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In ancient China, there was a special way of the pre-marital health examination. The ancient Chinese calendar system is descended down from old times. A so-called "zodiac cycle" consists of 12 years represented by 12 different kinds of birth animals. What those fortune-tellers normally do was to collect the year, month, date and exact hour of birth of the two young people, as well as their birth animals to make a judgment on whether the two will make a harmonious family without any obstruction to each other. Once the fortune-teller made the negative judgment, both families would forbid the marriage even if the two young people are deeply in love. Such custom remains in few remote areas as a main cause of many tragic love stories. As very important information in the process of marriage, a girl's birth date was confidential to the strangers, and pretty much so today. Therefore nowadays, it is inappropriate to ask a girl's birthday unless you are very familiar with her.
Marriage Certificate.
After the pre-marital health examination, the two in love can register at the local government agencies concerned, apply for the marriage certificate and become a legitimate couple. The first law issued after the foundation of the People's Republic of China was the Law of Marriage in 1950. It demolished the feudal elements in traditional marriage and founded the principles for freedom and monogamy of marriage, and adjusted the family relationship dominated with rigid distinctions of status and feudal elements. Similar to the wedding certificate today, in ancient times people used to make three written documents to guarantee a legal marriage, namely the "document of engagement", which would establish the marital agreement between the two families, the "Offerings List", which would write out all the gifts presented by the groom's family, and the "Letter of Reception", which the groom uses to escort the bride to his family.
In addition to working to eliminate violence against women in public and private life, this document advocated "the elimination of gender bias in the administration of justice and the eradication of any conflicts which may arise between the rights of women and the harmful effects of certain traditional or customary practices " (sec. ...
