Life of Guangzhou - How Marriage Customs Evolved in GD in 20th Century (Ⅰ)

1. 1900 – 1912 (during the late period of the Qing dynasty): three letters and six steps, without the fiancé and fiancée meeting each other.

At the beginning of the 20th century, people across Guangdong still followed the traditional customs in getting their children married. They wrote three letters and went through six steps that covered matchmaking, engagement, and preparation for the wedding ceremony, in which everything was arranged by the parents rather than the fiancé and the fiancée, who did not even meet each other until the day they married.

At that time, young men and women could fix their marital ties. Those older than 16 in Guangdong could be married. It was legal for a man to marry more than one woman.

In traditional weddings, the groom claps three times on the
head of the bride with a folding-fan, before she is unveiled.

2. 1912 – 1950: Influences from the west

During this period, the old customs were challenged. Men and women were encouraged to wed in government-hosted collective ceremonies, and required to apply for a Warrant on Marriage Registration from the administration, with certificates of health by qualified doctors. More and more of them rebelled against tradition, wanting equality and free marriage. As one of their moves, they married in churches, before priests, and in suits and bridal veils, like westerners did.

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was a rule for the
newly-weds to kneel before their parents to pay respect

3. 1950 – 1978: Mao Quotes on the wedding day

While monogamy and free marriage were stipulated in the Marriage Law in 1950, wedding ceremonies were simplified into dinners, evening parties, and wedding candies. The couple usually invited their supervisors at work as the chief witnesses. After bowing to a picture of Mao Zedong, they recited one of his quotes, and put two quilts on one bed, thus finishing the wedding.

The M.C. of a traditional wedding ceremony
carries the bride on their back off the sedan chair

4. 1978 – present: Diversity

Not only in channels of establishing relationships, which include dating agencies, social clubs for single men and women, and the emerging Internet etc., there is also diversity in wedding ceremonies: dinners, parties, collective ceremonies, tours and so on. Many couples celebrate their wedding with both Chinese and Western elements.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of single individuals delay marriage under fierce competition with their careers. As with the form of marriage, online love affairs, quick marriages, secret marriages and other new forms are contributing to today's diversified society.

(By Jiang Jianming, Alan Devey)