BARGAINING FOR A WIFE IN THE FLOWERY KINGDOM.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1173, 12 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

BARGAINING FOR A WIFE IN THE FLOWERY KINGDOM.

Amoxo Hie pure Chinese, a.n<l especially Simons; the higher classes, marriage is a verv serious affair. From the almost Turkish strictness with which females are excluded, it is comparatively rare that a couple see each other previous to betrothal, and still more so that there should be any acquaintance between them. This has given rise to the necessary employment of a character equivalent to the laznalan or marriage broker of ancie't Brittanv, to Mr Fov’s Parisian Mate - monial Agency Office, or the dai'y marriage advertisements of our own papers. If your wish is for marriage in the abstract, the broker will find you a fitting partner first, and negotiate the transfer after. If yon are less purely philosophical, and wish Io consult your own tastes as well as ibe

interest and the increase of the nation, you have only to name the party, and the broker becomes your accrediled ambassador. There is, however, one preliminary point to be ascertained. Has the intended the same surname as yourself ? If so, it is a fatal difficulty, as the laws of China would not permit the marriage. If, however, she is Chun and you are. le, or she is Kwan or Yu, and you rejoice in anyother patronymic monosyllable, the next step is for the broker to obtain from each a tablet containing the name, ago, date and hour of birth, &c. These are then taken to a diviner and compared, to see if the union promises happiness. If the answer is favorable (and crossing the palm with silver is found to be as effectual with fortune tellers in China as fit is elsewhere), and the gates are equal—that is, if the station and wealth of the two families are similar —the proposal is made in duo form. The wedding presents aro then sent, and if accepted the young couple is considered legally betrothed. A lucky day must next bo fixed for the wedding, and here our friend the diviner is again called upon. Previous to the great day the bridegroom gets a new hat, and takes a new name ; while the lady, whoso hair has hitherto hung down to her heels in a single heavy plait, at the same time becomes initiated into the style of hair-dressing prevalent among Chinese married ladies, which consists in twisting the hair in the form of an exaggerated tea-pot, and supporting it in that shape with a narrow plate of gold or jade over the forehead and a whole system of bodkins behind it. On the wedding morning, presents and congratulations arc sent to the bridegroom, and among the rest a pair of geese ; not sent, ns we might imagine, by some wicked wag or irreclaimable bachelor, as a personal reflection on the intellectual state of his friend, but as an emblem of unity and affection. The ladies, too, in China as well as elsewhere, indulge in a little fashionable crying on the occasion, and so the relativeser, the bride spend the morning with her, weeping over her impending departure, or, more probably, their own spinsterhood. —“ Popular Science Monthly.’’