Abstract: The study of social mobility in the Western Zhou Dynasty inevitably involves the role of marriage,and the discussion of cross-class marriage is an effective way to distinguish and analyze this problem.The cross-class marriage refers to the one between men and women from different classes.The majority of marriages in the Western Zhou Dynasty are intra-class marriages,but there are a few cross-class marriages in which the social status of the husband is higher than that of their spouse or vice versa.In those cross-class marriages,sincere cooperation and joint efforts between husband and wife are the major way to achieve further upward mobility.Besides,one party with a higher status will,intentionally or accidentally,inevitably help improve the status of the other party.At that time,the status of some women was promoted by means of marriage.Especially noteworthy is that there were some men who,through marriage,enhanced their status as well.

Key words: the Western Zhou Dynasty, cross-class marriage, social mobility, intra-marriage, sociology