The Wedding Lament Of The Tujia People In Western Hubei Province: The Function For Role Transformation

In western Hubei province, it is customary for a Tujiazu ( people of Tujia nationality ) bride, her female relatives and her peer group to conduct the ritual of wedding lament. Scholars have discussed the wedding lament from various perspectives. In terms of its creator and its singer, its contents and its transmission, it has distinctive female characteristics. Only to study on its function in women's lives is not enough. This thesis discusses its role transformation function from female perspectives.This paper consists of six parts:Part One is the preface. It introduces the wedding lament.Part Two presents the course during which the bride transforms from a daughter to a daughter-in -law. Bride is a brief role in this breaking transformation. Exactly during this special and brief role, Tujia women must realize the transformation from daughter to daughter- in- law.Part Three illustrates how the bride is granted the privilege and with which, she goes through an emotional catharsis by singing wedding lament, unburdening the emotional pressure, saying 'good bye' to her former role as a daughter, and making psychological preparation for the new role of daughter-in-law.Part Four deals with how the bride envisions the role in the future, and how the other singers continuously try to rectify her idea with the identified community norm to make her gradually realize and accept the role norm of daughter-in-law.In Part Five, the author discusses the influence of the wedding lament on its participants: the bride and her female relatives afresh recognize her role, and the new role relation between them is established. The bride's peer group receive a vivid role education, preparing for their own future roles in their mind.The last part is the conclusion.According to some investigation, the wedding lament of Tujiazu is disappearing due to the change of the Tujia women' social position. To Tujia women, the wedding is still very important, however, the wedding lament doesn't play an important part any more because the women have started their new lives.