Weddings

 

 

Weddings had long been an occasion when ordinary people dressed in much more elaborate clothes than they would otherwise wear, and wedding dress has continued to carry symbolic importance, making it a good case for viewing how dress has changed.

 

This late nineteenth century photograph depicts a young couple in north China at their wedding.

 

What do you notice about how they are dressed? 

 

What would you guess about the colors of their garments?

HINT:  In most areas of the country, the bride would wear red, an auspicious color.  The groom would wear brighter colors than men normally wore, but not red.

Young couple at their wedding

SOURCE:  Arthur H. Smith, Village Life in China (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1899), opposite p. 188.

This newly married couple went to a studio to have a photograph made to commemorate their marriage.  

What differences do you detect between this couple and the one above?  What might account for them?

 

HINT:  Notice the rank badge the man is wearing.

Studio portrait of bride and groom, 1890s

SOURCE:  W. A. P. Martin, A Cycle of Cathay (New York: Felming H. Revell, 1896), opposite p. 368.
Below are three photographs of marriages among Hakka in Taiwan in the early twentieth century, between 1923 and 1940.
 

 

With regard to clothing, what seems to have changed first?  How could this be explained?

1923 photo of bride and groom and family members

SOURCE:  Lin Chengzi. Liudui kejia chuantong yishi de shentao (Taipei 1981), pl. no. 139, p. 61.

 

How do the family members, other than the bride and groom, dress?

　

1930 photo of bride, groom, and family.

SOURCE:  Lin Chengzi. Liudui kejia chuantong yishi de shentao (Taipei 1981), pl. 143,  p. 62.

 

 

 

 

Why might a couple in Taiwan in 1940 have worn western dress?

 

 

1940 photo of bride and groom

SOURCE:  Lin Chengzi, Liudui kejia chuantong yishi de shentao (Taipei, 1981),  pl. 145,  p. 62.

These young people are getting married in a rural area in Yunnan province.

What features of how they are dressed reflect traditional customs?

HINT:  Think about color.

Newly married couple in Yunnan in the early 1990s

SOURCE:  Visual Voices 100 photographs of Village China by the Women of Yunnan Province (Yunnan: Yunnan People's Publishing house, 1995),  p. 96.

This picture of the bridal party is from an advertisement for a wedding ceremony company that appeared in a 1990 issue of Women's Magazine.

 

Why would Chinese want to wear tuxedos and white wedding gowns? 

Magazine advertisement for wedding company

SOURCE:  Funu zazhi no. 12 (1990): 77.