Chinese Mother In-law - Zhang Mu Niang

Study HSK : 丈母娘” means mother-in-law in Chinese.  In China, it is a very popular word and many boys are afraid of their 丈母娘 zhàng mǔ niáng.

In China, mothers-in-law play a very important role in their daughter’s marriage. That should dates back to the old times of China, when arranged or mercenary marriage and any other acts of interference with the freedom of marriage are very common. Young people should listen to the ideas and “suggestions” of their parents when they are choosing their husbands or wives. For example, many girls like boys who are tall, rich, and good-looking while mothers may think that the boys who have well-financed family support are better. In their view, good appearance may not be so important when they become old. So 丈母娘(zhàng mǔ niáng) prefers to introduce the man who is plain but has a successful career to her daughter.

Nowadays, even though it is illegal to interfere with other people’s marriage by any means and people advocate the freedom of marriage and Chinese also encourage free choice of partners, but the 丈母娘(zhàng mǔ niáng) still has the ability to give her daughter advice or directly express her dissatisfaction towards the candidate for son-in-law, which makes many boys fail to marry the girl they love only because the potential 丈母娘(zhàng mǔ niáng) do not like them.

Another way to address mother-in-law is “岳母”, which is not as commonly used as Zhang Mu Niang when we learn conversational Chinese. Because of their 岳母， many boys have a lot of pressure and have to do everything to entertain them, including buying them expensive gifts, maybe as a way to show that they are not only good-looking, but also wealthy. Many foreigners like to marry Chinese girls, but the zhang mu niang may be an obstacle to them.