自古以來，婚姻被視為中國人的頭等大事之一，個中喜悲滲透在每個中國人的日常生活當(dāng)中。人們對于婚姻的認(rèn)知，在這數(shù)千年間經(jīng)歷了由“父母之命，媒妁之言”，向“自主戀愛，自主婚姻”的逐漸演變；而這為夫妻系上緣分之結(jié)的工作，也由古時的媒人、舊時的長者，傳遞到了當(dāng)代婚姻登記員的手中。
除去分享新婚愛侶的喜悅心情之外，目睹勞燕分飛，亦是婚姻登記員必不可少的工作內(nèi)容之一。據(jù)民政局官方數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計，2017年上半年北京市辦理結(jié)婚登記的新人有近7.8萬對，辦理離婚登記的夫妻則有近3.9萬對。
而今天的故事主人公——北京市西城區(qū)民政局婚姻登記員許宗毅，就在這龐大的數(shù)字洪流之中，默默貢獻(xiàn)著自己的一份力量；以自己的雙眼，細(xì)細(xì)觀察著這份人生中的喜樂苦悲。
According to Chinese folk tales, people are destined to fall in love with a perfectly matched lover. And it is the matchmaking god looking down from heaven – Yue Lao, or 'The Old Man under the Moon' – who ties the knot between destined couples with an invisible red string.
In modern China, marriage registrars play the role of Yue Lao to witness where a couple’s relationship begins and ends.
Xu Zongyi, a public servant working in central Beijing’s Xicheng District Marriage Registry, has been handling marriage registration for cheerful couples, and also requests for divorce for four years.
Xu usually wears a patient, reassuring smile while presiding over people’s most emotional life-changing moments – getting married or divorced.
Witnessing unity and separation
In 2016, nearly 11.5 million couples registered for legal marriage, and more than four million couples applied to get divorced in China, according to the country’s Civil Affairs Administration Bureau. That equates to a lot of work for Xu and his colleagues.
“My office once helped almost 1,000 couples to register within one day,” he said.
Peaks like this are happening more and more often in China nowadays, due to the number of auspicious occasions – many actually created by canny marketers – ripe for weddings. Valentine’s Day has been joined by more modern festivities like May 20 (5.20 is homophonic for 'I Love You' in Chinese).
Couples registering on these days are believed to enjoy a harmonious and long marriage. Registrars in turn enjoy a long day in the office.
Nevertheless, Xu said he likes the job.
“This work has brought me lots of positive energy, especially at the moment when I issue marriage certificates to newly registered couples,” he added.
In return, Xu passes his “positive energy” to the love birds, offering thoughtful services with a genial smile time and again.
“Me and my coworkers have been through the repetitive checks and marriage registration procedures thousands of times. But it’s always the first time for the people that come to us to get a marriage certificate,” said Xu.
Besides the happy moments, taking pressure off broken couples is also part of Xu’s routine. It is quite usual for him to see soon-to-be divorcees cry, bicker or even physically fight with each other.
Seeing such heartbreaking scenes is not the worst part of the job – sometimes Xu has to issue a divorce certificate to the same couple that he presented a marriage certificate to just a few years ago.
“I know bittersweet like nobody else,” Xu told CGTN with a wry smile.
Besides being recognized as a registrar, Xu is also a Communist Party of China (CPC) member. To him, CPC membership means self-discipline, prioritizing public requests and providing better services.
Thanks to the dedication of many registrars like Xu Zongyi, Xicheng District Marriage Registry achieved thetop rankin the Beijing Registration Service Competition in 2013 and was accredited as a “l(fā)evel-4A” marriage registry.
However, staff at the Xicheng facility have never ceased in their efforts. They’re gunning for the highest “l(fā)evel-5A” accreditation this year.
After a busy day, Xu organized his desk, packed his bag and left the office with a relieved smile, merging into the evening traffic.
“I feel a sense of accomplishment in my job,” Xu said. “The more devoted you are to your job, the more trust the public put in you.”
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