Why do young people in China hurry to get married? (2) [speed writing 2] This essay follows https://www.italki.com/notebook/1336728/entry/723047 So why do many young people and their parents get so anxious about marrying young? As far as I am concerned, there are at least *** reasons. First, the tradition of getting married as an obligation to one's family or clan is deeply rooted in Chinese people's minds. In China, and maybe most of the world, there was no such thing as marrying someone for romantic love until some 100 years ago. Back then, all matches in China were made "by dictates of parents, and through the words of go-betweens". The main purpose of getting married, as I see it, was to produce offspring and to make the clan that one belongs to grow. That's why there's a famous saying in China: "There are three offenses against filial piety, among which not producing an heir is the gravest." Though China has undergone tremendous changes in the past century or so with all kinds of revolutions, reforms, and introduction of western technology and values, its thousand years of history is still weighing heavy on its people. Even nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear young people say that they feel sorry for failing to fulfil filial piety by not getting married in their "golden" age. Second, harmony, which is highly valued in China, advocates that one should do what everyone else does. While “you are different” may be a compliment in the western culture, it is very often a negative comment in China. My mum likes to call me "different" as a sign of acrimonious objection against any view of mine that deviates from the "mainstream". So, if everyone is married by 30, why not you? Why do you choose to be a misfit, an outcast, a black sheep? There are a set of standards of being successful, meeting these standards and thus meeting the expectation of others are the lifetime goal of a majority of us. A perfect route of life would be: scoring high in school, going to a good college, getting a secure job, marrying young, having a baby young, etc. Many of us have strived hard to achieve all these, but have forgotten to listen to our own voices: Is this what I really want? Or it's just what others want of me? (To be continued) Time count: 50 min