Do you know who the earliest intellectuals in modern China were to publish advertisements for marriage? During the Republic of China, the engagement was actually published in the press? The Republic of China also has flash marriages? What types of weddings are there in the Republic of China? Air wedding, water wedding, three no wedding, accelerated wedding, group wedding... It turns out that the wedding of the Republic of China will be played like this.
"Marriage and Love Stories in the Old Pictorial", written by Zhou Licheng, was recently published. "Marriage and Love Stories in the Old Pictorial" tells 60 marriage and love stories of the Republic of China through the five major themes of marriage, engagement, marriage, divorce and love, and is accompanied by more than 50 complete and clear old pictorials, comprehensively presenting the marriage situation in the Republic of China period. Enough of your curiosity about the marriage and love situation during the Republic of China period!
The book takes a large number of modern old pictorials as resources, takes marriage and love as a unique perspective, and after the author's necessary integration, examination and supplementation, the marriage and love stories in the old paper pile are vividly presented, which to a certain extent shows the concept and values of marriage and love in the modern period of China, and reflects the conflict and fusion of modern and traditional concepts in the period of social change.
Wonderful book excerpts
Wu Yunxin's accelerated wedding
In the 1920s and 1930s, the concept of freedom of love and marital autonomy has become popular in the literati circles, and a variety of weddings are even more unbearable. On October 12, 1936, Wu Yunxin's "Notes after Marriage" in the Beiyang Pictorial recounted an anecdote about his own accelerated wedding.
Wu Yunxin (1906-1989), courtesy name Yuwei (堉威), also known as Jiru , a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, was born in Wei County, Zhili (Hebei) (now in Shandong). His father, Wu Jie, was once hired by the Haining Cha clan as a close friend, and traveled between Jin, Ji, and Lu for many years. In 1920, Wu Yunxin moved to Tianjin with his parents and was admitted to Nankai Middle School, where he studied under Luo Changpei and Fan Wenlan. After graduating from the liberal arts in 1925, he published his debut novel "On Ancestor Worship" in the Women's Magazine under the pseudonym "Yunxin". In 1926, through the introduction of Zha Liangzhao, he was admitted to the English edition of the Oriental Times and threw himself into the press. He successively served as a reporter and editor of "Shang Bao" and "Yishi Bao", the editor-in-chief of "Yishi Evening News", the editor-in-chief of "Yulin", a supplement of "Yishi Bao", and a writer of "Beiyang Pictorial", until the outbreak of the War of Resistance.
After the fall of Northeast China in 1931, many exiled students from Northeast China came to Tianjin and continued their studies in Nankai, Yaohua and other middle schools. Sun Xiulan was studying at Nankai Girls' High School. Wu Yunxin and Sun Xiuyun's first encounter was at a party at Nankai School. At that time, everyone was dancing or chatting, and only Sun Xiulan sat alone in the corner with a sad face. Wu Yunxin, who attended the party as an alumnus, came forward and asked her why she did not dance. Sun Xiulan said that his hometown in northeast China was occupied by Japanese devils, and he was reduced to Tianjin alone, with no relatives and nothing to rely on. Out of sympathy, but also the common hatred of the Japanese invaders, they went from acquaintance to love.
In the autumn of 1936, Wu Yunxin's friend Guo Junke died in Tianjin at the age of 29. Wu Yun's heart was sad and even more sad, sighing: "Life is toward the ear, timely and not happy, once dying, how can regret it." Yu Jin Chinese New Year's Eve there is one, the prime of life will pass away, the old and come, will wait for the white hair to be red again, and what a fool! For the first time, he realized it was time for him to get married.
On August 15 of the same year, Sun Xiulan went to Wu Yunxin's house to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival. After dinner, the two sat next to each other, quietly looking at the things in the room in a daze. Wu Qiuxin's study was built as a small building facing south. When there is a wisteria in the window, there is a bright moon outside the window, and the moon enters the window, like mercury pouring on the ground, spilling on the book case, and the case is mixed with books, manuscript paper, pen and ink, and the breeze passes everywhere, turning over the book exhibition. At the end of the book case, the books and manuscript paper are kneaded together, accumulating like a hill. Next to the bookcase is a bookshelf, the shelf is small and there are not many books, newspapers and magazines are piled up in the corner of the wall, a mess. Sun Xiulan asked softly, "It's a troublemaker, I don't know what year it will be neat?" Answer: "After marriage!" "This may be Wu Yunxin's marriage proposal!" Sun Xiulan looked up at Mingyue, her cheeks were red, and she would smile.
The moon fades into the clouds, the autumn wind enters the window, and there is a slight chill. The two of them closed the window, turned on the lights, and filled the room, like spring. In this situation, I know that the saying that "love moves with things" is very absurd. If the newlywed Yan'er, although in the late autumn, there will never be a sense of slaughter and desolation. The idea of getting married immediately sprang up in both of their minds at the same time. So, they couldn't wait to choose a good day.
Initially, they agreed that it would be advisable to marry on October 10, National Day. So, I scrambled to climb the calendar between the walls, but saw that october 10 was marked with the words "everything is not appropriate". Coupled with the eagerness to get married, it was advanced to 8 days. It's just that time is too tight, and it is only one day away from the wedding date!
However, this proposal has been decided, and it is done as it is said. The next day, they began to whitewash the house. Sun Xiulan first moved the newspaper and the manuscript outside the house. Wu Yunxin was afraid of messing up the manuscript, and hurried forward to block it, but most of it was already in a disorderly order, so he had to sort it out when he was ready to use it.
On the morning of the 8th, the two of them began to buy dressers, wardrobes and other things. Shipped to the home, the cabinet is empty, there is nothing to fill, that is, newspapers, manuscripts and other things. After some tossing, the interior was completely renewed. On the afternoon of the same day, the bride found that she only had a red robe, or it was originally made for a friend's wedding. Looking down at the pair of old shoes under his feet, it is as funny as Chaplin in the movie. The groom inadvertently glimpsed himself in the mirror, but was startled by this dirty-faced guy! I was about to revise it, when I suddenly remembered that a double ten section manuscript for the newspaper had reached the deadline for submission, and I immediately filed a book. In the evening, the bride returned home from shopping for shoes and socks and cosmetics, and slightly curled her hair, which was quite innovative. The groom ran out of the room, handed in the manuscript, and went straight to the barber shop to cut his hair.
Although the wedding is hurried, the wedding banquet must be set up, otherwise, wenyou will not let it go? At about 6 o'clock, a couple appeared at the restaurant, and Luo Longji, a big coffee in the newspaper, was the witness of the marriage. The wedding ceremony is festive and lively, the dinner is a combination of Chinese and Western, the guests are full of wine and food, and the newlyweds return with a slight drunkenness. A quick wedding, a perfect ceremony!
——Selected from "Marriage and Love Stories in the Old Pictorial", by Zhou Licheng, Guangxi Normal University Press, February 2022
![The gates are generally opened to the south, while the main entrance of the Executive Yuan of the National Government faces north.[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)