sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bridesmaid, Engagement party, Mei Yi (translator), Tang Shaoyi, Wedding invitation

Front. Hist. China 2012, 7(1): 61–89 DOI 10.3868/s020-001-012-0005-9

FORUM

Charlotte Cowden Culture in 1930s : Consumerism, Ritual, and the Municipality

Abstract By the 1930s, a variety of forces were chipping away at the traditional Chinese wedding in urban centers like Shanghai. “New-style” —with a in a —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 as a streamlined and affordable alternative to traditional , 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 . The tension between the popular, commercial, new-style wedding and the Nationalists’ Spartan political vision, as played out in the market, is examined below.

Keywords Shanghai, wedding ceremonies, ritual, modern, Republican Era, Nationalists

Introduction

First adopted in the early 1900s by returned students, entrepreneurs, and the children of well-traveled politicos, the “new-style” wedding began as a simple alternative to expensive and elaborate wedding ceremonies and was part of a larger impetus to reform and restore the Chinese nation. Defeat in the

Charlotte Cowden ( ) Independent Scholar, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA E-mail: [email protected]

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 62 Charlotte Cowden

Sino-Japanese War (1895), the failed Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898, and humiliation at the terms of the Boxer Protocols (1901) in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion exposed China’s weaknesses on an international stage. Many intellectuals—and others—turned to the West in search of education, wealth, and power, and inspiration. Reforms were not only political; they were social in scope, too. Critics including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Cai Yuanpei argued that strengthening women’s social standing would strengthen the Chinese nation.1 One way to accomplish this was through reforming practices. This sentiment was echoed in early news reports on the new-style ceremony. In 1907, the women’s magazine Nüzi shijie noted that “new wedding ceremonies are slowly becoming popular and it seems that new families will appear in the near future.”2 New small families, a result of new-style weddings, would create a new China.3 There were several hallmarks to the new-style ceremony. Rather than betrothal divined by a matchmaker, and grooms chose their own spouses. Marriage contracts were agreed on by both parents and children and did not include a dowry. Couples married on a day that was convenient, rather than one deemed auspicious. The ceremony, which took place outside of the home, was presided over by a family friend or civic official. It was brief, simple and economical.4 White wedding made a further statement against superstition: the color white was traditionally reserved for funerals. Though foreigners were granted concessions and extraterritoriality in Shanghai after the treaty of Nanjing (1842), new-style weddings—also called “free ”—were not solely a result of Western presence in the city.5 Many who married in early ceremonies had worked or studied abroad in England, Japan or the United States and witnessed or participated in ceremonies there.6 Others were compradors or entrepreneurs whose business brought them into contact with foreigners. While missionaries no doubt influenced those within a self-selecting group who attended church services, generally, information about

1 See Kang Youwei, Ta T’ung Shu; The One-World Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei; Shao Xianchong, Jindai Zhongguo de xinshi hunsang, 9; Deng Weizhi, Shanghai hunsu, 57. My thanks to Miss Grace Cheng-Ying Lin for her thoughtful feedback as I was revising this article. 2 “Neiguo jishi,” 93–94. 3 On the small family, see Susan Glosser, Chinese Visions of Family and State, 1915–1953. The impact of the new-style wedding on one’s family life is beyond the scope of this paper. 4 The expense of Chinese weddings was commonly recognized as a problem. See Susan Mann, “Grooming a Daughter for Marriage: Brides and Wives in the Mid-Ch’ing Period,” 204–30. 5 For background on Shanghai city history, see Marie-Claire Bergère, translated by Janet Lloyd, Shanghai: China’s Gateway to Modernity. 6 “Neiguo jishi,” 93–94. See also “Social Conversation: A ,” 1923.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 63 the new-style wedding was spread through translated etiquette manuals, newspapers, women’s magazines, and city guidebooks.7 After 1914, new-style weddings—which were widely recognized as clever adaptations of previous ritual practices8—were discussed in guidebooks as a Chinese practice. Church weddings, however, were relegated to a separate section: new-style but also foreign. At this time ritual reform at this time was largely personal—and apolitical—despite the participation of diplomats and government officials in such ceremonies.9 In fact, the new-style wedding, which began before the that ended dynastic rule in China, continued to evolve unaffected after the fall of the Qing. In the wake of the May 4th Movement, marriage reform and “free love” became touchstones for New Culture Reformers and urban intellectuals.10 But in the early 1920s, new-style marriage was still more of a goal than a practical reality for most urban youth: it was difficult for young men and women to meet socially, know what qualities to look for in a spouse, and receive parental approval for the match. Indeed, many felt constrained by stubborn social norms. In a 1923 issue of the women’s magazine Funü zazhi dedicated to ruminations on an “Ideal Spouse” one young man wrote: “I think—although other reasons are given—the sorrows of today’s youth, our low spirits, are mainly because of the marriage problem. There are those who kill themselves or fall into a terrible state due to an unsatisfying marriage. I have seen this a lot.”11 He continued: “We have accepted thousands of years of Confucian influence. Now, although it has faced an assault, its influence is still great and many young people have an attitude where they keep quiet out of fear, going on as they would before. But you cannot blame them... they have been educated in Confucian ways since youth.” Even if someone wanted to marry in a new-style wedding there was no conventional new-style ceremony for youth to follow, where according to one observer: “Although the state system has changed since the establishment of the

7 See, for example: Liu Shixun, Taixi lisu xinbian zhiyi hunyin tan, riyong baojian, and the women’s magazine Funü shibao. 8 “Wenming jiehun de shiyi.” 9 This includes the weddings of Zhu Qiqian’s daughters, in 1914 and 1915. At this time, Zhu was acting cabinet minister for the Bureau of Internal Affairs. Tang Shaoyi, first prime minister of the Republic also married in a new-style ceremony, as did his daughter, who wed . See “Zhang Yiwu jun yu Zhu? ru nüshi heying,” “Yan Nanzhang jun yu Zhu Songjun nüshi xinhun shying,” and “Tang Shaoyi jun yu Wu Weiqiao nüshi jiehun sheying” respectively. 10 See Haiyan Lee, Revolution of the Heart: A Genealogy of Love in China 1900–1950. 11 See “Wo zhi lixiang de pei’ou,” 58, 95.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 64 Charlotte Cowden

Republic, marriage etiquette has not been enforced… the more ceremonies that come out the stranger they are, where there is almost no set standard.”12 Politicians had not been turning a blind eye to changing wedding ceremonies, but had for some time been trying link them to politics: in the early 1910s the Provisional Republican Government had drafted its own wedding rites incorporating national and party flags, and Sun Yat-sen’s portrait into what had previously been a family ritual.13 While those early drafts were not enacted due to lack of government funding they did eventually lead to a more packaged, comprehensive new-style ceremony: Chiang Kai-shek’s 1927 wedding to Soong Mei-ling in Shanghai on December 1, 1927. This was a watershed moment for the new-style wedding. Prior to the wedding Chiang shared his views on marriage and divorce in the newspaper Shenbao. China’s family system, Chiang wrote, was based not on mutual happiness but rather on one’s ability to endure his or her spouse. Chiang detailed his frustrations with his previous wife, an that had simmered for ten years to the point where “hearing her footsteps and seeing her shadow caused agitation.”14 This strained relationship had spread, influencing his interactions with his mother. Furthermore, Chiang claimed, social stigma led men to stay in unhappy marriages and seek concubines rather than divorcing their wives—a practice he found deplorable. Others of his generation—torn between Western education, new-style ideals, and Confucian morals that had shaped their traditional upbringing—faced similar difficulties as they straddled two worlds. Chiang wanted to use his divorce as a positive example to others. The couple’s every move was tracked in the press and Chiang and Soong’s

12 Wang Jieliang, “Shanghai hunjia zhi lijie,” 1. This lack of standardization occurred to such an extent that some early wedding certificates were sold with etiquette manuals to help those who wanted to stage a new-style wedding. Shanghai zhanggu cidian, 682. While marriage practices were certainly not static from Song dynasty onward they took on a certain standardization, which remained essentially unchallenged until the early 1900s, regional variation aside. In fact, at the conference from which the book Marriage and Inequality was borne, Ruby Watson and Patricia Ebrey noted: “we frequently marveled at the continuities in Chinese marriage practices. Wedding rituals, exogamy rules, and concubinage showed many similarities from the aristocrats of the classical Chou period well into modern times.” Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society, 17. See also: Patricia Ebrey, The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period; Christian De Pee, The Writing of Weddings in Middle-Period China: Text and Ritual Practice in the Eighth through Fourteenth Centuries; Jacques Gernet, Daily life in China, on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276. 13 Lizhi cao’an cankao cailiao #128–1316, Academia Historica, . For a discussion of the public rituals, notions of citizenship and the role of the Provisional Republican Government at this time see: Henrietta Harrison, The Making of the Republican Citizen: Political Ceremonies and Symbols in China, 1911–1929. 14 “Jiang Jieshi xinian banli lihun zhong zhi yi han.”

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 65 public interactions prior to the wedding set a new standard for acceptable urban courtship. They were seen strolling hand in hand around Shanghai, visiting friends, choosing furniture and books together.15 They were also photographed together frequently.16 This was not a couple that had been betrothed or had exchanged photographs, met a few times, and become engaged as was the case for many new-style ceremonies. Furthermore, Chiang conducted political business at the Soong residence; the couple subverted the traditional male/female dynamic where a bride was absorbed into the groom’s family after marriage, rather prior to the marriage the Soong residence and the Soong family pulled Chiang into their orbit.17 The couple held two ceremonies, private Methodist rites at Soong’s family home and a public wedding at the Majestic Hotel. The wedding was glamorous and well publicized, and Chiang leveraged this notoriety to further his political ambitions. Among the 1,500 guests were foreign diplomats, the general Feng Yuxiang and his wife Le Dequan, Cai Yuanpei and Tan Yuankai.18 The steps of each ceremony were enumerated in the newspaper for the general public and the union was presented as a model for others, couched in revolutionary rhetoric and notions of national progress. On his wedding day Chiang wrote in Shenbao:

[I]n order to improve Chinese society, you must first improve the Chinese family. Soong Mei-ling and I have discussed China’s revolutionary problems and we share this same belief. Now that we are married, it is our greatest wish that our marriage can have some influence on the old society and make a contribution to the new society. Today, we not only celebrate our happy marriage but we also hope to encourage the reform of Chinese society.… Therefore, our wedding today is in fact building a foundation for our revolutionary business.19

For Chiang, his wedding day was more than just a special moment between two individuals and their respective families; it was a new, hopeful time for all of China. Casting his happy marriage against the ills of the old society, the union—one where an extraordinary spouse was chosen—became a mechanism for reform, a cornerstone for new revolutionary practices that began not with military might but with home and family. Revolutionary business was also

15 Wang Zhenghua, ed. Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong dang’an, shilüe gaoben 2, 114, 149–53; “Jiang Song lianmei wu He Xiangyi.” 16 See, for example: “Jiang Jieshi yu Song Meiling nüshi heying,” 3. 17 Wang Zhenghua, ed., Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong dang’an, shilüe gaoben 2, 80. 18 “Chiang Weds Mme. Sun Yat-sen’s Sister; 3000 See Rites for Wellesley Girl Bride”; “Jiang Jieshi Song Meiling zuori jiehun shengkuang.” 19 “Jiang Jieshi Song Meiling jinri jiehun.”

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 66 Charlotte Cowden fashionable: Chiang and Soong’s ceremony featured the most popular attire and decor of the day and set a new standard for the new-style wedding, marking it as modern, popular, and Chinese (see Fig. 1).20

Fig. 1 Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling’s Wedding Photograph Source: “Jiang Jieshi yu Song Meiling nüshi jiehun liying” (Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling’s heart warming wedding photograph). Liangyou huabao (The young companion) no. 21 (1927): 1.

By the 1930s new-style brides—both with their grooms and as individuals—graced the pages of pictorial magazines with increasing frequency. In Shanghai, a business in new-style weddings took hold. Though the nominal end of betrothal and choice of one’s spouse would no doubt have been heralded

20 For a comprehensive discussion of Chiang and Soong’s wedding see: Charlotte L. Cowden, Balancing Rites and Rights: The Social and Cultural Politics of New-Style Weddings in Republican Shanghai, 1898–1953, chapter 3.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 67 by early reformers, the rampant consumerism now associated with new-style ceremonies would likely have left them dismayed. Yet for those urbanites with means and willing parents, the new-style wedding was now an event that included and a cake, a white , and wedding portraits. Simultaneously, the Nationalists deemed Shanghai a crucial site for ritual reform with weddings at the center of this movement. With the new-style wedding already established as popular practice, could the forces of the market be made to serve those of the state?

The New-Style Wedding in Print

Women’s magazines played a central role in introducing the new-style wedding to an urban public, framing it as a key to independence and happiness. Magazines like Linglong (玲珑) also shaped consumerist practice, explicating and illustrating a model wedding for the market. Published in Shanghai from 1931 to 1937, Linglong’s target audience was the young woman, perhaps interested in fashion and the movies, who was well educated or eager to continue her education, not overtly interested in politics, and concerned with legal matters only in as much as they affected her own daily life.21 Articles from Linglong have been chosen for close reading here because of their conversational, everyday tone and the breadth of information they convey. Among periodicals of the day, Linglong shared many similarities with Life Weekly (Shenghuo zhoukan, 1925–1933), whose editor, Zou Taofen, championed letters to the editor with his “Readers’ Mailbox.”22 Linglong, which likely had a much smaller and predominately female readership, featured two different advice columns: one for personal matters and one for legal questions. Through the advice columns and editorials the magazine positioned itself as a “big sister” and a confidante to its readers, an empathetic listener who would decode relationship troubles and provide advice. While many Linglong readers were certainly cosmopolitan city women, letters from the advice column show that others were struggling; trapped in arranged marriages or complicated relationships with their parents who would not necessarily allow a new-style wedding ceremony.23 For many, then, the new-style wedding was aspirational. With its discussions of such ceremonies, Linglong helped popularize what had, in the late 1920s, likely been limited to those with higher social standing, revolutionary tendencies or particularly open minded families.

21 The entire collection of Linglong magazine is available for viewing online through . 22 See Wen-hsin Yeh, “Progressive Journalism and Shanghai’s Petty Urbanites: Zou Taofen and the Shenghuo Weekly, 1926–1945,” 186–238. 23 For example: “Fumu daiban hunshi,” 2324–25.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 68 Charlotte Cowden

When it came to weddings, there was much advice to dispense. This began with finding a suitable spouse. While new-style weddings were increasingly commonplace, many adults still worried that young people would have difficulty making an appropriate match. An article entitled “How to choose your spouse” marked a departure from past advice: now it was assumed that young women, rather than their parents, would be at the forefront of such choices and could make the right decision if they were well informed. The editors at Linglong suggested that women first consider someone with a “healthy appearance” who could “establish themselves in society.”24

Too fat and your spouse will be clumsy, too thin and they will be weak. Those with hereditary diseases, TB, leprosy, or mental illness are to be avoided because 1. You do not want to harm the family’s honor and 2. This can harm social and national progress. With respect to his personality, choose someone who has willpower and an earnest heart, common sense and stability, upright moral character, scholarly achievement, the ability to empathize, general competence in life and no “irregular” hobbies.25

Given early reformer’s hopes that a new-style wedding would strengthen the Chinese nation, and Chiang’s framing of the new weddings as a foundation for revolution, this emphasis on health is not surprising: a successful union was a union of physical health, intellect, morality, and personality. Furthermore, youth were urged to appeal to reason rather than wild, romantic fantasies. An article from 1931 entitled “Marriage under the limits of Republican law” cautioned readers that heeding to emotion alone could lead to trouble, particularly in the wake of the new Civil Code which had granted children legal autonomy from their parents when making these sorts of decisions. “At a time when free love is talked about glibly, the two sexes merely rely on congenial feelings and marry. But relying only on feelings often goes beyond the boundaries of the law.”26 Such behavior may, for example, result in marriage to one’s cousin which was now illegal. Readers were warned: “those young people looking forward to and hoping for love are better off following the rules of law, which will help them avoid wanton love and social pitfalls.”27

24 “Zenyang xuanze ni de pei’ou,” 203–4. 25 Ibid. 26 “Hunyin guanyu minfa xianzhi,” 912–14. 27 Ibid. Though it is not discussed here in the context of “free love,” some articles do touch on the subject of premarital sex. See for example: “Biaoxiong mei yi lingrou yizhi, fumu turan qiangpo dinghun,” 85–88. Articles like this show that even though it was on the books, the Civil Code was not always enforced. Other articles discuss marriage to someone after the loss of virginity to another partner.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 69

Linglong took its discussion beyond relationship advice, however, and included explanations of the etiquette surrounding a new-style ceremony—parties, clothing, food, and seating arrangements. In short, the new-style wedding had become more than just a rite of passage or the mark of a certain social class: by the 1930s it was a social event in its own right. Acting on behalf of its “little sisters,” Linglong provided crucial details to help young women and their families prevent embarrassing social situations and put their best foot forward.

Fall is wedding , with more than a few young people preparing to embark on one of life’s important journeys, right? After many problems (such as finances and family) have been resolved they should able to head to the altar with out worry, right? But... what should they plan on, with respect to the wedding ceremony? Here, we want to talk with young people thinking about getting married... naturally we want to talk about this so-called new-style wedding.28

The 1931 Civil Code mandated that weddings be “open” so after a spouse was chosen and the couple was engaged, they were advised to “put the happy news in the paper.”29 A typical announcement included the couple’s names and the date of their engagement. Announcements may also mention the location of an , who had introduced the couple, and that the match was approved by the couple’s parents (while approval was no longer legally required, it was still often desired). A published announcement was seen as the most “modern” way to get the word out because “after it is in the paper you don’t need to tell everyone. You only need to write close friends a short note, as this seems friendly.”30 An engagement could be celebrated with a formal and a ceremony, if desired. The party should include a big cake “like a birthday cake decorated with, among other things, little bells and branches from plants that do not wither and the sweetheart’s names; this represents eternal happiness.”31 In the past, if a couple was betrothed they would most likely have been separated, in some cases remaining strangers, until their wedding day. Now a co-ed engagement party was deemed acceptable for “today’s modern boys and girls” who could mingle freely.32 Not that there were not careful instructions for party behavior: “When it is time for introductions at the tea party, first the boy introduces the girl. If the girl wants to introduce her fiancé to her close friends and relatives, she must say,

28 “Qingnian xuzhi de hunyin liyi,” 1789–90. 29 “Dinghun he jiehun qian de zhunbei,” 522–23. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 70 Charlotte Cowden

‘Miss So-and-So, may I introduce you to [my fiancé] Mr. So-and-So.’” 33 Whether they were followed to the letter or not, these rules offer a glimpse of what Linglong editors saw as essential for a successful soiree and what was possible now for young people in Shanghai—if your family had the means and the right mindset.34 After the party, attention turned to a flurry of wedding preparations. Western-style dress was encouraged. “White is the most suitable because this color represents purity. The best clothes are long and slender, which gives a solemn look. The groom’s clothes have no particularities; he wears tails, a striped tie and a shirt with a white collar... ’s dresses have a color similar to the bride’s dress.”35 The groom was responsible for the wedding rings. He was cautioned to take care and make sure the ring was the right size in order to avoid embarrassment and bad luck: “The ring and the finger must match, otherwise it spells never-ending trouble in the future.”36 These descriptions mark one of the first times—if not the first—that the style and symbolism of a new-style wedding dress and the were explicated for readers. On the day of the wedding the bride and groom were separated until the ceremony. The bride’s family was seated in one section of the hall, the groom’s in another. A church wedding was included in descriptions of new-style practices as one type of ceremony. In a church wedding, the groom waited for the bride at the front of the hall with his groomsmen to his right and an open spot for the bride on the left. The ceremony was simple. “Under the presence of the priest, the bride takes the ring, giving her gloves and flowers to her .… After the ceremony is completed, the bride and groom, bridesmaids and groomsmen, and parents all enter the priest’s side room and sign the marriage certificates.”37 Another article, similarly concise, stated that: “For those who believe in Christianity, the wedding should use established Christian practices. Most simply, a ceremony can only be performed in a church with a priest. After rings are exchanged the ceremony is complete. Naturally, those with money who wish to be ostentatious will do so.”38 After most ceremonies, the new couple received guests and served cake. Then “guests must wait until the new couple departs before they can go home.”39 Linglong, ever the big sister, added: “After this is the sweetest time for the new bride and groom. I hope all unmarried readers can

33 Ibid., 560–61. 34 If someone did gain an invitation to an event—like an engagement party—where Western food was served they could rest easy: Linglong had published an article about Western dinner party etiquette. “Xi yan li xuzhi,” 637. 35 “Dinghun he jiehun qian de zhunbei,” 560–61. 36 “Qingnian xuzhi de hunyin liyi,” 1789. 37 “Dinghun he jiehun qian de zhunbei,” 599–600. 38 “Qingnian xuzhi de hunyin liyi,” 1789. 39 “Dinghun he jiehun qian de zhunbei,” 599–600.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 71 enjoy this happiness.” Happiness, choice, and independence were all hallmarks of a new-style wedding, which now featured friends rather than one’s family, illustrating the type of support system urban youth may have constructed in the wake of changed and changing relationships with their parents, who often lived outside of the city. Groomsmen, for example, were supposed to watch over the groom prior to the wedding because “at the time of the wedding, the will be at a loss. At that time, the best man will have to be a calm and clear-headed person.”40 Friends ensured that the groom’s clothes looked good and most importantly, they kept the wedding rings safe until the time of the ceremony. And, “if far flung friends send telegrams of congratulations, the groomsmen should read the telegrams aloud in the hall.”41 In this way, a chain of friends—perhaps college classmates or coworkers—constituted, participated and performed in the new-style ceremony.42 A Linglong bride was happy and independent. She wore white and married in a restaurant, a church or another public venue. She would arrive separately from the groom and would not necessarily get ready with her family. After the ceremony she left with her groom to start their lives as an individual unit with a small family, rather than returning to the groom’s natal home. Linglong’s coverage of new-style wedding ceremonies popularized a new culture of etiquette and behavior that encompassed more than just choice of one’s spouse and a simplified ceremony. Now for those with means and those with aspirations, new-style weddings included a large dose of consumerism— engagement parties, cakes, bridal gowns—despite early reformers’ hopes of reining in costs and streamlining practices. The form of such ceremonies may have changed but for many the consumptive element that plagued the traditional wedding remained and was now promoted in print to young, urban, female consumers as desirable, enjoyable and modern.

The Cost of a New-Style Wedding

Linglong may have helped construct and promote the image of a glamorous new-style wedding, but for most city residents such a ceremony remained an extravagant expense with the promise of looming debt. While Shanghai yearbooks contain useful statistics for municipal marriage rates, there are no

40 “Qingnian xuzhi de hunyin liyi,” 1790. 41 “Dinghun he jiehun qian de zhunbei,” 560–61. 42 With the admission of women into Chinese universities, young men and women were able to interact more freely. See: Wen-hsin Yeh, The Alienated Academy: Culture and Politics in Republican China, 1919–1937, 225–26.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 72 Charlotte Cowden separate figures for those who held new-style weddings. For the first time, however, enough information is available to produce a preliminary budget estimate for a new-style wedding in 1930s Shanghai, giving us clues as to who might have participated. This information, and subsequent attempts by the Nationalist government to co-opt the new-style wedding for political purposes, are a testament to the popularity of the practice. Wedding portraits were often a major component of this budget. According to a survey of the industry, there were around thirty studios of various sizes in Shanghai at this time.43 Larger photo studios in Shanghai specialized in wedding portraits, which could not be easily produced by amateurs in the home. What type of image did couples hope to present in a wedding portrait, and who would have purchased them? One way to untangle this is to consider the cost of the photos (Table 1, Table 2).

Table 1 Market Prices for Wedding Photographs, Shanghai 1935 Size Price per photo Price per 3 photos Price per 6 photos Price per 12 photos 6 cun 5 yuan 10 yuan 18 yuan 30 yuan 8 cun 7 yuan 15 yuan 25 yuan 40 yuan 10 cun 10 yuan 20 yuan 35 yuan 50 yuan 12 cun 12 yuan 25 yuan 42 yuan 75 yuan 14 cun 15 yuan 16 cun 20 yuan 24 cun 35 yuan 32 cun 45 yuan Note: One cun is approximately 1.3 inches. Source: “Hushi zhaoxiang ye jinkuang diaocha,” part three, 3.

Table 2 Market Prices for Other Types of Photographs from Large Studios, Shanghai 1935 Size Type of photo Amount per order Price per Printing Total seating cost 8 cun Ordinary portrait 4 pictures Half body: 15 yuan per 20.3 yuan for 5.3 yuan dozen 12 half body Full body: 19.5 yuan for 4.5 yuan 12 full body 8 cun Special art photo 2 pictures 15 yuan 4 yuan each 23 yuan 8 cun Ordinary art photo 3 pictures 15 yuan 3 yuan each 24 yuan Note: One cun is approximately 1.3 inches. Source: “Hushi zhaoxiang ye jinkuang diaocha,” part three, 3.

43 “Hushi zhaoxiang ye jinkuang diaocha” part one, no. 624 (1935); part two, part three, no. 1765 (1935).

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 73

Wedding photographs could cost anywhere from 5 yuan for one 6-cun photograph to 75 yuan for a dozen 12-cun photographs. Photographs used for student IDs (and later, marriage applications) were offered in smaller shops at much cheaper prices (six 2-cun photos for 0.45 yuan: a 0.25 yuan sitting fee and a printing fee of 0.20 yuan).44 At a mid-level studio, two copies of an 8-cun ordinary art photo (sadly, never clearly defined in the survey) were 5.4 yuan in total; special 8-cun art photos sold at 7 yuan for three.45 Wedding photographs were expensive: almost double the cost of ordinary portraits and at least twice as much as art photos of the same size. Yet some brides and grooms may have chosen such a portrait precisely because they did not—for whatever reason—wear a white dress or Western-style at the time of their wedding. Many studios supplied wedding costumes for their customers as part of a package deal. The relationship between the wedding portrait and the ceremony was not necessarily directly indicative, in other words a new-style wedding photograph did not always mean that a large, new-style ceremony had taken place. Some couples could, in essence, purchase their new-style wedding experience for the price of a photograph: as little as 5 yuan. For others a wedding portrait would not have been enough; it was the experience of participating in and performing the ritual of a new-style wedding ceremony that held significance. Participation may also have given some brides and grooms a mechanism to escape from the day-to-day demands real life for a moment—debt be damned. While some brides and grooms used a studio’s wedding attire for their portraits, others rented or purchased dresses at department stores and shops for their big day. The Hengli Foreign Clothing Company on Jing’an Temple Road, the ABC Clothing Company on Nanjing Road, the Meimei Company on Jing’an Temple Road and the Hongxiang Company with a main store on Jing’an Temple Road and a branch store on Nanjing Road all provided dresses for rent and purchase (see Fig. 2). A high-end establishment, Hongxiang was also the only company to include prices in their published advertisements.46 The company provided three grades of dresses priced at forty, sixty and eighty yuan; dresses could be rented for half price.47 Advertisements for engagement and wedding rings are even more scant than those for dresses. It is also likely that not everyone used rings during their ceremony. One 1935 ad for a second hand store on Nanjing Road boasted of white gold and diamond rings with prices ranging from sixteen to twenty-five thousand yuan.48 Prices of cakes are hard to determine. For lack of such data we

44 For specifics, see: “Hushi zhaoxiang ye jinkuang diaocha,” part two, part three. 45 Ibid. 46 For more information on Hongxiang see Zhang Yanping ed., Zhongguo laozihao, 138–41. 47 “Hongxiang gongsi,” 1938. 48 “Shanghai jiuhuo shangdian.”

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 74 Charlotte Cowden

Fig. 2 The Advertisement of Hengli Foreign Clothing Company Source: “Hengli yangfu gongsi” (The Hengli foreign clothing company). Linglong 1, no. 50 (1932): 2084. will consider instead the price of xiguo (喜果), sweets distributed to friends and family at a wedding. This is clearly not an equivalent substitute, but they were commonplace in Shanghai weddings and advertised as an important wedding element. One purveyor of xiguo was the Guanshengyuan bakery, whose ad read: “Marriage is a great event in one’s life and xiguo are a token of this. To make the wedding day grand, no matter if you are at the bride’s or the groom’s family home, xiguo are indispensable.”49 A tin of “love spirit” xiguo was priced at 1 jiao 5 fen, while the “little angel” tin of sweets was 1 jiao 8 fen.50 The information above allows for a provisional wedding budget for a new-style ceremony in 1930s Shanghai (Table 3).

49 “Guanshengyuan.” 50 Ibid. There are 10 jiao per yuan and 10 fen per jiao, so if 1 yuan is a “dollar,” a jiao represents a “dime” and a fen can be seen as one “penny.”

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 75

Table 3 Budget for a New-Style Wedding in 1930s Shanghai Cost for high-end wedding Cost for lower-end wedding One dozen 12-cun wedding photos: 75 yuan One 6 cun wedding photo: 5 yuan Top of the line Hongxiang wedding dress for Lowest level Hongxiang wedding dress for purchase: 80 yuan rent: 20 yuan Wedding ring: 50 yuan Wedding ring: 16 yuan Cake: unknown 20 tins of “love spirit” xiguo: 30 yuan Venue, , invitations: unknown Venue, banquet, invitations: unknown Total: 205 yuan, conservatively Total: 44 yuan, conservatively

Erring on the safe side, the result is at least 205 yuan for a high-end wedding and at least 44 yuan for a lower end one. These are very conservative estimates, however, because invitations, a banquet or tea party, and venue rental are not included and the number of guests remains a mystery. Clearly, in an instant, such costs could skyrocket.51 Taking these rough figures, the question now is: who could have afforded such an event? Here, we turn to a variety of surveys. One, printed in Linglong in 1935, included the salaries of Shanghai women (Table 4).

Table 4 Salaries of Shanghai Women, 193552 Profession Pay per month Factory laborers (cloth, cigarettes etc.) 6–30 yuan Teachers 40–80 yuan Shop clerks Low 10s to 40 yuan Nurses 20 yuan Wet nurses 6–10 yuan Journalists 30–40 yuan Source: “Dushi funü de zhiye shikuang,” 655–58.

A factory laborer’s salary of about thirty yuan per month is corroborated by information in the 1935 Shanghai Yearbook. There, a survey of 305 laborer (laogong) families reported that the average family’s salary was 363 yuan (about

51 It is possible that some of the wedding expenses would be recouped with monetary wedding gifts—namely the hongbao. This was not discussed explicitly in magazine articles, however. 52 Just for comparison’s sake according to Wu Tiecheng ed., Shanghai shi nianjian (shang), in 1935 there were 148 lawyers and 66 journalists—so women were making up a good percentage of those professions. And while “Dushi funü de zhiye shikuang” says there were 158,275 women in factory work, it seems that gong (工) and laogong (劳工) were defined differently in different surveys (here the laogong total is 148,666). Those registered as engaging in “domestic service” (jiating fuwu) at this time numbered 413,678.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 76 Charlotte Cowden

30 yuan per month) with up to 50 yuan of that earned through rents, boarders, side businesses and so on.53 A family making between 300 and 399.99 yuan per year, on average, spent 210 yuan on food, 34 on rent, 15 on clothing, 26 on gas and 96 on miscellaneous needs (a total of 385 yuan per year).54 This being the case, the wedding budget sketched above illustrates just how extravagant such an affair could be: an upscale new-style wedding could easily cost more than half of an entire laborer family’s yearly salary For relatively accomplished women—journalists or teachers—a “low end” new-style wedding could potentially cost one month’s salary. Shop clerks, factory workers and nurses would need to save their money over the course of several months, though women did not necessarily foot the bill for a ceremony. In lieu of a dowry, was the bride’s family responsible for wedding expenses or did the young couple cover them? While Linglong may have informed eager readers of new-style wedding etiquette, this crucial detail was never discussed and was presumably left to the discretion of individual families. The logistics of wedding planning were also not discussed. The economics of lavish weddings had long been an endemic problem—indeed an impetus for early reforms—and clearly, new-style weddings had not led to a wholesale adoption of new behaviors. By the mid-1930s even on the pages of Linglong the tide, pulled by a political moon, seemed to be turning. One contributor wrote:

As far as unmarried men and women are concerned the Chinese marital system, still shrouded in the vestiges of feudalism, is no different than firm shackles. The grand, wasteful ceremonies of the upper levels of society, not to mention the “great wedding ceremony” of the middle and lower classes that require at least 100 to 1,000 or more yuan; may we ask how young people with nothing, at this present time of economic collapse and fear of job loss, can be responsible for a great expense like this?55

This sentiment was shared. Both Linglong and the official bulletin for Shanghai’s Bureau of Social Affairs—Shehui yuekan—cited a study conducted by a Japanese sociologist that found wedding expenses in China to be the highest in the world, percentage wise, with respect to income. For families that made the equivalent of 10,000 yuan, on average those in England spent less than one percent on weddings, Germans one percent, Italians four percent, Russians spent eight percent, Japanese ten to twenty percent, Americans two percent, French one

53 Shanghai shi nianjian, Q10. 54 Ibid., Q11. 55 “Tichang jituan jiehun,” 2547–49.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 77 percent, Spanish five percent and Chinese spent a whopping thirty percent or 3,000 yuan.56 Chinese families who made 2,000 yuan still spent twenty-five to thirty percent of their income—or at least 500 yuan—on wedding expenses.57 If an expenditure of twenty-five to thirty percent held for all income brackets, those making 300 yuan yearly would spend at least 75 yuan on their weddings. This expense left many young city residents wondering what options they really had, particularly if they were separated from their natal family. For many, a small scale new-style wedding or municipal registration was not an option (registration, though discussed in guidebooks, was not a popular choice) and the fate of those who could not afford a “grand ceremony” seemed bleak:

Marriage is seen as “a great event in one’s life” handed down from generation to generation to proliferate the family, and shouldering this great mission is unavoidable. Consequently, one has to sell off their family property and borrow money to get married. As for those bums who have no property to sell money or no one to borrow money from, well then they have no capacity to marry [in this fashion].… They can only waiver depressedly, or secretly live together or visit brothels to vent their passion.58

To counter this problem, the city of Shanghai under Chinese jurisdiction was preparing to launch its own reform of the wedding ritual, grounded in economic pragmatism but with the glitz of popular consumer-driven practice and the politics of the Nationalist regime: the group wedding. Could group weddings, which began as a municipal enterprise, reform the so-called Chinese penchant for “grand weddings” all the while extolling the virtues of Chiang Kai-shek’s political vision for the country? That was certainly the idea.

The Municipal Group Wedding

With Chiang’s ascendance to power in 1928, the Nationalists turned their attention to political consolidation, economic planning, and social reform. Chiang had linked the personal to the political with statements in Shenbao prior to his wedding: his marriage to Soong Mei-ling was a “foundation for revolutionary business” and a model for social change.59 Revolutionary business and social change were further advanced with the passage of sweeping civic

56 “Xin shenghuo yundong xia ying jiesheng jiehun feiyong,” 273–74; “Hunyin de tiaojian,” 29. 57 Ibid. 58 “Tichang jituan jiehun.” 59 “Jiang Jieshi Song Meiling jinri jiehun.”

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 78 Charlotte Cowden legislation: the Civil Code of 1931. Before the new Civil Code, the Republican government had used sections of the Qing Code to dictate the legality of social custom; those that pertained to marriage dated, in fact, back to the Ming dynasty.60 The introduction to the 1931 Code clearly defined the goals of the new laws: reforming the Chinese family system would lead to the “political and social rehabilitation of China.”61 The new Code changed the shape and composition of the family, particularly parents’ relationships to their children. Women were made legal equals, arranged marriages were no longer legal and one’s parents could not arbitrarily draw up a marriage contract. Furthermore, a wedding could now be called off by either party for a variety of reasons.62 Parents also had no legal say in a divorce, which was to be obtained by the bride and groom’s mutual consent. Parental consent was needed for minors to marry, but minors could not be forced into marriage before they were of age. Marriage between relatives was illegal, as were concubines. 63 Notably, many of the changes codified under Nationalist authority—choosing one’s own spouse with less parental involvement, a flexible marriage contract—were hallmarks of the popular new-style wedding and were already underway in urban areas. National ritual reform began as a municipal endeavor. In the early 1930s Shanghai’s Bureau of Social Affairs turned a conscious eye to the role of Western influence in the city’s social customs. “When Western customs infiltrated China, there were differences between the new [from the West] and the traditional [Chinese]. Although the old slowly receded, the new did not immediately take root. Under these circumstances, both the new and the old remained. As a result, custom and etiquette have become increasingly disordered. The same has happened with marriage ceremonies.”64 As a municipal project group weddings would make a statement: reform was needed everywhere, times were changing, and Shanghai would lead the way. “Change Shanghai’s marriage system” the Bureau wrote, “and the marriage system in every other place will unconsciously follow.”65 To many, Shanghai was ripe for reform: the cost of living was exorbitant, the economic situation was unstable, and inequality was rampant. For those who

60 For orientation, see: The Great Qing Code, William C. Jones trans., with the assistance of Tianquan Cheng and Yonglin Jiang; Philip C. C. Huang, Code, Custom and Legal Practice in China: the Qing and the Republic Compared. 61 The Civil Code of the Republic of China, v. 62 Ibid., article 976. 63 Ibid., article 985. 64 “Xin shenghuo jituan jiehun niyi de qianhou,” 2. 65 “Wo duiyu jituan jiehun zhi juxing hou zhi xiwang,” 15. The Nationalists attempted this same type of reform, with Shanghai as a model, for their police force. See: Frederic Wakeman, Policing Shanghai, 1927–1937.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 79 could afford it there were “theaters and movies, restaurants and towering buildings” and for those who could not “there was famine or suicide.” 66 Extravagance merely played into further extravagance. In the event of a wedding or a funeral, the Bureau noted, “people would rather go into a few years of debt to put on two to three days of vanity: if a wedding was not extravagant, with bird’s nest and shark’s fin soup for each guest, the hosts would be ridiculed!”67 Group weddings were seen as an economical solution: well-managed personal finance would stabilize Shanghai, and China. Economic and social responsibility went hand in hand: when laws about age were ignored and couples married too early, or intellectuals, for example, married too late this was not only a personal loss but a great loss for the nation, too.68 In the urban marketplace the new-style meant engagement parties with friends, cake and tea, white wedding dresses for women, and Western-style for men, wedding portraits, a ceremony outside the home, and a banquet or at least tea and sweets. Group weddings would attempt to match such consumerism with thrift and refinement. Furthermore, as friends had supplanted the family for some in the new-style ceremony, with the group wedding, representatives of the state—as witnesses and officials—replaced friends and family. On April 3, 1935, fifty-seven couples gathered at Shanghai’s Civic Center to be married by the mayor in the city’s first group wedding. Flanked by guests and spectators, Chinese and Western, brides and grooms marched single file up the steps of the building. The couples, each standing at a designated number, formed long lines down the center of the hall. Brides, wearing fitted dresses and cap veils with a long, flowing train each carried a substantial bouquet of white flowers. Grooms donned blue Chinese-style robes and pants, black socks and shoes and white gloves. Facing the front of the hall, the couples stood before the portrait of Sun Yat-sen, former prime minister of the Nationalist party and the country’s “founding father.” Sun’s portrait, flanked by national and party flags, served as the center of the group ceremony: the place once reserved for one’s own ancestors was now decorated with symbols of the state. The ceremony was as follows:

1. witnesses take the stage 2. guardians and introducers take their places 3. the bride and groom enter 4. the orchestra plays 5. couples take their places 6. singing of the national anthem 7. the emcee reads the names 8. the bride and groom take the stage for the ceremony 9. the witnesses give out marriage certificates and gifts 10. witnesses are thanked 11. the mayor speaks 12. the head of the Bureau of Social Affairs speaks 13. music 14. ceremony

66 “Xin shenghuo jituan jiehun niyi de qianhou,” 1. 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 80 Charlotte Cowden

concludes.69

Couples were then presented with commemorative medals, a group photograph taken after the ceremony, and a marriage certificate which marked their participation in Shanghai’s first New Life Movement group wedding. Launched in 1934, the New Life Movement was designed as a program of social and cultural regeneration that would lead to economic and political rejuvenation; participation in the Movement would shape the Chinese public into worthy, law abiding Nationalist subjects. The goal of the New Life Movement was not enlightenment of the general populace but rather tutelage, guidance, and the development of proper conduct: the best and brightest were not needed, modest obedience would suffice. Chiang was hoping to fashion a politicized, patriotic citizen aware of the Chinese nation: a militarized and military-minded citizen. While he may have won the battle that placed him at the head of the Nationalist party, the war was not over. The Communists and the Japanese were both looming. “To pacify the interior and resist external aggression” Soong Mei-ling wrote, “our people must have military training. As a preliminary, we have to acquire the habits of orderliness, cleanliness, simplicity, frugality, promptness and exactness. We have to preserve order, emphasize organization, responsibility, and discipline, and be ready to die for the country at any moment.”70 In theory, exemplary behavior and controlled ritual practice would spread to others. Group weddings would serve as a model for both Chiang’s revolution and China’s modernization: marriage was the basis of the family unit, a wedding begat a marriage. Group ceremonies provided the independence and pomp associated with the new-style Linglong ceremony but were marketed as a cost effective alternative that allowed young men and women to contribute to national progress by marrying in a fashion now deemed legitimate and modern by the state. Yet although the Nationalists labeled the modern urban wedding as an exercise in personal choice, there is evidence that the government aimed to intervene in one’s private ritual life to an unprecedented degree. For example, not just anyone could participate in the municipal group wedding ceremony. The proper forms needed to be stamped, signed and submitted. Applications for group weddings called for two 4-cun full-body photos and one 2-cun half-body photo. Brides and grooms were required to complete a detailed

69 “Shoujie jituan jiehun zuori xian yanxi hunli.” Between 1935 and 1937, fourteen weddings were held on the following dates: Apr. 3, 1935; May 1, 1935; Jun. 5, 1935; Oct. 2, 1935; Dec. 4, 1935; Feb. 5, 1936; Apr. 1, 1936; Jun. 3, 1936; Oct. 7, 1936; Nov. 4, 1936; Dec. 2, 1936; Feb. 3, 1937; Apr. 7, 1937; Jun. 2, 1937. We note that the dates of the actual weddings include none of the special days proposed by the Municipal government. Indeed the weddings occurred with much more frequency than originally planned—perhaps due to their popularity. 70 Soong Mei-ling, “China’s New Life Movement,” 55.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 81 health survey—which included questions about their familial and professional background, sexual and psychological health—to prove their fitness.71 It is likely that in some cases, by virtue of these questionnaires, the municipal government would be privy to information about brides and grooms that their parents would not. Couples had some degree of choice with their wedding attire provided that the Bureau of Social Affairs approved it in advance. To maintain uniformity, general guidelines were published for participants: “Brides and grooms are to adhere to these regulations: men are to wear white socks, plain black satin clothes and white cloth shoes. Brides must wear white gloves, and socks and shoes of the same color. Shoes should use satin laces and the heels should not be too tall. Brides are not to wear their hair down... their bouquet should reach the ground.”72 While the groom’s clothing was rather pedestrian, attire for brides was reminiscent of Soong Mei-ling’s wedding gown and veil, further underscoring notions of fashionable thrift in the service of the nation (See Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Attire for Brides of the Municipal Group Wedding Ceremony Source: “Jituan jiehun de xianshi taolun” (A discussion of the realities of group weddings). Jiankang jiating (Healthy home) no. 1 (1937): 12.

71 Not surprisingly, the health examination discouraged some from participating. See Glosser, 131. “Jituan jiehun dengji de xianzhi,” 10–13. 72 “Xiugai hou zhi Susheng jituan jiehun banfa,” 28. Regional variation was allowed: blue clothing for men in Shanghai, black for those elsewhere. What was crucial, however, was consistency among participants for each local ceremony.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 82 Charlotte Cowden

With these ceremonies the Nationalist government—via the municipality— offered urban residents a purportedly affordable new-style wedding in exchange for co-opting personal ritual and popular custom, which now became a ritual of citizenship.73 Magazines, newspapers, and government publications touted the group wedding as a sensible alternative to lavish ceremonies plaguing the city, but was such a wedding really affordable for ordinary city residents? After some calculations, it appears that group weddings were not so thrifty after all. A 20-yuan application fee, a minimum of 5 yuan per person for application photos, 15 yuan for the groom’s rented attire and 5 yuan, 2 jiao for the bride’s clothes came to a grand total of at least 50 yuan, 2 jiao!74 We remember that the rough budget calculated for a “low end” new-style wedding has been calculated very conservatively at 44 yuan and that a laborer’s average monthly salary was around 30 yuan. The group wedding, while relatively economical, was still far from affordable for a majority of city residents. Clearly, these ceremonies were not intended for everyone. Consider the guidelines proposed at a 1935 “New Household Movement” exhibit held in Shanghai by the Ministry of Education. A family making 50 yuan per month was encouraged to allocate funds as follows: 7 yuan for education (including books, magazines and newspapers), 5 for personal expenses (bathing and transport), another 5 for savings, 22.5 yuan for general living expenses (rent, heat, food and clothes), 5 for daily expenses (water and electricity), and 5.5 yuan for special or miscellaneous expenses (medicine).75 If they were so inclined, responsible couples with lower salaries could plan ahead and save for a municipal group wedding over the course of six or so months. While theoretically open to all who were healthy, this ritual of citizenship would be reserved for urban residents first, in part because those in urban centers were generally more receptive to the ideological and social changes such ceremonies represented. Thus, members of the new Nationalist state would be drawn from cities. Those who did participate were generally young: most married between twenty-one and twenty-four years of age.76 Amongst men, the most common occupations were company employee, public servant, student, or professor. Women were generally categorized as “in the home” (jiali), though some were

73 My thanks to Kathleen Poling for help with this phrasing. 74 The cost of group wedding registration is discussed in “Xin shenghuo jituan jiehun niyi de qianhou.” Prices for photographs are taken from surveys referenced above while wedding dress rental is noted in an advertisement that ran along with the Shenbao article “Shoujie jituan jiehun zuori xian yanxi hunli.” 75 “Xin jiating yundong zhanlan,” 702–3. 76 “Jituan jiehun de xianshi taolun,” 12.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 83 listed as either teachers or students.77 Likely, most young women were moving from their parent’s home to a new household with their husband. The majority of grooms were moderately educated, modest professionals, as were some of the brides. These new-style wedding participants were not intellectuals or politicos, as in the past. Women were not their husband’s intellectual counterparts either, but rather were ready and willing to do housework and raise a family. Most participants in municipal group weddings were from Central China: the largest number were from Jiangsu province, and Zhejiang province ranked second.78 By marrying in this fashion—in a government building in Shanghai rather than returning to one’s natal homes—a young person’s nexus of personal relationships now spread over a larger space. If one’s parents did not attended the wedding, a civic official, business associate, an uncle or older friend could now assume the role of guardian in a parent’s absence (while one could marry without a parent’s permission, guardians were still needed to stamp or sign the wedding certificate). Furthermore, one could send a group wedding portrait back home to both prove and commemorate the event, sharing an urban ceremonial experience, transmitted through an image, with rural kin. Photographs of group weddings were also published in newspapers and magazines. Pictures of brides and grooms marching in lines to be married, standing before Sun’s portrait, and leaving the event arm-in-arm were circulated in print throughout the country, especially after the first few ceremonies (see Fig. 4). For

Fig. 4 The Second Municipal Group Wedding Source: “Di’erjie jituan jiehun” (The second municipal group wedding). Liangyou huabao (The young companion) no. 105 (1935): 6.

77 Ibid. Other male occupations were: banker, technical worker, doctor, postman, journalist, soldier, policeman, cultural worker, lawyer, cinema, general worker, or unemployed. Other female occupations were: company employee, doctor, public servant, worker, midwife, or farmer. Apparently some rules had been relaxed, where those without a job could now marry. 78 Ibid. was third with 35 women and 40 men and the city of Shanghai itself was fourth with 40 women and 25 men. Many residents of Shanghai were not native to the area.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 84 Charlotte Cowden the municipal government—and by extension the Nationalist government—image was incredibly important. The group wedding was an expenditure of symbolic capital that allowed for a grand display of civic and political authority and came with extensive press coverage at minimal cost. The ceremony was not run for profit. The city managed to break almost even, spending about twenty-four yuan per couple; a loss of four yuan per couple, per ceremony. Expenses included advertising and printing fees and the cost of commemorative badges, photographs, and souvenirs (Table 5).79

Table 5 The Cost of Municipal Group Weddings, 1935–36 Date Cost Number of participants Average cost per person Apr. 3, 1935 1129 yuan 57 couples = 114 9.9 yuan May. 1, 1935 1319 yuan 34 couples = 68 19.4 yuan Jun. 5, 1935 1127 yuan 54 couples = 108 10.4 yuan Oct. 2, 1935 2297 yuan 141 couples = 282 8.1 yuan Dec. 4, 1935 1651 yuan 112 couples = 224 7.4 yuan Feb. 2, 1936 3314 yuan 94 couples = 188 17.6 yuan Apr. 1, 1936 1896 yuan 100 couples = 200 9.5 yuan Jun. 3, 1936 1490 yuan – –

Was image more important than indoctrination? There was no guarantee that participants were acting in the service of the state or holding close to the ideals of the New Life Movement. Couples could very well join municipal ceremonies with no clear understanding of the politics that they represented, or the origin and etiquette of new-style weddings. It is likely that for many, such weddings were a means to an end; that end, of course, was different for each individual. Indeed, as performance theorist Michele Strano writes: “ritual performance does not require the internalization of symbolic meaning.” 80 Moreover, “participants may conform to the conventions of performance while subverting the meaning of ritual symbols in individual ways.”81 Who can say, for example, that every individual in the group wedding was listening to the wedding certificate as it was read aloud, could distinguish between the state and the party flag, or was properly honoring Sun Yat-sen? There was no real way of measuring allegiance to such things—even in the midst of the ceremonies themselves. While a limited number of individuals—984 in the first seven ceremonies—may have participated in this state-created ritual practice (via the municipality) they did not

79 “Shanghai shi jituan jiehun kaiban fei gui dian shihuiju zhichu de beicha baogao.” 80 Michele M. Strano, “Ritualized Transmission of Social Norms Through ,” 37. 81 Ibid.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 85 necessarily identify with, perpetuate, or understand the social and political norms they were helping to create and advertise. Given this and the cost of participation, the group wedding experienced limited popularity at best.

Conclusion

By the 1930s a variety of competing forces in Shanghai—social, economic, political and cultural—worked to chip away at the “old-style” wedding. These forces, however, did not mutually support each other in the construction of a unified alternative. In a traditional wedding one’s parents were central to the entire process: from making the match, to agreeing on the wedding contract, to vouching for the union. When new-style weddings were first introduced, roles for family members were renamed and reconfigured, but retained. Later, as demonstrated in Linglong, familial roles were co-opted by one’s friends who played a much larger part in the ceremony, even acting as a mouthpiece—literally—for family members by reading messages from home in their absence. Thanks in part to the Civil Code, ceremonies could take place in a strictly civic location without the presence of family and be deemed legal. Furthermore, members of the municipal government, rather than one’s parents could certify the documents that made a marriage legal. The Nationalist regime hoped to tout such changes as a mark of their modern policies, which served to situate the state in a role once held by one’s parents. In the process they co-opted a popular, personal ritual and attempted to transform it into a ritual of citizenship that marked participants’ allegiance to the party and the state. But the Nationalists’ attempts were half-hearted and clumsy: the essential economic problems that had always plagued Chinese wedding ceremonies were not addressed with the group wedding. The cost of a group wedding was comparable to that of a “low end” new-style wedding described in Linglong. Thus, group ceremonies merely offered another choice for those who could likely already hold a new-style wedding in some form or another. Furthermore, participation in a group wedding ceremony was voluntary and regardless of municipal models, new-style weddings persisted in a myriad of variations throughout the city. Given these factors, the grip of municipality—let alone the state—on the new-style wedding was weak at best. The market, with its well-established new-style wedding culture, had put the government in a bind: because the new-style wedding was a symbol for both urban glamour and enlightened modern behavior it was not so easily stamped out. And while there was no standard wedding ceremony by the 1930s wedding dresses were accepted as white, brides carried flowers and wore veils. Along with this attire came the choice of spouse and autonomy from one’s parents, a

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 86 Charlotte Cowden legal ceremony outside of the home, and perhaps a . Brides occasionally graced the cover of a pictorial magazine alone as an accepted and acceptable female figure, too. Such brides were recognized as something special, not for their newness or strangeness but for the possibilities they had come to represent: economic means, choice, independence, happiness and modernity. Such possibilities, we note, were separate from politics. As impending war halted group weddings in 1937, this separation was something that the Nationalists had failed to reconcile. Why participate in a new-style wedding? Was it to practice and perform ideas of Westernization and modernity, to experience the latest consumer trends, to make a political statement that would mark one’s citizenship and allegiance to the state, or to simply escape reality for one day? Just as no two new-style weddings were alike, neither were participants’ motivations for joining such a ceremony. This being so, what does the new-style wedding indicate about social changes during the Republican era? With the well-established forms of the traditional wedding falling to the wayside, ritual practice was in flux and defined by those who participated in it. Simultaneously, the Nationalist state was attempting to establish an unprecedented penetration of the government into the personal realm by creating wedding rituals of its own. In all cases, the renegotiation of wedding ceremonies was both an indication and a consequence of the competition between politics, consumerism and individual desire in Republican Shanghai.

References

Bergère, Marie-Claire, Janet Lloyd trans. Shanghai: China’s Gateway to Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009. “Biaoxiong mei yi lingrou yizhi, fumu turan qiangpo dinghun” (As cousins we are already united, body and soul, but my parents are suddenly forcing me to become engaged). Linglong 5, no. 2 (1935): 85–88. The Civil Code of the Republic of China. Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1931. Cowden, Charlotte L. Balancing Rites and Rights: The Social and Cultural Politics of New-Style Weddings in Republican Shanghai, 1898–1953. PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley 2011. “Chiang Weds Mme. Sun Yat-sen’s Sister; 3000 See Rites for Wellesley Girl Bride.” The New York Times Dec. 2, 1927. Deng Weizhi. Shanghai hunsu (Shanghai’s weddings and funerals). Shanghai: Wenhui chubanshe, 2007. De Pee, Christian. The Writing of Weddings in Middle-Period China: Text and Ritual Practice in the Eighth through Fourteenth Centuries. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003. “Di’er jie jituan jiehun” (The second municipal group wedding). Liangyou huabao (The young companion) 105 (1935): 6.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 87

“Dinghun he jiehun qian de zhunbei” (Preparations before engagement and marriage). Linglong 1, no. 15 (1931): 522–23; 16 (1931): 560–61; 17 (1931): 599–600. “Dushi funü de zhiye shikuang” (Working conditions of Shanghai women). Linglong 5, no. 11 (1935): 655–58. Ebrey, Patricia. The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. “Fumu daiban hunshi” (My parents arranged my marriage). Linglong 3, no. 42 (1933): 2324–25. Gernet, Jacques, H. M. Wright, trans. Daily Life in China, on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1970. Glosser, Susan. Chinese Visions of Family and State, 1915–1953. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. “Guanshengyuan” (Guangshengyuan bakery). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 328–308 (1) 1935; 378–425 (5) 1941. Harrison, Henrietta. The Making of the Republican Citizen: Political Ceremonies and Symbols in China, 1911–1929. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. “Hengli yangfu gongsi” (The Hengli foreign clothing company). Linglong 1, no. 50 (1932): 2084. “Hongxiang gongsi” (The Hongxiang Company). Linglong 3, nos. 34/5 (1933): 1938. Huang, Philip C. C. Code, Custom and Legal Practice in China: the Qing and the Republic Compared. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. “Hunyin de tiaojian” (Conditions for marriage). Shehui yuekan (Bulletin for Shanghai’s Bureau of Social Affairs) 1, no. 8 (1934): 29. “Hunyin guanyu minfa xianzhi” (Marriage under the limits of Republican law). Linglong 1, no. 25 (1931): 912–14. “Hushi zhaoxiang ye jinkuang diaocha” (A survey of recent developments in Shanghai’s photography industry). Shengshi jingji qingbao (Reports on the economy of the cities and provinces) part one, no. 624 (Mar. 1935); part two, part three, no. 1765 (1935). “Jiang Jieshi Song Meiling jinri jiehun” (Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling marry today). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 241–14 (1) 1927. “Jiang Jieshi Song Meiling zuori jiehun shengkuang” (Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling’s grand wedding ceremony). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 241–37 (3) 1927. “Jiang Jieshi xinian banli lihun zhong zhi yi han” (Chiang Kai-shek’s letter for a formal divorce, from the past). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 239–28 (6) 1927. “Jiang Jieshi yu Song Meiling nüshi heying” (Photograph of Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling). Liangyou huabao (The young companion) no. 20 (1927): 3. “Jiang Jieshi yu Song Meiling nüshi jiehun liying” (Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling’s heart warming wedding photograph). Liangyou huabao (The young companion) no. 21 (1927): 1. “Jiang Song lianmei wu He Xiangyi” (Chiang and Soong meet He Xiangyi hand in hand). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 240–619 (1) 1927. “Jituan jiehun de xianshi taolun” (A discussion of the realities of group weddings). Jiankang jiating (Healthy home) 1 (1937): 12. “Jituan jiehun dengji de xianzhi” (Restrictions on group wedding registration). Shehui yuekan (Bulletin for Shanghai’s Bureau of Social Affairs) 1, no. 8 (1934): 9–14. Jones, William C. trans., with the assistance of Tianquan Cheng and Yonglin Jiang. The Great Qing Code. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Kang Youwei. Ta T’ung Shu; The One-World Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei. Translated from

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access 88 Charlotte Cowden

Chinese with an Introduction and Notes by Laurence G. Thompson. London: Allen and Unwind, 1958. Lee Haiyan. Revolution of the Heart: a Genealogy of Love in China 1900−1950. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007. Liu Shixun. Taixi lisu xinbian zhiyi hunyin tan (On marriage: From a new compilation on Western etiquette and custom). Shanghai: Shanghai zhongxin shuju, 1905. Lizhi cao’an cankao cailiao (Reference material: draft code of etiquette). #128-1316 Academia Historica, Taiwan. Mann, Susan. “Grooming a Daughter for Marriage: Brides and Wives in the Mid-Ch’ing Period.” In Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society, 204–30. Edited by Rubie S. Watson and Patricia Buckley Ebrey. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. “Neiguo jishi” (Domestic record). Nüzi shijie (Women’s world) 6 (1907): 93–94. “Qingnian xuzhi de hunyin liyi” (What youth must know before the wedding ceremony). Linglong 3, no. 33 (1933): 1789–90. Riyong baojian (Precious mirror for daily use). Shanghai: Chinese Republican Book Publishers, 1914. “Shanghai jiuhuo shangdian” (Shanghai’s secondhand store). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 385–136 (7) 1935. “Shoujie jituan jiehun zuori xian yanxi hunli” (The first group wedding practice ceremony held yesterday). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 327–67(1) 1935. Shanghai shi jituan jiehun kaiban fei gui dian shihuiju zhichu de beicha baogao (Report on Shanghai Bureau of Social Affairs group wedding start-up expenditures, for further reference) Q123-1-872-33 1935.06. Shanghai Municipal Archives. Shanghai shi nianjian (Shanghai city yearbook). Shanghai: Shanghai shi nianjian weiyuanhui, 1935. Shanghai zhanggu cidian (Glossary of Shanghai anecdotes). Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 1999. Shao Xianchong. Jindai Zhongguo de xinshi hunsang (Modern China’s new-style weddings and funerals). : Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 2006. “Social Conversation: A Wedding Invitation.” Chung Hwa English Weekly, no. 212 (Jun. 16, 1923): 204; no. 213 (Jun. 23, 1923): 239; no. 214 (Jun. 30, 1923): 276; no. 215 (Jul. 7, 1923): 311; no. 216 (Jul. 14, 1923): 348; no. 217 (Jul. 21, 1923): 382; no. 218 (Jul. 28, 1923): 420−21. Soong Mei-ling. “China’s New Life Movement.” In General Chiang Kai-shek on the Communist Crisis: Madame Chiang Kai-shek on the New Life Movement. Shanghai: China Weekly Review Press, 1937. Strano, Michele M. “Ritualized Transmission of Social Norms Through Wedding Photography.” Communication Theory 16, no. 1 (2006): 31–46. “Tang Shaoyi jun yu Wu Weiqiao nüshi jiehun sheying” (Wedding photograph of Mr. Tang Shaoyi and Miss Wu Weiqiao). Funü shibao (Women’s times) 10 (1914). “Tichang jituan jiehun” (Advocating group marriage). Linglong 4, no. 40 (1934): 2547–49. Wakeman, Frederic. Policing Shanghai, 1927–1937. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. Wang Jieliang. “Shanghai hunjia zhi lijie” (Shanghai marriage etiquette). Zhonghua funüjie (China women’s world) 1, no. 4 (1915): 1–6. Wang Zhenghua, ed. Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong dang’an, shilüe gaoben 2 (The records of President Chiang Kai-shek, biographical sketches and manuscripts, vol. 2). Taipei: Guoshiguan, 2003.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access Wedding Culture in 1930s Shanghai 89

Watson, Rubie S. and Patricia Buckley Ebrey eds. Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. “Wenming jiehun de shiyi” (Paraphrasing the civilized wedding). Shenbao (Shen newspaper) 210–456 (3) 1925. “Wo duiyu jituan jiehun zhi juxing hou zhi xiwang” (My hopes after the group wedding has been held). Shehui yuekan (Bulletin for Shanghai’s Bureau of Social Affairs) 1, no. 8 (1934): 14–18. “Wo zhi lixiang de pei’ou” (My ideal spouse). Funü zazhi (The ladies’ journal) 8, no. 11 (1923). Wu Tiecheng ed. Shanghai shi nianjian (shang) (Shanghai city yearbook, I). Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1936. “Xi yan li xuzhi” (Etiquette for a Western banquet: what you must know). Linglong 2, no. 64 (1932): 637. “Xin jiating yundong zhanlan” (New home movement exhibit). Linglong 5, no. 11 (1935): 702–3. “Xin shenghuo jituan jiehun niyi de qianhou” (All about proposals for the New Life Movement group wedding). Shehui yuekan (Bulletin for Shanghai’s Bureau of Social Affairs) 1, no. 8 (1934): 1–5. “Xin shenghuo yundong xia ying jiesheng jiehun feiyong” (The New Life Movement promises to curb wedding expenses). Linglong 5, no. 6 (1935): 273–74. “Xiugai hou zhi Susheng jituan jiehun banfa” (Suzhou’s revised group wedding procedures). Funü yuekan (Women’s monthly) 1, no. 9 (1935): 28–29. “Yan Nanzhang jun yu Zhu Songjun nüshi xinhun sheying” (Photograph of Mr. Yan Nanzhang and Miss. Zhu Songjun). Funü shibao (Women’s times) 17 (1915). Yeh, Wen-hsin. The Alienated Academy: Culture and Politics in Republican China, 1919–1937. Cambridge, MA: Published by Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University and distributed by Harvard University Press, 1990. ———. “Progressive Journalism and Shanghai’s Petty Urbanites: Zou Taofen and the Shenghuo Weekly, 1926–1945.” In Shanghai Sojourners. 186–238. Edited by Frederic Wakeman Jr. and Wen-hsin Yeh. Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1992. Zhang Yanping ed. Zhongguo laozihao (China’s long established stores). Beijing: Xinhua shudian, 1993. “Zhang Yiwu jun yu Zhu? ru nüshi heying” (Mr. Zhang Yiwu and Miss Zhu). Funü shibao, (Women’s times) 14 (1914). “Zenyang xuanze ni de pei’ou” (How to choose your spouse). Linglong 5, no. 5 (1935): 203–4.

Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 07:35:26AM via free access