想離婚？先答題：中國(guó)推出“婚姻測(cè)試卷”

HONG KONG — It’s like the Newlywed Game, but for divorce.

香港——這就像新婚問(wèn)答游戲，卻被用來(lái)離婚。

In some parts of China, married couples seeking to split up have been asked to take a quiz issued by the local authorities. The more they knew about each other — including a spouse’s birthday or favorite food — the less likely they were to have the divorce immediately approved.

在中國(guó)的一些地區(qū)，想要離婚的夫妻會(huì)被要求參加當(dāng)?shù)卣目荚?。他們?duì)彼此的了解越多——包括配偶的生日或最?lèi)?ài)的食物——就越不可能立即辦妥離婚。

The quizzes, issued in at least two provinces since last year, follow the format of a typical three-part school exam: fill-in-the-blank, short answer and an essay. Questions include the mundane — “When is your anniversary?” — and the philosophical: “Have you fulfilled your responsibility to your family?”

從去年開(kāi)始，至少已有兩個(gè)省份開(kāi)始進(jìn)行這樣的考試?？荚囎裱瓕W(xué)?？荚嚨湫偷娜阶咝问剑禾羁铡⒑?jiǎn)述、陳述。問(wèn)題包括平平無(wú)奇的“你們的結(jié)婚紀(jì)念日?”，也有哲學(xué)性的“你在家庭中盡了什么責(zé)任?”。

The divorce rate in China is rapidly rising, driven largely by working women who feel newly empowered to seek one. But the government is trying to slow the trend, which it sees as a source of social instability.

中國(guó)的離婚率正在迅速上升，這主要是因?yàn)槁殬I(yè)女性剛剛感覺(jué)自己得到了可以尋求離婚的賦權(quán)。但政府正在試圖減緩這種趨勢(shì)，并將其視為社會(huì)不穩(wěn)定的一個(gè)源頭。

The quizzes — 15 questions, scored on a scale of 100 points — were developed as a way to prevent “impulse divorces,” Liu Chunling, an official in Lianyungang, a city in Jiangsu Province, told The Yangtse Late News. Local news outlets reported that the authorities considered a score of 60 points or higher to mean “room for recovery,” and those couples were encouraged to work on their marriages.

江蘇省連云港市的官員劉春玲告訴《揚(yáng)子晚報(bào)》，這份有15道題的百分制測(cè)驗(yàn)卷是為了防止“沖動(dòng)型離婚”而制定的。本地新聞報(bào)道，政府認(rèn)為60分及以上表明有“挽回余地”，他們會(huì)鼓勵(lì)這樣的夫妻去修補(bǔ)婚姻。

“Through the guidance of the questions, couples can reminisce on the moments of their relationship and reflect on their familial roles and responsibilities,” Mr. Liu, who oversees Lianyungang’s civil marriage registry, told the newspaper.

“隨著一個(gè)又一個(gè)問(wèn)題的引導(dǎo)，讓他們回憶起夫妻之間的點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴，反思自己在婚姻家庭中的角色與責(zé)任。”連云港民政局婚姻登記處主任劉春玲告訴該報(bào)。

Attempts to reach officials in Lianyungang were unsuccessful. Workers in Mr. Liu’s office refused to say whether the quizzes were still being given.

記者未能成功聯(lián)系上連云港的官員。劉春玲辦公室的工作人員拒絕透露該考試是否仍在進(jìn)行。

Nearly two million Chinese couples divorced in the first half of 2017, an 11 percent increase from the year before, according to state news media. About 3 percent of all married couples sought a divorce last year, up from fewer than 1 percent in 2002, according to iFeng, a state-owned news channel, which cited the Ministry of Civic Affairs.

據(jù)國(guó)家新聞媒體報(bào)道，2017年上半年，中國(guó)有將近200萬(wàn)對(duì)夫妻離婚，比上年增加了11%。據(jù)國(guó)有新聞?lì)l道鳳凰網(wǎng)引述民政部稱(chēng)，在所有已婚夫婦中，大約有3%的夫婦在去年試圖離婚，而這一比例在2002年還不到1%。

Mr. Liu said the quizzes were meant only to be a starting point, not the deciding factor in whether a couple could split up. But at least one couple’s high score resulted in the authorities’ preventing their divorce in another province last year.

劉春玲表示，考試只是一個(gè)起點(diǎn)，不是一對(duì)夫妻是否可以離婚的決定性因素。但是去年，其他省份至少有一對(duì)夫妻因?yàn)楂@得了高分而導(dǎo)致離婚受政府制止。

A court in Yibin, a city in Sichuan Province, refused to grant the couple a divorce in September after citing their stellar test scores, according to local news outlets.

據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)匦侣劽襟w報(bào)道，去年九月，四川宜賓一個(gè)法院援引這對(duì)夫妻優(yōu)秀的考試成績(jī)，拒絕了他們的離婚申請(qǐng)。

More than 70 percent of divorces filed in China last year were initiated by women, The South China Morning Post reported, citing the Supreme People’s Court. In most filings, incompatibility was given as the major reason; 15 percent cited domestic violence.

《南華早報(bào)》引述最高人民法院的數(shù)據(jù)，在去年提起的離婚案中，70%以上由女性提出。夫妻不合是大部分案子提及的主因，15%的案子指向了家庭暴力。

However, a smaller number of divorces appear to be shams resulting from a quirk in Chinese real estate law. Some cities limit the number of properties a married couple can own. By legally divorcing, a couple can buy more real estate in some of the world’s most expensive cities.

不過(guò)，其中也有一小部分似乎是由于中國(guó)奇怪的房地產(chǎn)法而提出的假離婚。一些城市會(huì)限制已婚夫婦可擁有的房產(chǎn)數(shù)量。通過(guò)合法離婚，夫妻便可以在世界上一些最昂貴的城市里購(gòu)置更多的房產(chǎn)。

The state’s focus on preventing divorce, experts said, stems from a Confucian belief that a stable society is made up of complete families.

專(zhuān)家表示，國(guó)家對(duì)防止離婚的關(guān)注源于儒家信仰——一個(gè)穩(wěn)定的社會(huì)要由完整的家庭組成。

“Only through thousands of harmonious family units can an entire society achieve harmony,” said Mr. Liu, the Lianyungang official.

“只有千千萬(wàn)萬(wàn)個(gè)家庭細(xì)胞和諧了，才能實(shí)現(xiàn)全社會(huì)的和諧。”連云港官員劉春玲說(shuō)。

The Chinese government has regulated many aspects of private family life, including religion and pregnancy.

中國(guó)政府對(duì)私人家庭生活的多個(gè)方面都已施加了管制，包括宗教和懷孕。

“Marriage and family are seen as a stabilizing force, and the government wants to keep men and women in marriages,” said Leta Hong Fincher, author of “Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.”

“婚姻和家庭被視為一種穩(wěn)定力量，政府希望男女保持婚姻關(guān)系，”《背叛老大哥——女性主義在中國(guó)的覺(jué)醒》(Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China)的作者洪理達(dá)(Leta Hong Fincher)說(shuō)。

Chinese internet users were quick to criticize the divorce quizzes after a copy of Lianyungang’s was posted on Weibo, a popular microblogging site, by the city’s Civic Affairs Bureau.

在連云港民政局把一份該市的離婚考卷發(fā)到了中國(guó)熱門(mén)網(wǎng)站——微博之后，中國(guó)網(wǎng)民的批評(píng)接踵而至。

“So if you remember your wedding anniversary you can’t divorce?” one commenter wrote. “Divorce isn’t a case of amnesia.”

“記得結(jié)婚紀(jì)念日就不能離婚了?”有人評(píng)論道。“人離婚又不是失憶。”

“They are adults and they have the right to divorce,” another Weibo user wrote. “Isn’t this an interference in domestic affairs?”

“都是成年人了，離不離婚是人家的權(quán)利，”另一位微博用戶(hù)寫(xiě)道。“這么做不是干涉內(nèi)政嘛?”

Officials in Lianyungang have pushed back against the criticism, saying that taking the quiz was voluntary.

連云港的官員反駁了這些批評(píng)，稱(chēng)這個(gè)考試是自愿的。

“The main objective is to let the couple consider this rationally and to treat it seriously,” the bureau said on Weibo in response to the most popular online comments.

“主要目的還是想讓婚姻雙方理性思考、認(rèn)真對(duì)待，”該市民政局在微博上對(duì)最熱門(mén)網(wǎng)絡(luò)評(píng)論回應(yīng)道。