河北平安村的“续夫”婚姻

Historically, remarriages of widows were allowed in China but they were usually discriminated against. Today, in the region of Shijiazhuang, it has become a common practice for widows to get remarried. Ping’an Village, Hebei Provice, was selected by the author to investigate such remarriages cases. The results revealed that widows’ remarriages still took place in the traditional framework but nonetheless served as an effective survival means for widows and fatherless children. On the other hand, the old parents who had lost their sons didn’t benefit much from their daughter-in-laws’ remarriages.