The boy wrote a letter to the county mayor seeking rectification! Official response: 288000 yuan dowry, high price | dowry | male
Recently, a netizen wrote a letter to the county mayor through the official website of Qingyang Town, Gansu Province, calling for a dowry of 288000 yuan and requesting local authorities to rectify the phenomenon of high priced dowries.
The netizen claimed to be a college student and said in a message that she had known a girl from Zhenyuan County for a year and "liked each other very much". However, after telling the parents of the two parties about the conversation partner, the parents of the girl stated that the minimum dowry in their county was 288000 yuan, and they did not mention whether they wanted a car or a house, which was significantly different from the dowry of over 120000 yuan in their county. The netizen earnestly urged Zhenyuan County to use a strong momentum to crack down on high priced dowries, "how many families and couples like us can benefit from this?".
Screenshot of the website of Zhenyuan County Government
On June 19th, the Propaganda Department of the Zhenyuan County Committee replied that after investigation and verification, the overall trend of wedding dowries in Zhenyuan County has been decreasing year by year in recent years. With the continuous promotion and strong guidance of resisting high priced dowries and advocating for a new trend of marriage, the mindset of most people has changed. In some places, dowries have shown a significant downward trend, and the phenomenon of "zero dowries" has also emerged among party members, cadres, and a small number of people.
The Propaganda Department of Zhenyuan County Party Committee stated that this time, with the verification and response of the petition matter as the starting point, we will adhere to a problem oriented approach, strengthen work measures, and mainly start from the following aspects to effectively form a work system and daily regulatory normal mechanism that focuses on the source, lays the foundation, and manages long-term management of high priced dowries:
One is to improve the mechanism. Strictly implement relevant rules and regulations, establish a "commitment letter for simple handling of marriage and funeral matters" system, constrain and manage "key minorities", and set a "red line" for party members and cadres to handle marriage and funeral matters. Further strengthen the standardized construction of the "One Appointment and Four Meetings" in 19 townships and 215 administrative villages, strictly implement the system of filing red and white matters, registering and managing suitable young people and matchmakers, and effectively curb outdated customs such as high priced dowries and extravagant events.
The second is targeted policy implementation. Explore and establish the "five pairs" working mode, and use the "Qixi Festival", "National Day" and other major festivals to plan and hold the "advocating civilized new fashion and resisting high price bride price" collective wedding, single youth fellowship activities, and "our festival · 10000 people signing commitment" activities. Organize mass cultural activities such as cultural evening parties with the theme of changing customs and traditions, recitation of "showcasing family virtues and comparing living environment" and "family traditions, family teachings, and family culture", to further guide the general public to consciously resist outdated customs and strive to become a new generation of the times.
The third is to strengthen guidance. Develop and issue the Implementation Plan for the Special Action of Zhenyuan County to Promote the Governance of High priced Bribery and Promote the Transformation of Customs, making the transformation of customs a necessary part of theoretical learning and education for party members and cadres. Guide party members and cadres to take the lead in practicing diligence, frugality, and thrift, resist high priced dowries, and consciously practice the concept of civilization. Fully mobilize the propaganda, persuasion, and educational supervision roles of rural veteran party members, cadres, soldiers, teachers, and models in managing high priced dowries and promoting the transformation of customs. Widely absorb wealthy individuals and moral models to participate in self governance, continuously stimulate self governance vitality, and let the masses truly become the protagonists in carrying out the transformation of customs and the governance of high priced dowries.
In the final reply, the Propaganda Department of the Zhenyuan County Committee emphasized, "We believe that through the unremitting efforts of all cadres and masses in the county, with the rapid development of the economy and society and the continuous transformation of people's ideological concepts, the wedding dowry in our county will gradually decrease until we achieve 'zero dowry'."
Public information shows that Zhenyuan County is located in the eastern part of Gansu Province and the southwestern part of Qingyang City. It belongs to the gully area of the Loess Plateau and is an important part of the Shaanxi Gansu Ningxia Revolutionary Old Area. It is also one of the key counties for poverty alleviation and development supported by the state and the Liupanshan contiguous poverty alleviation. The county has a total registered residence population of 520700 and a permanent population of 357000. In 2022, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in the county was 36031.8 yuan, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 11966.7 yuan.
In May 2022, Zhenyuan County issued a proposal to regulate high priced dowries and promote the transformation of customs. The party committee and government of the county called for the boycott of high priced dowries and the establishment of a correct concept of marriage and love in the proposal: "Every family and young man and woman should respect objective reality, not use money as the standard for measuring happiness, not use ceremony and wedding customs as the benchmark for measuring marriage, and not let high priced dowries hijack a beautiful marriage. Happiness is achieved through hard work, and one should have firm confidence, self-reliance, and create a healthy, frugal, and civilized new trend of marriage through practical actions, breaking the old customs of vulgar luxury comparison."
According to a report from the Integrated Media Center of Zhenyuan County in November 2022, Zhenyuan County has taken multiple measures to vigorously promote the transformation of customs and the construction of rural civilization. At present, 19 townships and 215 administrative villages have completed the standardized construction of the "One Appointment and Four Meetings", formulated and issued the "Three Opinions and One Method" on red and white weddings, established the "Commitment Letter for Simple Handling of Wedding and Funeral Matters" system, strictly implemented the registration and management of red and white matters, suitable young people and marriage agents, and effectively curbed the outdated customs such as high priced dowries and large-scale events. The county has set up the Zhenyuan Youth Marriage Service Center, established marriage service stations in various towns, planned and held four collective weddings of "advocating civilized new trends and resisting high price bride price", and more than 10 single youth fellowship activities by taking advantage of major festivals such as "Qixi" and "National Day".
