From the sweetly inspirational to the hilariously cynical.

有的溫暖動人，有的冷嘲熱諷。

But what many of them have in common is that they sound like they express a universal and timeless truth.

但其共同點是他們似乎指出一個普世不朽的事實。

When in fact nearly everything about marriage, from its main purpose to the kinds of relationships it covers to the rights and responsibilities involved, has varied greatly between different eras, cultures and social classes.

就是在婚姻中的一切，從婚姻的主要目的到婚姻中各種關係及牽涉到的權利和責任，在不同世紀、文化、社會階級中不斷地劇烈改變。

So, let's take a quick look at the evolution of marriage.

所以，讓我們來一探究竟婚姻的演變。

Pair bonding and raising children is as old as humanity itself.

尋找配偶和養育小孩，是從人類史以來就存在。

With the rise of sedentary agricultural societies about 10,000 years ago, marriage was also a way of securing rights to land and property by designating children born under certain circumstances as rightful heirs.

大約一萬年前，隨著定居農業興起，婚姻變成一種鞏固土地及財產的方式，藉由指定特定條件下出生的子女作為合法繼承人來達成目的。

As these societies became larger and more complex, marriage became not just a matter between individuals and families, but also an official institution governed by religious and civil authorities.

隨著社會擴張日益複雜，婚姻變成不只是個人與家庭間的事務，也成為宗教及威權統治下的法定制度。

And it was already well established by 2100 B.C. when the earliest surviving written laws in the Mesopotamian Code of Ur-Nammu provided many specifics governing marriage, from punishments for adultery to the legal status of children born to slaves.

此制度在西元前 2100 年已發展完善，現存最古老的法典——美索不達米亞的《烏爾那木法典》中，記載婚姻制度的諸多細節，從通姦罪的懲處至奴隸後代的法律地位。

Many ancient civilizations allowed some form of multiple simultaneous marriage.

許多古文明允許某種形式的重婚。

And even today, less than a quarter of the world's hundreds of different cultures prohibit it.

即使在現代，全世界上百個文化中，只有 1/4 禁止重婚。

But just because something was allowed doesn't mean it was always possible.

但被允許的事，不代表總是行得通。

Demographic realities, as well as the link between marriage and wealth, meant that even though rulers and elites in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Israel had multiple concubines or wives, most commoners could only afford one or two, tending towards monogamy in practice.

人口統計數據及婚姻財富的關聯性指出，美索不達米亞、埃及、以色列古文明的統治者和精英雖然擁有妻妾成群，但多數平民只負擔得起一、兩名妻子，現實上傾向於一夫一妻制。

In other places, the tables were turned, and a woman could have multiple husbands, as in the Himalayan Mountains where all brothers in a family marrying the same woman kept the small amount of fertile land from being constantly divided into new households.

在某些地方情況則是相反，女性能擁有多位丈夫，例如在喜馬拉雅山，家族中的兄弟都與同一名女子結婚，避免為數已少的沃饒土地再度被新戶瓜分。

Marriages could vary not only in the number of people they involved but the types of people as well.

婚姻的演變不只反映在家庭人數上，也反映在家庭成員中。

Although the names and laws for such arrangements may have differed, publicly recognized same-sex unions have popped up in various civilizations throughout history.

雖然相關規範的名稱及法律不盡相同，但大眾對同性婚姻的認同在不同文明的歷史進程中逐一浮現。

Mesopotamian prayers included blessings for such couples, while Native American two-spirit individuals had relationships with both sexes.

美索不達米亞人的祈禱文就包含對同性伴侶的祝福，而美洲原住民「雙靈人」可和兩種性別交往。

The first instances of such arrangements actually being called marriage come from Rome, where the Emperors Nero and Elagabalus both married men in public ceremonies with the practice being explicitly banned in 342 A.D.

同性結婚被稱作「婚姻」的第一個例子來自於羅馬，羅馬皇帝尼碌和埃拉伽巴路斯都在公開儀式上與男人結婚，這樣的作法在西元 342 年是被明令禁止的。

But similar traditions survived well into the Christian era, such as Adelphopoiesis, or "brother-making" in Orthodox churches, and even an actual marriage between two men recorded in 1061 at a small chapel in Spain.

但類似的傳統仍在西元時期流傳不斷，像是東正教的「乾親」或「契兄弟 (男同性戀)」，甚至據記載第一樁真正的男性婚姻在 1061 年一座西班牙小教堂舉行。

Nor was marriage even necessarily between two living people.

婚姻不一定只發生在活人身上。

Ghost marriages, where either the bride or groom were deceased, were conducted in China to continue family lineages or appease restless spirits.

與死去的新郎或新娘結婚——冥婚的情形也發生在中國，此舉是為了延續家族香火或以慰在天之靈。

And some tribes in Sudan maintain similar practices.

某些位於蘇丹的部落也有相似的傳統。

Despite all these differences, a lot of marriages throughout history did have one thing in common.

儘管有這些差異，歷史上許多婚姻確實有個共通點。

With crucial matters like property and reproduction at stake, they were way too important to depend on young love.

當至關重要的事如財產和傳宗接代處於危亡，這時婚姻實在太過重要，不能只仰賴於小情小愛。

Especially among the upper classes, matches were often made by families or rulers.

特別是上層階級，因為他們的婚姻往往由家族或統治者配對。

But even for commoners, who had some degree of choice, the main concern was practicality.

即使是選擇比較多的平民，還是以現實為主要考量。

The modern idea of marriage as being mainly about love and companionship only emerged in the last couple of centuries.

而現代婚姻著重於愛與陪伴的觀念，一直到近幾個世紀才出現。

With industrialization, urbanization and the growth of the middle class, more people became independent from large extended families and were able to support a new household on their own.

隨著工業化、都市化、及中產階級的崛起，越來越多人從大家庭中獨立，並有能力靠自身力量支撐起新的家庭。

Encouraged by new ideas from the Enlightenment, people began to focus on individual happiness and pursuits, rather than familial duty or wealth and status, at least some of the time.

受啟蒙時代的新觀念啟發，人們開始注重個人的快樂與娛樂，而非家族的責任、財富和地位，至少某些時候是如此。

And this focus on individual happiness soon led to other transformations, such as easing restrictions on divorce and more people marrying at a later age.

注重個人幸福的觀念很快地導致其它的轉變，像是離婚的條件放寬，以及越來越多人晚婚。

So, as we continue to debate the role and definition of marriage in the modern world, it might help to keep in mind that marriage has always been shaped by society.

當我們為當代婚姻的角色與定義爭辯時，記住，婚姻一直是由社會所形塑的。

And as a society's structure, values and goals change over time, its ideas of marriage will continue to change along with them.

當社會結構、價值觀和目標隨著時間推移，婚姻的意義也將隨之改變。