types of marriages in the same year. Women and family Marriage and family planning Traditional marriage in pre-revolutionary China was a contract between families rather than between individuals. The parents of the soon-to-be groom and bride arranged the marriage with an emphasis on alliance between the two families. Spouse selection was based on family needs and the socioeconomic status of the potential mate, rather than love or attraction. Although the woman's role varied slightly with the husband's social status, typically her main duty was to provide a son to continue the family name. Arranged marriages were accomplished by a matchmaker, who acted as a link between the two families. The arrangement of a marriage involved the negotiation of a bride price, gifts to be bestowed to the bride's family, and occasionally a dowry of clothing, furniture, or jewelry from the bride's family for use in her new home. Exchange of monetary compensation for a woman's hand in marriage was also used in purchase marriages. The Japanese invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War strained traditional family structures. It resulted in mass separations of the old from the young, particularly as the young fled into areas not under Japanese occupation or became soldiers. As a result of the war, young women were also able to find work outside the home, which provided liberty from the traditional households. In 2013, Xi Jinping stated that it was necessary for women to be "good wives and mothers" to ensure the "healthy growth of the next generation." During the 2020 National People's Congress, a civil code was adopted which contained a number of significant changes for China's laws on marriage and family. A 30-day “cooling off period” was added to divorce proceedings. Before then, some divorces were finalized within hours of application, leading to concerns about impulsive divorces. In addition the new civil code continues to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. The state mouthpiece Xinhua described the new civil code as guarantying “a harmonious family and society.” Writing for The Diplomat, Chauncey Jung writes that these revisions to the civil code complete a transition from the women hold up half of the sky era in which, at least rhetorically, China was one of the most progressive nations in the world in terms of women's rights to more regressive era of “strong family values for a harmonious society." In 2022,