In China, grooms are giving dowry to the brides, and in common parlance in China, the dowry given to the bride by the groom is called Cali, and the amount of dowry given is increasing rapidly. In some provinces, dowry worth 16 lakh 47 thousand has to be given on an average. And in order to curb this dowry system, local governments have introduced programmes like Daijiapu to spread awareness.
In some cities, officials have taken action against Cali, and many a times, have tried to directly talk with the bride and groom’s families. This tradition has developed in China because of the lack of women, and now, the government is taking steps to curtail the same, under which it is making women sign affidavits taking an oath of not taking dowry. This situation and the number of women being significantly less than men in the country has arisen because of the One Child Policy of the Chinese government.
Researchers have said that after the introduction of the policy, the focus of Chinese families commonly shifted on male children. But now, because of the Cali dowry system, parents of men are going bankrupt in order to getting their sons married. At the same time, this tradition is seen as being patriarchal in urban areas, as it is considered equal to selling the women.
Educated couples want to get married without the involvement of money as a factor for marriage, because amidst the current circumstances, parents of men are facing extreme economic hardships as they are using their whole life’s income for their sons’ marriage.
