A History of Marriage

In traditional China, the practice of t’ung yang-hsi—raising a daughter-in-law from childhood—involved giving away or selling a baby girl as young as weeks or months old as the future wife of the son whose family would raise her. It was believed this practice was conducive to raising submissive, obedient, and hardworking brides perfectly familiar with their in-laws’ domestic routines and personal needs and—always a worry—less likely to run away than wives married at an older age.