Regulating bride prices

Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

During the two sessions this year, several NPC deputies and CPPCC members highlighted the issue of exorbitant bride prices. Some brides and their parents tend to equate the higher bride price with a sense of security in marriage and a sort of flaunt out of comparison mentality. One CPPCC member called for targeted research to provide a basis for precise governance and ceilings of bride price under local regulations. One NPC deputy also suggested to rectify and even eliminate the high standard of bride prices. It is no mean feat to limit the bride price through imposed regulations. Moreover, it's better not to go to the other extreme. The wedding custom, as a ritual lasting for thousands of years, is unlikely to be regulated by law. The ideal way is to relieve the worries of unmarried females through publicity and improve the social status of women, then make the public indeed recognize the impropriety of magniloquent bride prices.