中國推出“婚姻測試卷”

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

香港——這就像新婚問答遊戲，卻被用來離婚。

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.

在中國的一些地區，想要離婚的夫妻會被要求參加當地政府的考試。他們對彼此的瞭解越多——包括配偶的生日或最愛的食物——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?”

從去年開始，至少已有兩個省份開始進行這樣的考試。考試遵循學校考試典型的三步走形式：填空、簡述、陳述。問題包括平平無奇的“你們的結婚紀念日？”，也有哲學性的“你在家庭中盡了什麼責任？”。

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.

中國的離婚率正在迅速上升，這主要是因為職業女性剛剛感覺自己得到了可以尋求離婚的賦權。但政府正在試圖減緩這種趨勢，並將其視為社會不穩定的一個源頭。

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.

江蘇省連雲港市的官員劉春玲告訴《揚子晚報》，這份有15道題的百分制測驗卷是為了防止“衝動型離婚”而制定的。本地新聞報道，政府認為60分及以上表明有“挽回餘地”，他們會鼓勵這樣的夫妻去修補婚姻。

“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.

“隨着一個又一個問題的引導，讓他們回憶起夫妻之間的點點滴滴，反思自己在婚姻家庭中的角色與責任。”連雲港民政局婚姻登記處主任劉春玲告訴該報。

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

記者未能成功聯繫上連雲港的官員。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.

據國家新聞媒體報道，2017年上半年，中國有將近200萬對夫妻離婚，比上年增加了11%。據國有新聞頻道鳳凰網引述民政部稱，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，考試只是一個起點，不是一對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夫妻因為獲得了高分而導致離婚受政府制止。

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.

據當地新聞媒體報道，去年九月，四川宜賓一個法院援引這對夫妻優秀的考試成績，拒絕了他們的離婚申請。

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》引述最高人民法院的數據，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，其中也有一小部分似乎是由於中國奇怪的房地產法而提出的假離婚。一些城市會限制已婚夫婦可擁有的房產數量。通過合法離婚，夫妻便可以在世界上一些最昂貴的城市裏購置更多的房產。

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

專家表示，國家對防止離婚的關注源於儒家信仰——一個穩定的社會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.

“只有千千萬萬個家庭細胞和諧了，才能實現全社會的和諧。”連雲港官員劉春玲説。

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

中國政府對私人家庭生活的多個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定力量，政府希望男女保持婚姻關係，”《背叛老大哥——女性主義在中國的覺醒》(Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China)的作者洪理達(Leta Hong Fincher)説。

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.

在連雲港民政局把一份該市的離婚考卷發到了中國熱門網站——微博之後，中國網民的批評接踵而至。

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

“記得結婚紀念日就不能離婚了？”有人評論道。“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利，”另一位微博用户寫道。“這麼做不是干涉內政嘛？”

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

連雲港的官員反駁了這些批評，稱這個考試是自願的。

“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、認真對待，”該市民政局在微博上對最熱門網絡評論迴應道。