Courtship, love and premarital sex in a North China village
Yan YunXiang
China Journal 48: 1
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 1324-9347 DOI: 10.2307/3182440Document Number: 252556
By closely examining the changing patterns of spouse selection from 1949 to 1999 in a rural community, this article reveals important developments in the direction of intimacy: a new emphasis on emotional expressivity and communicative skills, new images of an ideal spouse, and a phenomenon of post-engagement dating that involves premarital sex in many cases. The focus in courtship has shifted, in short, from young people's pursuit of greater autonomy during the 1950s and 1970s to this new generation's experience during the 1980s and 1990s of love and intimacy, which in turn has profoundly influenced the rise of individuality among rural youth.