Having taken a night’s rest after our arrival at Likeng Village in Wuyuan County of Jiangxi Province, we were attracted to the riverside at the village entrance by bursts of firecrackers and the sound of gongs and dr...Having taken a night’s rest after our arrival at Likeng Village in Wuyuan County of Jiangxi Province, we were attracted to the riverside at the village entrance by bursts of firecrackers and the sound of gongs and drums. Both banks of the river were crowded with locals and tourists. Many women who had been washing clothes were crowded under a small bridge. They were wielding wooden clubs while talking and laughing loudly. It turned out that this was the day parents展开更多
Located in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Chanang, some 130 km from Lhasa, is blessed with convenient transporta-tion networks and a longstanding culture. Despite modern progress, tradition still hold...Located in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Chanang, some 130 km from Lhasa, is blessed with convenient transporta-tion networks and a longstanding culture. Despite modern progress, tradition still holds sway in some areas.A wedding party in Chanang generally lasts three days. On the first day, a number of people who are good at singing and dancing will be selected to greet the bride at her door. Relatives of the bride will come to offer their congratulations, too.On the second day, the bride leaves her home and enters that of the bridegroom at a suitable time chosen by divination.展开更多
By the 1930s, a variety of forces were chipping away at the traditional Chinese wedding in urban centers like Shanghai. ＂New-style＂ weddings--with a bride in a white wedding dress--took place outside of the home and...By the 1930s, a variety of forces were chipping away at the traditional Chinese wedding in urban centers like Shanghai. ＂New-style＂ weddings--with a bride in a white wedding dress--took place outside of the home and featured networks of friends, choice of one＇s spouse, autonomy from one＇s parents, and the promise of happiness and independence. With the publication of wedding portraits and detailed discussions of new-style wedding etiquette and its trappings, women＇s magazines further shaped the new-style bride as a consumer and an individual. Early reformers had envisioned the new-style ceremony as a streamlined and affordable alternative to traditional ceremonies, but for most city residents these weddings remained out of reach. After the Nationalist consolidation of power in 1928, Shanghai was deemed a crucial site for the promotion of ritual reform and economic restraint. Weddings were at the crux of this movement, which was buttressed by the Civil Code of 1931 allowing children to legally marry without parental consent. New Life Movement group weddings came next. These ceremonies co-opted urban wedding culture in an attempt to frame the new-style wedding as a ritual of politicized citizenship under the Nationalist government. The tension between the popular, commercial, new-style wedding and the Nationalists＇ Spartan political vision, as played out in the market, is examined below.展开更多
文摘Having taken a night’s rest after our arrival at Likeng Village in Wuyuan County of Jiangxi Province, we were attracted to the riverside at the village entrance by bursts of firecrackers and the sound of gongs and drums. Both banks of the river were crowded with locals and tourists. Many women who had been washing clothes were crowded under a small bridge. They were wielding wooden clubs while talking and laughing loudly. It turned out that this was the day parents
文摘Located in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, Chanang, some 130 km from Lhasa, is blessed with convenient transporta-tion networks and a longstanding culture. Despite modern progress, tradition still holds sway in some areas.A wedding party in Chanang generally lasts three days. On the first day, a number of people who are good at singing and dancing will be selected to greet the bride at her door. Relatives of the bride will come to offer their congratulations, too.On the second day, the bride leaves her home and enters that of the bridegroom at a suitable time chosen by divination.
文摘By the 1930s, a variety of forces were chipping away at the traditional Chinese wedding in urban centers like Shanghai. ＂New-style＂ weddings--with a bride in a white wedding dress--took place outside of the home and featured networks of friends, choice of one＇s spouse, autonomy from one＇s parents, and the promise of happiness and independence. With the publication of wedding portraits and detailed discussions of new-style wedding etiquette and its trappings, women＇s magazines further shaped the new-style bride as a consumer and an individual. Early reformers had envisioned the new-style ceremony as a streamlined and affordable alternative to traditional ceremonies, but for most city residents these weddings remained out of reach. After the Nationalist consolidation of power in 1928, Shanghai was deemed a crucial site for the promotion of ritual reform and economic restraint. Weddings were at the crux of this movement, which was buttressed by the Civil Code of 1931 allowing children to legally marry without parental consent. New Life Movement group weddings came next. These ceremonies co-opted urban wedding culture in an attempt to frame the new-style wedding as a ritual of politicized citizenship under the Nationalist government. The tension between the popular, commercial, new-style wedding and the Nationalists＇ Spartan political vision, as played out in the market, is examined below.
