dowry is a gift of money or valuables given by the
bride
's family to that of the
groom to permit their
marriage. In societies where payment of dowry is common, unmarried women are seen to attract
stigma and tarnish the household's reputation, so it is in the bride's family's interest to marry off their daughter as soon as she is eligible. In some areas where this is practiced, the size of the necessary dowry is directly proportional to the groom's social standing, thus making it virtually impossible for lower class women to marry into upper class families. In some cases where a woman's family is too poor to afford any dowry whatsoever, she is either simply forbidden from ever marrying, or at most becomes a
concubine to a richer man who can afford to support a large household.
The tradition of giving dowries is perhaps most well-known in the country of
India, Thai where it is still very common, especially in rural areas,
As opposed to a
dowry, a
bride price is an amount of
money or
property paid to the
parents of a woman for the right to
marry her. The
Hebrew Bible and
Talmud mention the practice of paying a bride price to the father of a minor girl.
The tradition of giving bride price is still practiced in many Asian countries although the amount changing hands is more a token amount to continue the traditional
ritual then an actual price-tag attached to the bride-to-be for marriage.
In Chinese culture, an auspicious date is selected to 'Ti Qing' (literally meaning 'propose marriage'), where both families will meet to discuss the amount of the bride price demanded, among other things. A couple of weeks before the actual
wedding, the ritual of 'Guo Da Li' (literally meaning 'performing the rites') takes place (on an auspicious date of course). The groom and a
matchmaker will visit the bride's family bearing gifts like
wedding cakes, sweetmeats and jewellery as well as the bride price. On the actual
wedding day, the bride's family will return a portion of the bride price as a goodwill gesture
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)!Je ne parle pas ici de la dot puisqu'elle ne me sera pas demandé par ses parents puisque c'est pour partir vivre en 
) et cela à l'air vraiment trop dificile de la faire venir par un simple visa!En outre je pense pas qu'on pourra attendre un an de plus même si l'on s'aime!
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