Formation of New Legal Approaches to Regulate the Marriage and Family Relations in the PRC

The family in China is an important unit of society, marriage, and family relations are the most basic social relations. The historical evolution of marriage and family law in the PRC is also, to a certain extent, a microcosm of modern Chinese social changes. Legal approaches to the regulation of marriage and family relations in modern Chinese society should be formed taking into account new technologies due to the achievements of the digital industry. The active introduction of digital technologies into the daily life of people requires changes and the development of legal instruments for regulating public relations, including marriage and family. An attempt at a detailed analysis of marriage and family law in the PRC in the light of the reforms of various years will help not only to understand the laws and regulations of the party and government in the field of marriage and family but also to understand the historical trajectory of the development of marriage law after the founding of the new China. Based on the relevant research, this article analyzes the features of the formation of the understanding of marriage and family in Ancient China and the main legislative changes in the norms on marriage and family since the founding of new China. Materials and methods: the article is based on a comprehensive approach to the problems of research since it covers a wide range of issues underlying the identification of the dynamics and prospects for the development of Chinese legislation on marriage and family in different periods of historical development. To identify the features of the development of Chinese legislation on marriage and family, we use the methods of system analysis and synthesis, as well as the method of formal-logical method and theoretical generalization, functional-structural method, the method of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Modern legal researchers note that such an approach will make it possible to consider family legislation from the standpoint of its improvement, which is necessary for the context of globalization (Artemeva et al. in J Adv Res Law Econ 9:859–869, 2018; Ermakova et al. in Int J Eng Technol (UAE) 7:157–162, 2018) [1, 2]. In the process of research, logical and historical methods of research are also used, as well as special legal methods: the formal legal and dogmatic method used to understand the external and internal forms of legal phenomena. The combination of the described methods allows the author to achieve the validity of the obtained scientific conclusions. Results of the study: the features of reforming the legislation on marriage and family in the People’s Republic of China at various stages of historical development are revealed. The modern legal norms on marriage and family in the PRC were analyzed and further prospects for the development of Chinese marriage and family legislation were assessed, taking into account the requirements of modern technological society, and the historical driving forces behind the legal changes were identified. The article also defines the historical process of the formulation and revision of the legislation on marriage and family and the context of its development, thus tracing the social changes of the formation of the new China for more than 60 years. The author determines the prospects for creating new legal approaches to understanding the institutions of family and marriage in the PRC. The author determines the prospects for creating new legal approaches to understanding the institutions of family and marriage in the PRC. Conclusions: Based on the conducted research, it is concluded that the legislation on marriage and family in the People's Republic of China has the following characteristics: first, it applies to all citizens, which is what the legislators and rulers of the state pay attention to throughout all dynasties. Secondly, the legal content of marriage and family norms is not only mandatory but also ethical, emphasizing traditional virtues and strengthening family ethics. Third, legal, and cultural traditions in the field of marriage and family have a long history and heritage, and are a consequence of the traditional laws of the Chinese legal system, and not the need to implement laws that are not peculiar to the legal system, aimed at further protecting the rights of citizens to marriage and family. In the context of constant changes in socio-economic and domestic conditions, the provisions of the legislation on marriage and family are constantly reviewed and changed. As for the history of socialist marriage and family legislation of the People’s Republic of China, it can be divided into two periods of historical development: the period of the new democratic revolution and the period of the socialist revolution and modernization. The first is the embryonic form or the necessary stage of preparation of the second, and the last is the stage of inheritance and continuous improvement of the first in accordance with the needs of social development. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.