World Building Questions About Chinese culture

[nerdy tangents]

A friend and I are doing a romantic roleplay set in (pseudo) China.

I was just curious if there was anyone from there who could answer a few questions.

1. how is marriage treated?
2. is matchmaking a thing?
3. what are popular dating activities?
4. how is LGBTQ+ relationships treated?
5. what kind of relationships do people have with their family?
6. is friendship considered important?

The basic premise of the roleplay are magical matchmakers helping people find relationships. The goal is to not just focus on romantic relationships but also highlight family and friendships.

The matchmakers are pretty western inspired so if there is a kind of Chinese folklore that anyone is familiar with around love/relationships I am happy to hear about it.

 

[Chordling]

Matchmaking is a practice that is associated with Ancient Chinese culture. It is definitely real but not as essential or common now as it was back then. Google will already give you plenty of resources. You could also have some fun and watch Mulan (1998 Disney film). There is a sequence in the beginning that outlines matchmaking preparations and ceremonies. The film also touches on expected gender roles (women were supposed to get married to start new families and men could go to battle to defend their country).

 

[Crayons]

Is this modern day?

In Chinese literature/movies/TV matchmaking was definitely A Thing in the past. It is mentioned a lot in historical dramas and so on.

I would recommend a TV series called Ashes of Love where one of the main side characters is a deity in charge of matchmaking. It would definitely make good research for your story. It's kind of long, but you don't need to watch all of it, maybe the first 20 episodes or so. (Although you could watch all of it because it is really good!)

 

[Onmyoji]

I've watched a TV program some time ago about matchmaking in China and apparently it's still quite common in some areas. There are professional matchmakers who help to find the right people for a fee, and also matchmaking fairs where usually parents go to try finding a good pair for their children. They showed quite a big fair in Shanghai where parents were just sitting there with photos of their children and other parents could come up to them and ask some questions and if they feel their children could be a good match they arranged a meeting.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Thanks guys

Crayons its kinda modern time but kinda anime logic, where you are not beholden to any one time period in terms of elements.

 

[Jannah]

Depends on time period, but it seems you have already gotten an answer. Some traditional elements of Chinese culture still survive, but for the most part the Communist Party transformed a lot of aspects of the culture. From what I understand there's actually more gender equality now than there used to be, although sons are still favoured by many families. On a positive note, though, China apparently has some of the highest male to female gender ratios in both the academic and professional world. Don't quote me on this as I'm paraphrasing from something I stumbled across elsewhere.

I'm also not sure how this affects marriage and dating there.

 

[Crayons]

Thanks guys

Crayons its kinda modern time but kinda anime logic, where you are not beholden to any one time period in terms of elements.

If it's modern times then one thing I can think of in terms of LGBTQ+ is that this type of content is often censored from media and homosexuality etc. is frowned upon in a kind of don't-ask-don't-tell way by the authorities. But I suggest doing more research into this!

Family relations - again, I ain't no expert, but there's a strong tradition of filial piety in Chinese culture (idk much about how this works in modern day with modern people) where children are expected to obey and respect their elders (parents, etc.), and younger siblings obey/respect the older ones. it's tied to the philosophy of Confucianism which was a Big Deal in past times. It also has a heavily sexist element where the wife must obey the husband and husband's parents. The idea was to have a very orderly social structure where everyone knew their place and there was stability and so on. But this is a kind of philosophical ideal so again more research required as to how it works with actual people/if people still care about this kind of thing now.

 

[Uxie]

A friend and I are doing a romantic roleplay set in (pseudo) China.

I was just curious if there was anyone from there who could answer a few questions.

1. how is marriage treated?
2. is matchmaking a thing?
3. what are popular dating activities?
4. how is LGBTQ+ relationships treated?
5. what kind of relationships do people have with their family?
6. is friendship considered important?

The basic premise of the roleplay are magical matchmakers helping people find relationships. The goal is to not just focus on romantic relationships but also highlight family and friendships.

The matchmakers are pretty western inspired so if there is a kind of Chinese folklore that anyone is familiar with around love/relationships I am happy to hear about it.

hello! i'm a chinese person who lives in asia but not in china itself, so please take everything i say with that context in mind (◕‿◕)

1. generally, as an asian, relatively conservative society, you can expect that marriage is still relatively respected as a form of union! divorce isn't looked upon well, though this sentiment is definitely shared less among the younger people in china, i'm sure! conventionally, marriage is still seen as something relatively important for you to do before you hit a certain age; take it that there's a slight negative connotation to being unmarried over 30, even if more and more people are trading marriage out for careers (especially women!)
2. for arranged marriage, i assume you're asking about its most traditional sense, i.e. arranged marriages etc. like onmyoji mentioned, it's still seen in some areas of china, but it has taken a more modern form in other places too! not sure if this is relevant to what you're looking for, but online dating is super popular, and going to see modern matchmakers to find a date rather than a marriage partner is still very common. dating events, where a bunch of singles mingle as well is decently popular, iirc, and there are shows dedicated to having men pick a date out of a bunch of women while people watch and cheer! idk if this is irrelevant to what ur asking though but i thought i'd add it!
3. if you meant dating activities like what people will do on dates, i don't think it deviates all too far from western ideas, though maybe i might not be thinking of the same things. the only thing i can offer is the existence of chinese valentines' day, also known as the qixi festival. feel free to look it up to find out more about it!
4. to note, while lgbtq+ isn't probably as accepted in asian countries, homosexuality isn't banned in china and the culture itself doesn't actually inhibit it, interestingly! but general sentiment especially around the older crowd is that it's taboo. since it's (pseudo) china, i don't believe anyone would mind if you included lgbtq+ people in your roleplay, especially if you're bringing in younger characters (.❛ ᴗ ❛.)
5. this isn't a one-size-fits-all scenario, but what crayons mentioned about filial piety is still relatively true. even if people don't particularly understand it or believe in it, it's the way they were brought up that probably leads them to have the same expectations. though, it's important to note that you're supposed to treat those older/superior to you with a lot more respect. this includes your parents, your superiors at your workplace as well as seniors at school, though a few years give or take rarely matters when you meet in an informal setting. this is from personal experience though, so i can't say for sure! edit: even if you dislike your family, familial ties are usually seen as pretty important and shouldn't be broken!
6. friendship to forming a relationship? or are friends considered important in general? with what i mentioned earlier in point 2, i think it really depends on the person, so make your characters as you please for this one (￣▽￣)

finally, for your question regarding folklore, look up the four great folktales of china! if i remember correctly, all four of those legends have an element of romance in it, and they're all very pretty!
hope this helps!!!