A Chinese university professor's remark that one in three young people in the country is not suited for marriage is stirring debate across Chinese society. It is an uncomfortable message for authorities already struggling with falling birth rates and the spread of non-marriage.
Marriage registrations in the first half of this year totaled 3.275 million couples, down 264,000, or 7.5%, from a year earlier, according to data from China's Ministry of Civil Affairs released on the 29th. Divorces, by contrast, rose to 1.383 million, up 52,000, or 3.9%. That works out to 42 divorces for every 100 marriages.
As more young people stop treating marriage as a necessary stage of life, the so-called single-person economy — solo dining, emotional companionship services and spending on pets — has been expanding alongside.
Against that backdrop, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that an interview clip recorded three years ago with Liang Yongan, 72, a professor of Chinese literature at Fudan University in Shanghai, has recently resurfaced on social media and set off an argument.
In the video, Liang said at least one-third of people are not suited for marriage, arguing that marriage requires the ability to care for another person and to sacrifice. Both partners must be willing to accept commitment and concession, the professor said, advising young people to grow up first and then fall in love.
Liang put the right age to begin a romance at 40, on the grounds that only after accumulating life experience can a person clearly know who they are. The professor, who has nearly a million followers on social media, described modern society as a golden age for being single and stressed that a truly good relationship is one built on self-understanding and maturity.
Reactions were split. Some agreed, saying self-centered people should avoid marriage, but there was also considerable pushback that the very idea of marriage as sacrifice is outdated. Others argued over whether the remarks amount to absolution for those who do not marry, or instead raise the bar for marriage even higher.
Some critics also noted that relationships in literature and film are often idealized, making it difficult for them to capture real-world pressures such as financial strain, supporting a family and gender roles.
Chinese authorities have been rolling out measures to encourage marriage, including simplified registration procedures, free health checkups and consumption coupons for newlyweds, and marriage registration counters set up at banks and subway stations. But with employment uncertainty and the burden of housing and child-rearing costs unchanged, observers continue to say such policies alone will do little to reverse young people's reluctance to marry.
