China's Family Ethics

Marriage and family are two concepts that are often used together and are closely related. Marriage is the foundation of family, and family is the continuation of marriage. Marriage is a legal combination of men and women, emphasizing the conclusion, survival, maintenance and dissolution of the relationship between husband and wife. Family is a social system composed of husband and wife, parents, children and other family members, whose members are formed by the combination of husband and wife, blood relationship or adoption relationship, and have the same daily life and mutual rights and obligations. From a quantitative point of view, marriage is a combination of the two sexes, and it is a matter for two people. A family consists of not only two people, but also other members. In essence, marriage is just a relationship, and family is an organized form of social combination.

The moral norms for adjusting marriage and family relations are collectively called marriage and family ethics. In practical application, people just divide it into marriage ethics and family ethics to distinguish different adjustment objects and adjustment ranges. Family ethics is mainly a social moral norm to adjust the internal relations of the family and regulate the behavior of family members. Marriage ethics is mainly used to adjust the relationship between husband and wife and standardize the social moral norms of marriage behavior. Marriage ethics only adjusts the relationship between husband and wife in family relations, and family ethics also adjusts the intergenerational relations other than the relationship between husband and wife. Marriage ethics focuses on regulating the conclusion, survival, maintenance and dissolution of marriage relations, while family ethics regulates the mutual rights and obligations of all family members.