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There is a prolific shortage of Women in China. It is so bad that the Chinese state has ditched it's one child policy. This will not however address the immediate shortage. Consider then India. This nation has a horrific caste system where those born to shovel poop will die in that job. But behold: Chinese mums and dads are raising money to buy their sons a bride...so what happens when India's Poorest Women begin migrating to china (Bare with me - I know you are thinking that ain't gonna happen - the caste system and politicians have done their job well in keeping to people brainwashed and inline)? The Bottom of the Caste Structure collapses downward as no one is being born in the lowest rungs of the Caste system to shovel the poop and no-one in their right mind would ever marry downward into slavery. So the arse falls out of the Caste System and suddenly people further up the ladder are expected to shovel everyone's poop.
Good riddance to the caste system - right? China gets women for their husbands - and its good for them because the gene pool gets a refresh - no more marrying your third cousin like in the royal family or Britain. Still this has some nasty side effects for India as women become increasingly targeted by male violence. China topples India without firing a shot. All it had to do was give citizenship to Indian Women looking to marry into a better life.

Quiche Lisp |

G...wuh?
B...urgel.
Gomp.
Guh...?
G...wuh?
B...urgel.
Gomp.
Guh...?
[*Holds gently Sissyl's hand*]
There, there my dear. It will be all right !
@YellowDingo
I highly doubt that Chinese mums and dads would consider marrying their offspring to an hypothetical poor Indian woman. Chinese from China are very proud of their ethnic (Han) origins, and intercultural marriages* are a generally tricky business.
Also, I doubt that the chinese government would give citizenship to millions of foreigners, women or not.
* or is it all marriages ;-) ?

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Well, I do remember reading that some Chinese men had already abducted their wive some years ago, so buying a wife would be the next logical step.
Apparently Chinese mums and dads have gone to the effort of saving money to buy wives for their sons. Why not go abroad? Bigotry just hold you back and there are plenty of women in India looking for a better life.

Darkjoy RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 |

According to wikipedia, it is also cheaper to kidnap your bride
scroll down to China

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The nice nest attracts the Phoenix
And importing women into China will bring stability and none of that Bride Abduction rubbish.

MMCJawa |

My understanding was that their might be an upcoming, although less severe, shortage of women in India as well.
Also, why would low caste women even consider going to China for husbands? Impoverished people usually are the people with the least information and ability to change there circumstances by up and moving to another country

SnowJade |

Bare with you?! Bare?!!! You cheeky little...*SLAP!!!* Now, go pick up your teeth and apologize to Sissyl.
Now, then. I went and looked up McLaren's references (actually being an anthropologist helps), and there are a couple of points to be addressed:
1.) Marriage by abduction in China was not (as far as I can find) practiced by the Han majority. On the other hand, they had no trouble attributing such acts to their "barbarian" neighbors.
2.) Under the system of Confucian thought, a woman had no legal identity. Her consent to marriage was never even considered, much less sought.
3.) The real problem: the Han majority in China (how shall I put this?) firmly considers itself to be the pinnacle of human evolution and accomplishment. In other words, the Han have a little problem with cultural elitism. Oh, all right, they have a huge problem. Not to mention a problem with sexism as well: That system of Confucian thought? It ain't dead yet. They wouldn't accept brides from India if you paid them, especially low-caste or out-caste brides.

Quiche Lisp |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

3.) The real problem: the Han majority in China (how shall I put this?) firmly considers itself to be the pinnacle of human evolution and accomplishment. In other words, the Han have a little problem with cultural elitism. Oh, all right, they have a huge problem. Not to mention a problem with sexism as well: That system of Confucian thought? It ain't dead yet. They wouldn't accept brides from India if you paid them, especially low-caste or out-caste brides.
That. I've taught french classes to young upper class chinese men and women, and they're quite certain that China is the salt of the earth and ready to gently gobble up the rest of the world.
Confucean doctrine does certainly play a part in it, and also the memory of the humiliation that was the 19th century, when occidental superpowers of that time asserted their domination over a backward and debilitated Chinese empire.
I quite like Chinese, strangely enough. They remind me of occidentals in the 19th century : sure of themselves, ultra-nationalistic and oblivious of the strange complexities of the indigenous people in the rest of the world (like, for instance, the intricacies of democracy in the western world).
Still, they're less (overtly) arrogant than our forebears ever were - their leaders excepted, but autocratic, unaccountable and corrupt old men tend to exhibit strange behaviors, no matter their ethnicity.
[*raises his hands to the sky in supplication*]
Ho dear lord, I beseech thee : save us from our leaders !

SnowJade |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

SnowJade wrote:3.) The real problem: the Han majority in China (how shall I put this?) firmly considers itself to be the pinnacle of human evolution and accomplishment. In other words, the Han have a little problem with cultural elitism. Oh, all right, they have a huge problem. Not to mention a problem with sexism as well: That system of Confucian thought? It ain't dead yet. They wouldn't accept brides from India if you paid them, especially low-caste or out-caste brides.
That. I've taught french classes to young upper class chinese men and women, and they're quite certain that China is the salt of the earth and ready to gently gobble up the rest of the world.
Confucean doctrine does certainly play a part in it, and also the memory of the humiliation that was the 19th century, when occidental superpowers of that time asserted their domination over a backward and debilitated Chinese empire.
I quite like Chinese, strangely enough. They remind me of occidentals in the 19th century : sure of themselves, ultra-nationalistic and oblivious of the strange complexities of the indigenous people in the rest of the world (like, for instance, the intricacies of democracy in the western world).
Still, they're less (overtly) arrogant than our forebears ever were - their leaders excepted, but autocratic, unaccountable and corrupt old men tend to exhibit strange behaviors, no matter their ethnicity.
[*raises his hands to the sky in supplication*]
Ho dear lord, I beseech thee : save us from our leaders !
*Headbonk* Thank you for phrasing that so eloquently, sir/madam. I agree completely - in fact, I am fascinated and truly awed by what the Chinese have managed to do in over 4,000 years of history. My favorite artist is Chinese, and so are some of my favorite novels, poetry, music, etc. That doesn't mean that I consider them perfect; just as with my own country, there are a lot of problems. But, well, there it is. *Paws to the ground in supplicant posture* Gods, hear this humble one: From the machinations of our leaders, preserve us!

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China is often called the Middle Kingdom because of the way it is written. What most western people do not realize is that it mean the land at the center. And for Chinese people, the center means the center of the world. What happens in the barbarian places at the fringes of the empire has no real importance (similar to the Roman Empire).
We know just how bad the tendency for the US to see itself as the epitome of civilization can be.
Imagine this for a growing superpower with the most numerous population, great economic strength, 5000 years of civilization and a drive to build up national pride both to forget the recent centuries of weakness and unite the people so that current leaders need not fear a revolution.
Scary I think.

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yellowdingo wrote:No they aren't.Spanky the Leprechaun wrote:There is a reason the same word for anus in the Indonesian language is related to the Indonesian word for two...and it ain't because one woman with two husbands worked out.They could just do 2 men 1 women marriages.
Du-a: Two
Du-bur: AnusYeah...they are.

Alanis Morissette |

Gallo wrote:yellowdingo wrote:No they aren't.
There is a reason the same word for anus in the Indonesian language is related to the Indonesian word for two...and it ain't because one woman with two husbands worked out.
Du-a: Two
Du-bur: AnusYeah...they are.
Dooby dooby dooooooooo
Strangers in the night, exchanging mangoes...
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Gallo |

Gallo wrote:yellowdingo wrote:No they aren't.Spanky the Leprechaun wrote:There is a reason the same word for anus in the Indonesian language is related to the Indonesian word for two...and it ain't because one woman with two husbands worked out.They could just do 2 men 1 women marriages.
Du-a: Two
Du-bur: AnusYeah...they are.
No they aren't. Just because they start with the two same letters doesn't mean they are related.
And in case you are wondering, I have worked much of my adult life as an Indonesian translator and interpreter.....