014. The article begins by describing the marriage that was allowed in traditional Chinese society. The society allowed the man to have the number of concubines he wanted after the first wife. In society, marriage was considered as a form of enrichment to poor families.

Hence, poor families used to marry their daughter to rich families. However, the Chinese government enacted laws aimed at regulating marriage in the second part of the 20th century. The law recognizes that man can only be married to one woman. In the traditional setup, arranged marriages were prominent. This has changed with time. Nevertheless, it is still considered formal for young people to obtain formal agreement from their parents as a sign of respect. The young people are required to pay a visit to their parent’s home before getting married.

In the process, there is a presentation of gifts in which the two are considered engaged. Additionally, the bride family prepared a dowry to present to the bridegrooms family. The dowry is in terms of accessories, and clothes. In the wedding ceremony, the bridegroom picks the bride at their home. This occurs after greeting the potential parents-in-law. However, the couples are also allowed to visit the bridegroom home instead. There is also a banquet ceremony. In this ceremony, the newlywed is wished them well.

Moreover, the two have to drink a half glass of wine each as a way of expressing a lasting love. In some sections of the society, the banquet ceremony involves eating the fish halfway. This is a symbol of a decent start and end in marriage.In this article, there is a description of the marriage ceremony just like the other article. The difference is that, in this article, there is a comparison of the traditional form of marriage to the current system of marriage. It outlines significant differences between the two.