台語俗諺對擇偶歷程之描繪及其現代意義

A Description and the Modern Meaning of Taiwanese Proverbs on the Process of Choosing a Spouse

「結婚」，在台灣傳統社會裡，幾乎是每一個人必經的生涯歷程；「男大當婚，女大當嫁」可說是絕大多數傳統台灣人的人生共識，也是每一位父母親肩頭上對子女最大的責任，因此結婚被稱為「終身大事」。台灣先民承繼著中國傳統文化下的擇偶觀念，並在累積實際的操作經驗後，以俗諺的形式呈現給後世子孫，充分發揮婚前擇偶教育的功能。本文選擇與擇偶相關的台語俗諺，分為「男大當婚，女大當嫁：結婚的必要性」、「娶某看娘禮，嫁尪看老爸：選擇佳偶的法則」、「娶某娶德非娶色：尋覓賢妻良母之道」、「揀後注，毋免揀大富：找尋如意郎君之法」及「姻緣天註定，媒人腳賢行：媒人的角色與功能」等五個面向探討其內涵；輔以現代研究兩性關係之見解，歸納提出台語俗諺在現代擇偶歷程的意義，以為現代台灣人在擇偶時之啟示與指導方針。

Getting married is a life process that almost everyone experiences in traditional Taiwanese society. That both men and women should marry when they are of age is the common consensus among the majority of Taiwanese people, and is considered the responsibility of parents. Therefore, marriage is considered ”the most important event in a person's life.” Taiwanese ancestors inherited the concept of spouse choosing from traditional Chinese culture and, after accumulating the practical experience to fully implement the process of choosing a spouse for marriage, have passed it down to subsequent generations in the form of proverbs. For this study, we selected a number of Taiwanese proverbs related to choosing a spouse and divided them into five categories, including ”Nan da dang hun, nu da dang jia: the necessity of marriage,” ”tsua mo kua niu le, ge an kua lao bei: the principles of choosing a suitable spouse,” ”tsua mo tsua di hui tsua xi: the standards of searching for a dutiful wife and loving mother,” ”kiam ao tsu, mm mian kiam dua hu: the method for finding the appropriate person to marry,” and ”in uan ten tsu ding, mue lan ka hian shin: the character and the uses of matchmakers,” to investigate their meaning. We then used these results to determine how Taiwanese proverbs influence the modern process of choosing a spouse compared with the theory and perspective of modern relationships between men and women to provide a reference for Taiwanese people choosing a spouse.