Sichuan Issue Han Chinese Wedding Customs Word Cultural Justice Research

This thesis is focused on the development of the marriage customs of ancient Sichuan province.By studing and combing the key words of the marriage in this area contained in Sichuan local chronicles,the thesis intends to penetrate into the deep veiled cultural meaning of these words from the aspect of folklore,in consequence revealing to its fullness the rich cultural heritage of the Han people inhabitating in Sichuan.This thesis covers 100 local chronicles,nearly the whole area in terms of sapce: The Chronicle of Wushang County (1893)in the east, The Chronicle of Xuyong county and Yonglin county (1908)in the south, The Chronicle of Mianlin county(1857) in the west,and The Chronicle of Guangan county(revised)(1927) in the north.The time span of these chronicles concerned is 148 years: the earliest is The Chronicle of Qingxi county(1800); The Chronicle of Pixian county (1947), the latest.This list also includes the first materials I have obtained when my tutor and I made the investigation on the spot.The marriage customs involved in the thesis are roughly more than 200 years,from the dynasty of Qian-Jia to the present.Thus based on the recorded materials in these chronicles ,this thesis is a research on the old marriage cutoms of the Han people risiding in Sichuan province.This thesis consists of five chapters:Chapter One introduces the geographical boundary, the historic change,the living condition and marriage customs of people in Sichuan in brief."Sichuan"mainly refers to the Sichuan Bashin, which covers the vast area of the upper drive of the Yangtz River,roughly Sichuan provice and Chongqing Municipal under the central government nowadays.In the history of Sichuan province, it occurred many times the surges of migration ,especially those who fled to Sichuan from Hunan and Hubei provinces to escape the civil wars. As a result the area has been inhabited by many nationalities, with the Han people as the main stream, which has exerted an far-reaching influnce upon the marriage customs around this area.Chapter Two focuses on the cultural meaning of marriage establishments. In this part, the researcher has cobmed the contents of marriage establishments of the Han people living in Bashu, putting its emphasis upon the cultural meaning of the words like"Zaohun,Yangxi,Ruzhui,Zaijiao,Zhuanfang".Chapter Three penetrates into the cultural meaning of the word"engagement". In this part the researcher probes into the veiled cultural meaning of this word and demonstrates a colorful folklore pricture of engagement. The researcher has made a careful study of the concept of engagement,the particpants, the gifts needed and the whole process of engagement.Chapter Four is focused on the culture meaning of"getting married".This chapter is plotted on the steps of getting married.The researcher concentrates on these steps and has studied the folklore meanings of them. These steps include:"Qingqi, Guoni,Jiaguan, Jiaji, Yingqin,Songqin,Huichema,Xiajiao,Sheng-tang,Baitang,Baitaxiao,Taozuowei,Zuochuang,Jiegaitou,Hejin,Sazhang,Tonglaheshi,Naofang,Xiachu,Xiemei,Huimen".In Chapter Five, it is noted from language-anaylsis that among the aboundce of words concerned with marriage contained in these local chronicles,some coicide with each other,while in other cases it occures that the same customs are coined by different names, or the same coinage for different customs, which mainly reflects different choices of images and different means of combinatination in cioning.This also shows that there exists generality and induviduality among the marriage customs at different locals .From the beginning to the end,this thesis does not dispense itself from the firsthand material obtained on the spot. Based on the aboundant recorded materials about the marriage customs of the Han people inhabitting in Bashu and plotted on the motto that"forming the key words among the marriage customs and researching on them under the background of the cultural meaning of these words",this thesis approaches its suject by combining the spatial and the temporal clues so that it presents to its fullness a picuture of the marriage customs in the area of Bashu. This thesis does not only makes a study of and restores the marriage customs to its very origin,it also broadens the research linginustically.