Man slammed online for complaining about $40,000 dowry set by his girlfriend’s parents
By Bryan Ke
July 10, 2023
A Chinese man from Zhenyuan County in Gansu province was ridiculed online after complaining about the dowry that his girlfriend’s parents set for him to pay before they could marry.
What happened: The man, identified only by his surname Liu, lodged his complaint with the Zhenyuan County mayor on June 15, in which he urged his local government to take action after his girlfriend’s parents asked him to pay them 288,000 yuan (approximately $40,000) as a dowry.
“A high bride price”: In his complaint, Liu noted that his girlfriend’s mother claimed the price was the standard dowry paid in their county, which still did not include the required house and a car. He wrote in his complaint that the local “bride price” is only 120,000 yuan (approximately $16,600).
“Since we really like each other, I don’t even dare to tell her that my family cannot afford such a high bride price,” he added.
Asking to take action: Liu continued to plead to his local government to take action, even citing this year’s “No. 1 Central Document,” a China Central Committee and State Council guideline released on Feb. 13 meant to fix several issues in China, including exorbitant dowries.
The local government responds: Liu’s local government responded to his concerns four days later, reportedly noting that Zhengyuan County has been seeing a downward trend of expensive dowry in recent years.
Meanwhile, one government official reportedly told Guangzhou-based news outlet Nanfang Daily on Tuesday that the dowry in Zhangyuan should not be high and that they will continue to investigate the matter.
What people are saying: Some people criticized Liu for complaining about the high dowry request, with one Weibo user writing, “If you can’t afford it, maybe you shouldn’t marry her.”
“By stirring up such a fuss, even if the girl doesn’t ask for a bride price in the end, she won’t marry you,” another user said.
One user, however, was more sympathetic to the man, commenting, “A reasonable betrothal gift is acceptable, but this was too much. This needs to be stopped.”
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