Age of Marriage in China
In Pre-Industrial China, girls were married around the age of puberty, or even before the
onset of puberty. We read:
Prepubertal Betrothal / Marriage
In the period till 771 BC, menarche indicated marriageable age…In 1855,
Huc[10] commented that “[n]othing is more common than to arrange a marriage
during the infancies of the parties, or even before their birth”… According to Fei
(1939:p40)[14], arrangements for marriage were made at age six or seven… The
usual age for affiancing children [i.e. betrothal] was between seven and fourteen
(Baber, 1934:p134)[15]. For an elaborate description of the custom of infant
betrothal as practised before 1911 in the conservative I-ch’ang districts, see Hanyi
and Shryock (1950)[16]… Most Lolo groups marry at puberty, although
“some Lolos marry quite early, even at the age of four to five years” (Siang-
Feng Ko, 1949:p491-2)[22], or are betrothed as infants (LeBar et al., 1964). In
general, “The age of puberty is a major juncture for youngsters of all
nationalities. However, many of the minority nationalities [of China] encourage
the marriage of their children before they mature, and thus follow the footsteps of
the older generations”[23].
…Among the turn-of-the-century Taiwanese, the practice of minor
marriage combined with a highly competitive marriage market drove the age of
the brides downward, below puberty (Ying-Chang and Wolf, 1995:p793)[24]
(G.U.S.: World Atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/CHINA.HTM#_Toc85469111)
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Age of Marriage in Mongolia
The ancient Mongols married off their daughters at a very young age. Even today, it is
very common to see Mongol girls being wedded at the age of four or five years of age:
Among the Ordos Mongols, children are sometimes betrothed even before birth.
This custom, called eŭndege in swie (“Match-making before birth”), is thought by
the Mongols to be of very nacient origin. […] the actual age of marriage today
[1938] varies a great deal, from four or five years to sixteen or seventeen, the
average or ordinary age being fifteen (p66).
(G.U.S.: A World Atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/MONGOLIA.HTM)
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Age of Marriage in Australia
The traditional Aborigines similarly married their daughters off during childhood:
In traditional Aboriginal society marriages are significant to the forging of
alliances, and often betrothal arrangements are made when the prospective bride
is very young, or possibly even unborn. A man may not marry until he has
undergone a significant part of the lengthy initiation process: thus, at marriage a
man will be in his twenties or even thirties. Often a man’s first wife is the widow
of an older man, and his subsequent wives may be much younger…
Among Yuwaaliyaay people, […] infant betrothal appears to have been the
norm”[28]. Among the aborigines of the Wheelman tribe a baby girl is betrothed
to a youth or man; he “grows” her, or supports her growing up (Hassell,
1936:p682)[29]…Calvert[32] mentions that “[…] a female child is betrothed, in
her infancy, to some native of another family, necessarily very many years older
than herself. He watches over her jealously, and she goes to live with him as soon
as she feels inclined”.
Spencer and Giller ([1927, II:p469-70) also mention betrothal of Aranda girls
“many years before the is born”. Radcliffe-Brown (1913:p184)[33] states that
“marriages are arranged before children are born”. Provis writes in Taplin
(1879:p93) of the Streaky Bay South aborigines that there can sometimes be
seen “the incongruous spectacle of a little child betrothed to a grown man. The
girl is called his Kur-det-thi (future wife). They sleep together, but no sexual
intercourse takes place till the girl arrives at the age of puberty”.
Schürmann writes in Woods (1879:p222)[34] of the Port Lincoln tribe that “long
before a young girl arrives at maturity, she is affianced by her parents, to some
friend of theirs, no matter whether young or old, married or single”. Howitt
(1904:p197) for the Wolgal tribe reports that “a girl is promised as a mere child to
some man of the proper class, he being then perhaps middle aged or even old”.
Betrothal occurred when “quite young”, states Bonney (1884:p129)[35]. Child
betrothal and marriage is noted for Arnhemland (Webb, 1944:p65)[36]. “A child
a year old will sometimes be betrothed to an old man, and it will be his duty to
protect and feed her, and (unless she is stolen by some one else) when she is old
enough she becomes his wife…The Yolngu practiced prenatal betrothal (Money
and Erhhardt, 1973 / 1996:p142)[43], and, together with eventual siblings, join
the husband at menarche, at age 12 or 13.
(G.U.S.: A World Atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/ABORIGINALAUSTRALIA.HTM
#_Toc82729383)