Buying and Selling Marriage - Bai Bai Kon (English spelling) mǎi mài hūn

Japanese: 買売婚 - ばいばいこん（英語表記）mǎi mài hūn

In old China, this was a form of marriage in which a wife was obtained through a monetary contract. Even in marriages that went through the proper procedures, there was a ceremony called "nosai" (engagement), in which various monetary gifts were presented to the bride's side as a heirei (a ceremony of offering). Even in later times, when a professional matchmaker arranged a marriage between the couple's families, the amount of "money" and "gift money" was decided through negotiations between the two families, and was given to the bride's side. A more blatant and direct form of marriage by purchase and sale was the custom of "tenzu" (a marriage in which a wife is offered to a husband) or "rent a wife," which was practiced mainly in eastern Zhejiang Province and other regions. When a poor couple could not make ends meet, they would make a contract with another man to pawn their wife for a certain number of years, and the husband would receive a set amount of money each year.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

旧中国において，金銭契約によって妻を得る婚姻形式。正規の手続をふんだ婚姻にも〈納采〉(結納)の儀があり，新婦側に各種の金品を贈って聘礼（へいれい）とした。後世でも専業の媒人によって男女両家に縁談が進められると，両家の折衝によって〈身価銀〉〈礼金〉の額が決まり，新婦方に贈与する。もっと露骨で直接的な買売婚としては〈典妻〉〈租妻〉の風習が主として浙江省東部その他の地方に行われた。貧困の夫婦があって生計が維持できない場合，別の男子と契約して一定年限のあいだ妻を質に入れ，本夫は毎年所定の金額を受け取る。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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