Xinghun (形婚)

Xinghun, short for xingshi hunyin (“marriage in form”), is a cooperative arrangement: typically a gay man and a lesbian marry each other, both fully informed, to present a heterosexual front to parents, relatives, and workplaces under marriage pressure. Exactly one thing separates it from pianhun (marriage fraud): informed consent on both sides.

The “in form” part is deceptive, though. A registered marriage is legally real — property, debt, inheritance, and divorce all follow marriage law. Mainland China currently offers no legal recognition to same-sex couples, so a xinghun gives you and your actual partner no protection while legally binding you to someone else. The practical costs keep running too: parents move on to demanding grandchildren, holidays require synchronized scripts across two families, and the performance has no scheduled ending. It postpones the exam rather than passing it (see Does marriage “fix” it?).

Register note: an in-community word; outsiders usually need it explained. “Marriage of convenience” is the closest English gloss, but xinghun is specifically an LGBTQ+ survival strategy.

Common confusion: using xinghun and pianhun interchangeably. Consent divides them — and morally, that is the whole difference.