Does 省亲 only refer to visiting wife’s parents by the wife? I wanted to say I went to visit my husband’s parents and remembered 省亲, but after second thought and searched online and realized that it might only refer to visiting my parents instead of visiting my husband’s. Refer to 元春省亲 in 红楼梦. So, it seems that 省亲 might be the same as 回娘家?? If so, is there a similar word to say visiting my husband’s side? I know I can use 回婆家 or 探望公婆 But is there a two character word for this?
省亲 指探望父母，有时也指其他尊长，但断没有指戚家长辈的。因为中国古时在婚姻关系中男方地位远高于女方，而宗族一般又居住在一起，故女方嫁入男方家以后，自然天天跟公婆生活在一个屋檐下，并没有探望的需要，而男方是不会去探望女方的父母的。这样看来，媳妇探望公婆的事情没有传统的词语也很正常。