Dating by Parents The Boundary and Governance of Marriage Corner in Shanghai People’s Park

• Main Authors: Si-Qi Wang, 王思奇
• Other Authors: Herng-Dar Bih
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/9yx87h

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 建築與城鄉研究所 === 106 === Focused on Shanghai People’s park, this article discusses the behavior and interaction mechanisms of both individuals and groups to unveil the diversity in marriage corner, which is quite popular in Chinese urban parks nowadays. With urban park as a personal information platform, privacy and publicity overlapped and even tangled in marriage corner. And for authority and civil society, their management strategies about this dating fair also differ under the circumstance of urban park governance. Their cooperation and difference are emphasized by the discussion of some irregular events. This article uses observation, interview and participation as main research methods. Besides, books, news and Internet information are also referred to for backtracking the marriage corner’s development thorough these ten years, during which matchmakers and intermediary agents were suppressed. There are three findings in this article. First, as a spontaneous gathering, marriage corner outstands in its flexibility and mobility, especially in participants’ backgrounds, spatial practice, and relationship network. Second, the public urban park and private dating always confront and conflict with each other. And the involvement and dominance of parents in children’s marriage brings marriage corner another level of struggle, which becomes more complex when it comes to its authority and civil governance. Besides, the gathering of parents in urban park to push children into marriage is telling another story: the thrive of marriage corner accidentally matches the publicize and management of Shanghai urban park. In the beginning of 21st century, Chinese city not only provides the physical space for parents gathering, but also shapes the basic concern in this marriage fair. Those Shanghainese, both in the moment, in future or in past, are drawn into the planning of family life in urban through their dedication in children’s marriage arrangements.