The Decline of Extended Families and Changes in Bride Price in Lineage Villages in Northern Guangdong (大家庭式微：理解粤北宗族村落彩礼变迁的一种视角——基于城村的考察)

Abstract

The amount of bride price in the lineage-centered villages in northern Guangdong has decreased, in sharp contrast to its escalation throughout the country. This article examines changes in life styles in the rural communities of northern Guangdong through an analysis of local activities in relation to bride prices. Indicative of the deterioration of the extended family and the weakening of the authority of parents in decision-making, the determination of bride price has shifted from the senior generation to adult children, and the importance of bride price in marriage has decreased accordingly, as has its amount. All these suggest the growing importance of emotion as a defining factor in the family as a result of changes in family relations and the household economy that have undermined traditional family morality.粤北宗族村的彩礼相对于全国彩礼高涨的形势，不增反而相对下降。本文通过婚姻彩礼行为的分析，透视了粤北传统宗族村落家庭生活方式的变迁。在大家庭生活式微的过程中，婚姻彩礼从由长辈主导到由子女主导。彩礼在婚姻中的作用逐渐弱化，彩礼价格也相对下降。大家庭逐渐丧失公共性，长辈从家长的公共角色转变为父母这样的私人角色。随着家庭政治经济的嬗变，家庭内的伦理道德丧失了存在的需要和基础，情感成为家庭中起主导作用的力量。