Chinese expressions about new types of marriages

As China continues to grow and change, its culture is changing rapidly as well. Family life looks very different now than it did just two generations ago. This new generation is seeking new ways of doing life and making it work for them in this new era especially marriage.

随着中国的不断发展变化，中国文化也在快速地改变。与前两代人相比，中国人的家庭生活已大大不同。新的一代正在寻求新的生活方式，并为己所用，特别是婚姻。

There are many new beliefs about marriage surfacing in Chinese society today, and new Mandarin terms are emerging along with these ideas. Here are a few new terms about how relationships are changing in China.

当今中国社会，不断涌现出对婚姻的不同信仰，与之对应的汉语词语也不断涌现。以下这些新词语体现了中国情侣关系正在发生的变化。

Trial Marriage

试婚 (shì hūn)

In this new type of "marriage", basically a couple "tries out" what is like to be married without actually getting married. It is living like you are married without the commitment, 承诺 (chéngnuò), that would traditionally accompany it.

在这种新式的"婚姻"中，情侣双方实际上并未结婚，基本上只是在"尝试"结婚的感觉。试婚就像没有承诺的婚姻生活，而传统的婚姻则伴随着承诺。

More and more young couples are beginning to "give marriage a shot" before officially tying the knot. Many individuals value their freedom and independence; hence he or she fear making the wrong choice or getting tied down too soon.

越来越多的年轻情侣在正式结婚之前先进行试婚。许多人非常重视个人自由与独立，因而他们担心做出错误的选择或者太早被束缚住。

And it is not just young couples whom are beginning to think this is a good idea. Some parents are starting to encourage their children to "try being married to someone" to see if their children can get along well or even in some cases if they are actually able to have children together before getting legally married.

认同试婚观点的并不局限于年轻情侣。有一些父母也开始鼓励他们的子女试婚，看双方在正式结婚之前能否和睦相处，甚至是否有生育能力。

Naked Marriage

裸婚 (luǒ hūn)

A naked marriage is not an actual naked wedding, but a marriage between two people who do not yet have a lot of economic assets. In a naked marriage the couple possessed no ring, no home, and no car. There also may not be a true ceremony or honeymoon.

裸婚并不是裸体婚礼，而是指结婚的双方没有很多的物质财富。裸婚的双方没有戒指、房子、车子，甚至没有真正的婚礼或蜜月。

The rising costs of housing in cities is one cause that is leading to more "naked marriages". Others would argue though that more young couples choose a naked marriage in order to marry for love rather than money. They place more value on the person than the wealth.

不断上涨的城市房价是"裸婚"的推手之一，虽然有人认为年轻情侣选择裸婚更多的是因为他们选择为爱而婚，而不是为钱而婚，他们看重的是人，而不是财富。

Weekend Marriage

周末婚 (zhōu mò hūn)

A weekend marriage is also usually influenced by economical concerns. In this type of marriage the husband and wife live separately, often great distances apart and only see each other as frequently as on the weekend or even as rarely as on holidays.

周末婚通常也是因为经济因素导致的。在这种婚姻形式中，夫妻双方两地分居，最多只在周末见面，甚至只在节假日才能见面。

Usually this type of marriage is due to the husband and wife only being able to find good jobs in different geographical areas. However, there are those who think that the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true and this type of marriage actually enriches their relationship.

造成这种婚姻形式的原因是夫妻双方无法在同一个地方找到好工作。然而，有些人则相信"距离产生美感"，认为这种婚姻实际上增进了双方的感情。

Flash Marriage

闪婚 (shǎn hūn)

A flash marriage is one that happens very quickly. Similarly, in America, a shotgun wedding is also one that happens very quickly, usually because the couple is pregnant and the families push the couple into marriage.

闪婚意味着双方从认识到结婚的时间非常短。在美国，有"shotgun wedding" 的说法，指的是由于女方怀孕，双方在家人的催促下结婚，即"奉子成婚"。

These conditions are not necessarily true of a Chinese lightning fast marriage. The couple might decide to get married quickly to combine households sooner. Or the couple may wish to marry quickly to appease anxious parents who fear their children are getting past marrying age.

中国人闪婚，未必都是因为这个原因。他们选择闪婚，可能是为了尽快组建家庭，或者是为了安抚担心自己错过婚龄的父母。

Marriage Markets

人民公园相亲角 (rén mín gōng yuán xiāng qīn jiǎo)

In the midst of all of these new types of marriages, there are still some parents to wish to help arrange a marriage for their children. Shanghai has a particularly famous "blind date park" or "marriage market corner" in one of their public parks. But many other large cities have a similar public park or gathering place where parents exchange facts about children of marriageable age and look for suitors for their offspring.

在所有这些新式婚姻当中，仍然有一些父母希望替他们的子女安排婚姻。上海有一个非常出名的"相亲公园"，每个公园都有一个"相亲角"。许多大城市也有类似的公园或聚集场所，父母在此交流各自适婚年龄子女的信息，为他们寻找合适的结婚对象。

With people marrying later and later, many parents are worried that their children will never find a suitable spouse and look to these public gather places for possible matches. Many of today's generation do not particularly appreciate this kind of match-making, but others go along with it in hope of finding the rare gem of a mate that they would otherwise miss.

随着人们结婚年龄的推迟，许多父母因担心他们的孩子找不到合适的配偶，期望能在一些公众聚集的地方为他们找到合适的对象。许多新一代的年轻人不是特别喜欢相亲这种模式，但是有些人则表示赞成，希望通过这种方式找到他们可能错过的难得对象。

These are some new phenomenon about the marriage in China. Change is happening in all walks of life, where the some Western ideals are becoming more popular in the China. We hope you gain some insights of Chinese wedding culture. How is the marriage culture in your country? Please share with us!

这些就是中国出现的一些新的婚姻现象。生活的各个领域都在不断发生变化，一些西方的理念在中国越来越受到追捧。希望你能从中了解到关于中国婚姻文化的信息。你所在国家的婚姻文化是怎样的呢？跟我们分享吧！

The article is translated and editted by Chinlingo. Please indicate the source for any use, reproduction or transfer. 

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