Conjugal Relationships In Chinese Culture

Sinowestern Discourses And Aesthetics On

Marriage Chi Sum Garfield Lau download

[Link]
culture-sinowestern-discourses-and-aesthetics-on-marriage-chi-
sum-garfield-lau-49268920

Explore and download more ebooks at [Link]

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

Conjugal Rites Marriage And Marriagelike Relationships Before The Law

Heather Brook Auth

[Link]
marriagelike-relationships-before-the-law-heather-brook-auth-5381954

Conjugal Visits Souls Chapel Revenants Mc 2 Lani Lynn Vale Vale

[Link]
mc-2-lani-lynn-vale-vale-23949332

Conjugal Love In India Ratisastra And Ratimarana Text Translation And

Notes Kenneth Zysk

[Link]
ratimarana-text-translation-and-notes-kenneth-zysk-42249462

Conjugal Misconduct Defying Marriage Law In The Twentiethcentury

United States William Kuby

[Link]
law-in-the-twentiethcentury-united-states-william-kuby-7215638
Conjugal Rights Marriage Sexuality And Urban Life In Colonial
Libreville Gabon Rachel Jeanbaptiste

[Link]
urban-life-in-colonial-libreville-gabon-rachel-jeanbaptiste-10548128

Conjugal Misconduct Defying Marriage Law In The Twentiethcentury

United States Kuby

[Link]
law-in-the-twentiethcentury-united-states-kuby-11873424

Conjugal Love Alberto Moravia

[Link]

Conjugal Misconduct Defying Marriage Law In The Twentiethcentury

United States William Kuby

[Link]
law-in-the-twentiethcentury-united-states-william-kuby-7215678

The Conjugal Dictatorship Of Ferdinand And Imelda Marcos Revised And

Annotated Primitivo Mijares

[Link]
and-imelda-marcos-revised-and-annotated-primitivo-mijares-50637044
Chinese Culture 7

Chi Sum Garfield Lau

Kelly Kar Yue Chan Editors

Conjugal
Relationships
in Chinese
Culture
Sino-Western Discourses and Aesthetics
on Marriage
Chinese Culture

Globality, Connectivity and Modernity

Volume 7

Series Editors
Tze Ki Hon, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Hok Yin Chan, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Editorial Board
Chih-yu Shih, Department of Political Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei,
Taiwan
Dominic Sachsenmaier, Department of East Asian Studies, Göttingen University,
Göttingen, Niedersachsen, Germany
Michael Lackner, Gebäude D3, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen,
Germany
Monika Gänßbauer, Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies,
Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Yujiro Murata, Doshisha University, Nerima-ku, Japan
Tak-Wing Ngo, Department of Government and Public Administration, University
of Macau, Taipa, Macao
This book series aims to publish monographs and edited volumes that examine how
Chinese culture has been circulated, redeployed and reinterpreted around the world
since the 15th century. In this book series, Chinese culture is understood broadly,
ranging from canonical texts, philosophical/religious systems and aesthetic tastes of
the educated elites to cultural artefacts, festivals and everyday practices of ordinary
people. This broad definition of Chinese culture is to serve two purposes. The first is
to encourage research that views Chinese culture not just as a home-grown construct
serving the Chinese in their native land, but also as a symbol, a site where diverse
meanings can be generated for global conversation and transnational exchanges. The
second is to provide an opportunity to researchers to publish works that examine how
China is used, metaphorically or figuratively, in the recent debates on modernity
and post-modernity. The series welcomes proposals from multiple disciplines in
connection with the study of Chinese culture, including language and literature,
history, philosophy, politics and international relations, media and cultural studies.
Chi Sum Garfield Lau · Kelly Kar Yue Chan
Editors

Conjugal Relationships
in Chinese Culture
Sino-Western Discourses and Aesthetics on
Marriage
Editors
Chi Sum Garfield Lau Kelly Kar Yue Chan
School of Arts and Social Sciences School of Arts and Social Sciences
Hong Kong Metropolitan University Hong Kong Metropolitan University
Ho Man Tin Ho Man Tin
Hong Kong SAR, China Hong Kong SAR, China

ISSN 2662-9755 ISSN 2662-9763 (electronic)

Chinese Culture
ISBN 978-981-19-9840-9 ISBN 978-981-19-9841-6 (eBook)
[Link]

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Foreword

Marriage as Metaphor

Between Local Nostalgia and Global Redefinitions

Few things in the realm of human existence are more intimate than the act of
marriage—a word that, in English at least, covers two different potentialities of
meaning: the moment of getting married and the process of inhabiting the same
space together with another being. In both these connotations, marriage involves the
fundamental relationship between two souls and two bodies, between two ontolog-
ical microcosms brought together by choice, destiny or even external circumstances.
Anthropologically, it is a universal experience, something that turns the mere biolog-
ical inclination of so many other species into an act of sacred communion. Indeed,
marriage seems to be one of those rare chances that humanity is granted in order not
only to conquer instincts, to subdue physical impulses, but to transcend matter and
turn it into spirit.
Yet, above and beyond everything that may constitute its universality as a social
institution, marriage is always grounded in a tradition. It is, in a noble sense, an
expression of that tradition. A ritual far more than a formality, the wedding of two
mortals invokes the cosmic energies of day and night, the sun and the moon, the earth
and the sky. Thus, to understand its various patterns in different cultures is to appre-
hend the reflection of deep religious beliefs in the social fabric of one community
or another. What seems to be the same everywhere is in fact separated by so many
spiritual dimensions. This is equally true of marriages, of conjugal relationships,
of everything that constitutes the osmosis between two human beings who share
everything they have and everything they are.

v
vi Foreword

In a Chinese context, marriage has been defined by social, societal norms virtu-
ally indecipherable for the minds of Westerners, shaped by centuries of cultural
specificity, locked in an eternal paradox. There, between the constraints of recent
demography and all the complex layers of its rich past, the institution of marriage
seems to be the very essence of the Chinese people, the core of Chinese identity. The
same can be affirmed, perhaps, with respect to so many other nations, correspond-
ingly, as the family is the cell of the social tissue, and marriage is the nucleus of that
cell. It follows then that for all people from all continents, marriage is the distilled
image of their own ethos. And yet, nowhere else is marriage more profoundly, inex-
tricably linked with everything private or public and with everything between private
and public.
Unsurprisingly, marriage—with all its intricate ramifications within the discrete
parameters of the household or in the society at large—features prominently in so
many of China’s cultural phenomena. It is present in its mythology, as nothing could
better explain the cosmogonic vision on everything that exists than the Chinese sense
of the conjoint, harmonized—in other words, conjugal—dynamics between Yin and
Yang. It is never missing from its overwhelming folk literature, with so many stories
set around the teapot, in the sheltered warmth of the household. It is always included
in its theatrical tales, from the classical scripts of Peking Opera to the contemporary
experiments of a new generation of playwrights. It infuses the delicate tones of
its chamber music, and it enters the land of cinema, to a degree that is yet to be
contemplated thoroughly. It has even survived in the disguised forms of television
shows and, more recently, digitalized media. It is simply everywhere, in all possible
cultural manifestations of the Chinese spirit—old and new, traditional or modern.
Impossible to fully comprehend, enigmatic like the spirit of the people itself, the
subject of marriage in Chinese contexts has proved as fascinating from a western
cultural perspective as it remains irremediably elusive. The way in which Western
cultural figures have engaged with this theme illustrates prominently the concept once
put forward by Claude Lévi-Strauss as much as, at the same time, it captures one of
the key notions of Victor Turner’s system of thinking. In Tristes Tropiques (1955),
Lévi-Strauss spoke about the endless paradox of the Westerners’ stance, between two
radically opposing impulses: the tendency to surrender to the “exotic” other and the
utmost desire to conquer it, to annihilate its spirit. In The Forest of Symbols (1967),
Turner referred to the distinction between liminal and liminoid, which perhaps can
somehow explain how various authors from the West approached the subject matter
of Chinese marriage—on the threshold between general approximations and detailed
interest in the particulars. It seems that the gaze of the Westerner can only penetrate
to a certain extent the nature of conjugal relationships in China, either insisting
excessively on the tribulations of human emotions or dwelling too much on the
aesthetic. Yet, it is precisely this mixture of relative understanding and complete
misapprehension, of intellectual curiosity and cultural limitations, that accounts for
what marriage has ended up being in this long process of betweenness: a metaphor.
Foreword vii

In so many of the Sino-Western narratives—textual or otherwise—Chinese

conjugal relationships have been charged with a sense of poignancy that goes beyond
the predictable hybridity to be found in the framing of other similar topics. Some-
thing is always left out. On purpose. Something floats in the realm of the unsaid, of
the unspoken. And everything is more than what it seems to be: this is the sugges-
tive grace of implied meanings, of the unattended moments that at once reveal and
conceal reality. It is equally true of the religious echoes of ancient literature translated
into English or French and of the transparently contemporary stories about social
anxiety in interracial marriages. There are few cases of cultural representation in
which conjugal affairs, from nuptial visuality to habitual patterns of old age coexis-
tence, are not elevated to this level of expressiveness. All the contradictions to which
Lévi-Strauss and Turner referred are avenged by what may be termed the poetics
of indistinctiveness, which turns the mundane fabric of any Chinese marriage into a
long series of metaphorical implications. A romantic gesture can be the symbol of
historical reconciliation, and a quarrel between a wife and husband can indicate the
dissolution of the traditional values in an entire community.
This book is a first attempt to map the complex dynamics of marriage in Chinese
culture, between tradition and modernity, between the old and the new, between one
artform and another, but also—and, in a sense, more importantly—between deep local
specificity and global construal. Its structural diversity appositely reflects the tremen-
dous variety of forms that the representation of marriage embraces within this broad
context. It takes into account that the concept itself, marriage, has evolved throughout
history. It addresses the implications of such transformations. It also looks at aspects
that are beyond history, from Chinese mythology to the contemporary adventures of
the human spirit. In all these different facets, in each interpretative reflection, there is
a never abandoned, constantly reinforced sense of respect for the topic itself. Such a
merit is often taken for granted, regarded as elementary for any avenue of academic
research. Any yet, it may often be missing or simulated, not substantial enough to
be praised. In the case of this book, each contribution is respectful of the endless
complexity of its subject—whether it focuses on the vast universe of Chinese tradi-
tional opera or the minute of decorations of contemporary wedding invitations. The
assortment of perspectives included in it is not and could not be the result of hazard,
the mere consequence of research interests that merge and match only partially. It
is, in fact, a kaleidoscope of images, sounds, fragrances, colours, vibrations that
together give the reader an insight into the virtually unfathomable mystery of that
which all Chinese marriages are based upon.
What are they all based upon? One has to read the following pages to come
closer to an understanding, whilst knowing and accepting that something will always
be—fortunately—incomprehensible. A trait that binds them together is immediately
noticeable and equally authentic: all the chapters included within this book seek
to emphasise the indefinability of that mystery. None of them struggles to exhaust
its topic through excessive explanation, through pedantic intellectual elaboration.
Rather, each single angle accepts its own restraints, as if only together they could
form a complete circle of both analytical and synthetic possibilities. Discourses
about clearly delineated historical periods are gracefully complemented by subtle
viii Foreword

parallelisms between typical Chinese modes of storytelling and Western exercises

in literary aesthetics. The effect is one of cultural vitality and natural fusion, not
at all in the sense of forced agglutination, but in the spirit of a multidisciplinary
or, rather, transdisciplinary perspective. Thanks to this paradox of heterogeneous
homogeneity, the present volume is far more than a predictable exploration of certain
cultural instances in which marriage can be found as the subject. It is a celebration
of the “marriage” between ideas and aspirations, a perfect assortment of resonances
and reverberations from the spiritual consciousness of an entire nation.
Naturally, the research methods and frameworks to be discovered are as diverse
as the viewpoints from which the discourses are argued. Some of the approaches fit
comfortably within the scope of comparative literature, comparative culture, while
others venture into the territory of cinema studies. Some are grounded in the solid
field of the history of religions. Some are canonical, and some are not. Some engage
with the solidity of marriage as a cultural institution, whereas some others address the
uncomfortable and disturbing consequences of divorce. Some are dedicated to purely
Chinese tropes. Some prefer the inflections of globalism and universality. Therefore,
this is not simply a book for experts interested in Chinese culture, for all those already
embarked on their own research journeys in this area, but for a category that does
not seem to find its place easily in the thin horizon of typical scholarly books: what
the unforgettable Samuel Johnson might have called the “general reader” (Rollyson,
2001). This openness does not affect its academic quality, it does not diminish its
intellectual substance. On the contrary. It makes it valuable and meaningful, above
the limits and limitations of one subject and beyond the unavoidable confines of
the sum of all its chapters. Whoever wants to open it in order to learn about The
Phoenix Hairpin will effortlessly be drawn to something as different as the recent and
continuously growing phenomenon of the Chinese female vloggers. A reader seeking
the illumination of ancient China’s miraculous births will hardly be inclined to avoid
reading about “The Woman from New York”. These cross-cultural undercurrents
make this book original, and give it the flare of liveliness.
Its contributors, coming from many different avenues of scholarly pursuit, also
cover a wide range of intellectual profiles: from established academics to promising
doctoral candidates. This is another great gift. It proves that the topic highlighted
in the title of this volume is of great cultural appeal to different generations of
researchers, and hopefully this will be mirrored by its readership. Now, when the
illusion of planetary connectivity seems to turn into the disillusion of isolation,
one can only hope that this volume will affirm its theme as something that truly
matters. Perhaps, it will inspire more and more spirits of our troubled times to explore
the endless and everlasting beauty of Chinese tradition as well as the very actual,
present-day manifestations of local and global creativity based upon it.
Foreword ix

As a last and rather personal note, one should like to congratulate the two editors
of this volume, who—through meticulous care and passionate energy—have added
another important milestone to this special Springer collection. Together, they form
a great team, and indeed the conceptual substance of the current tome finds its place
within a series that is likely to determine a different, much needed shift in all our
understanding of Chinese cultural virtues.
Octavian Saiu
President, the International Association of Theatre Leaders
Professor, Hong Kong Metropolitan University
School of Arts and Social Sciences
Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong SAR, China

References
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1955). Tristes Tropiques. Paris: Plon.
Rollyson, C. (2001). Samuel Johnson: Dean of Contemporary Biographies. Biography, 24 (2),
442–447.
Turner, V. W. (1967). The Forest of Symbols. Ithaca, N.Y.; London: Cornell University Press.
Introduction

Conjugal Relationships in Chinese Culture—Sino-Western Discourses and

Aesthetics on Marriage is an essential volume that scrutinizes the multifaceted
dynamics of conjugal relationships in Chinese culture and Sino-Western contexts. It
delves into the sophisticated and multiple aspects of marriage as they interact with
political, societal and ideological transitions. Specifically, the volume highlights how
these factors may override the private nature of marriage, thus turning nuptial affairs
into public discourses. Aiming at a more complete presentation on the aesthetics of
different genres concerning marriage, this volume revisits the connection between
conjugal relations and various art forms including literature, film, adaptation, modern
design, etc.
In Part I: Revolutionary Alternatives of Conjugal Relationships in Chinese
Culture, five contributors have raised questions on the extent that conjugal relations
could be an expression of individual free will, and the potential incompatibility
between personal satisfaction and the well-being of a generation or a state. Owing to
the dominant position of Confucian philosophy in Chinese culture, conjugal relations
were often seen as the duty of an individual in forming a family for giving birth to
male heirs so that both the father and his sons could fulfil their responsibilities to
the state. As this ideology prevailed, marriage became an act for the state and the
kinship rather than a fulfillment of individual romance and desire.
As marriage does not essentially constitute to the merriment of harmonious unity,
it is crucial to study the possible alternatives and how these deviations from conven-
tional conjugality are perceived. There appears a noticeable trend in the decreasing
number of marriage registrations in China from 2019 to 2021 (Du, 2022). The contrib-
utors also analyze revolutionary initiations against the institutionalization of marriage
and new insights on the connection between marriage and progeny.
While marriages in the Chinese context are often associated with prosperous
blessings and auspicious intentions, taboos against divorce and widowhood stimu-
late provocation of intellectual analysis on the aftermath of a failed conjugal relation.
Besides, cases of divorce and remarriage could only be justified under certain restric-
tive doctrines. In Chap. 1, Kelly Kar Yue Chan epitomizes how the rarity of divorce
and remarriage in pre-modern China can be immortalized through two Cantonese

xi
xii Introduction

operas. “Divorce and Remarriage as Revealed in Cantonese Opera: The Phoenix

Hairpin and The Return of Lady Wenji” examines the divorce and remarriage of
two heroines at the expense of their own pursuits of love, which have manifested
the grief-laden elements in the very periods of pre-modern China in contributing to
tragedies of women.
In Chap. 2, Hin Ming Frankie Chik brings us to the Chinese mythical world
regarding the miraculous births of ancient sages. In “The ‘Absence’ of Conjugal
Relationships in the Myths of Miraculous Births in Ancient China: A Prelim-
inary Survey”, Chik shows various cases of miraculous births in Chinese culture
as exemplifications of the relationship between Heaven and human beings in an
ancient context. These selected cases stimulate scholarly discussions related to the
matrilineal nature of primitive societies and the primitive perceptions associated with
fatherless beings. For the cases reviewed, the marital condition of the mothers and
the involvement of paternity are not directly related to the births of the sages. These
observations provide a revoking thought on the revolutionary aspects of the ancient
world and the transformation of the conjugal system in the succeeding generations
as the Chinese society underwent modernization and resistance.
While women in pre-modern China could seldom exercise their free will in love,
the influence of Western ideas such as freedom in Republican China led to revolu-
tionary attempts in reforming orthodox marriages. In Chap. 3, Peijie Mao examines
some of the major debates and controversies in early Republican China when the
society was situated at the junctions of East-West ideologies. In “‘Free Divorce?’
Love, Marriage, and Divorce in Early Twentieth-Century Chinese Women’s
Press”, Mao explains how actions of modernizing the society triggers unethical
divorces. The dilemmas of attempting to change marriage as a familial decision into
a personal expression arouses questions on whether morality or individual happiness
has to be prioritized as the society progresses.
In Chap. 4, Tin Kei Wong dissects the evolving basis of marriage when intel-
lectuals in China were infused with the spirits of the May Fourth Movement in
the pursuit of independent personhood. “Free Love and Free Marriage: Chinese
Writers’ Description and an American Missionary Woman’s Prescription in
the 1920s” inspects the journey to gender equality in China through the oppositional
views between a group of Chinese male writers who advocated free love and free
marriage and a Protestant American missionary woman named Laura M. White who
held a conservative view on womanhood. Surprisingly, the Victorian stance of White
which emphasizes selfless devotion resembles Chinese feudal ethics regarding the
obedience and virtues of women.
To achieve a more genuine understanding regarding the complexity of marriage
under the evolvement of modernity, Chi Sum Garfield Lau anatomizes the irrecon-
cilable perspectives of marriage when it involves cross-cultural elements that result
in mistrust in Chap. 5. Certain ancient communities practiced clan exogamy for the
observation of incest law and extending connections outside the tribe through nuptial
relations. However, hostile prejudice and xenophobic attitudes in the modern world
give rise to resistance against interraciality. “Marriage in Migration and Home-
coming: Joseph Conrad’s ‘Amy Foster’ and Ha Jin’s ‘The Woman from New
Introduction xiii

York’” investigates the challenges faced by the protagonists when their spouses and
townsfolk label them as outsiders either due to the identity as a migrant or the choice
of migration. For both cases studied, when the dissimilar behaviors or mentalities of
the protagonists are placed within the scale of the bigoted communities, animosities
and suspicions arouse regardless of the protagonists’ attempts of reconciliations.
Part II: Reassessment of Contemporary Nuptial Discourse in Various Forms
travels through the rites and cultures of marriage in several aspects in the daily lives
of the contemporary age. All four chapters in this part cover a wide range of topics
relevant to the anxieties and dilemmas about marriage experienced by both sides
of the couple, the challenges of transnational marriage/remarriage, and the major
ritual differentiations between Chinese and Western ways of nuptial ceremonies. The
ones by Lee and Wan suggest, interestingly, how a feminine self or such an image
could possibly be affirmed or even be embodied in a manner not only tolerated but
welcomed, while the chapter by Ho highlights the couple’s delighted selves and
positive images to be shown to the world subject to conventional practices when the
specific designs of wedding invitations are in question. Though cohabitations and
non-marital childbearing are seen as contemporary moves that simplify ritualistic
ceremonies in the nuptial context, Blix’s chapter reminds us that they have their
origins dating back to the primitive age. One could not reject the idea that there
must have been some chemistry inside all these seemingly interrelated threads of
significance underlying these themes.
In Chap. 6 “Linguacultural Representation of the Cultural Self and Other in
Chinese Women’s Discourse on Transnational Remarriage”, Enid Lee expresses
how Chinese women’s perceptions on transnational remarriage are to be analyzed
through an experimental approach. She gathers together empirical figures by research
into the facts and challenges of interracial marriage and divorce. The cultural self and
identity of these women, stemming from her research, could be positively reinstated
and reasserted.
Amic G. Ho, evaluates nonverbal visual elements concerning wedding rituals and
ceremonies in Chap. 7 “Visual Interpretations of Eastern and Western Wedding
Invitation Designs” through a novel and thought-provoking comparative study of
wedding invitations. Eastern and Western visual literary discourses are put to contem-
plation by the readers, while a specific socio-cultural awareness could be resulted
from such a study.
To explore how the spread of Chinese culture to the Western shore may have an
evolving effect on people’s mentality towards marriage, Chap. 8 demonstrates the
study by Bjoern Aage C. Blix regarding the roles played by the circulation of I
Ching (a.k.a. The Book of Changes) and its blending with individualist thinking in
comprehending divorces and cohabitation in Norway. In “Marriage, Divorce, and
Cohabitation: A Reading of Norwegian Fortune-Teller I Ching by Henning Hai
Lee Yang”, Blix outlines how Henning Hai Lee Yang’s version of I Ching involves
his appropriation for the Norwegian context. Besides, Yang tries to strike a balance
between his Chinese traditionalist viewpoint and Norway’s cohabitation culture in
an attempt to provide a solution to high divorce rate.
xiv Introduction

In Chap. 9 “Happily Ever After? Rethinking Marriage in Contemporary

Hong Kong”, Shun Yu Nicola Ulaan Wan portrays a hectic socially collective issue
about marriage in contemporary Hong Kong, being featured in a Hong Kong-made
movie My Prince Edward 金都 (2019), merging together popular gender theories
advocated by Simone de Beauvoir’s transcendence and Judith Butler’s performativity.
The chapter author also ponders the subject of marriage from a female’s perspective
when facing the notion of male and paternal superiority and authority, which in turn
suggests thoughts of resistance against established conventional norms of behavior.
A socio-cultural concern is discerned from the dilemma and dichotomy of
choosing to be involved in conjugal relationships or not. Having said that, the debate
has been considered never-ending as the topic touches upon psychological, ontolog-
ical, segregational and hierarchical aspects, to name just a few. To observe different
challenges revealed in conjugal standpoints is both complicated and challenging. It
has never been one single viewpoint to judge upon when discussions on marriage
are in question. The editors hope, through presenting this book volume, to be able to
demonstrate facets of the issue in myriad presence of forms.

Chi Sum Garfield Lau

Kelly Kar Yue Chan

Reference
Du, Q. (2022). “Marriages fall in 2021 leading to lower birth rates in China, despite declining
divorce rate.” Global Times. 20 Mar, 2022. [Link]
shtml
Contents

Part I Revolutionary Alternatives of Conjugal Relationships in

Chinese Culture
1 Divorce and Remarriage as Revealed in Cantonese Opera: The
Phoenix Hairpin and The Return of Lady Wenji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Kelly Kar Yue Chan
2 The “Absence” of Conjugal Relationships in the Myths
of Miraculous Births in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey . . . . . . 19
Hin Ming Frankie Chik
3 “Free Divorce?” Love, Marriage, and Divorce in Early
Twentieth-Century Chinese Women’s Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Peijie Mao
4 Free Love and Free Marriage: Chinese Writers’ Description
and an American Missionary Woman’s Prescription in the 1920s . . . 59
Tin Kei Wong
5 Marriage in Migration and Homecoming: Joseph Conrad’s
“Amy Foster” and Ha Jin’s “The Woman from New York” . . . . . . . . . 81
Chi Sum Garfield Lau

Part II Reassessment of Contemporary Nuptial Discourse in

Various Forms
6 Linguacultural Representation of the Cultural Self and Other
in Chinese Women’s Discourse on Transnational Remarriage . . . . . . . 97
Enid Lee
7 Visual Interpretations of Eastern and Western Wedding
Invitation Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Amic G. Ho

xv
xvi Contents

8 Marriage, Divorce, and Cohabitation: A Reading of Norwegian

Fortune-Teller I Ching by Henning Hai Lee Yang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Bjoern Aage C. Blix
9 Happily Ever After? Rethinking Marriage in Contemporary
Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Shun Yu Nicola Ulaan Wan
Editors and Contributors

About the Editors

Chi Sum Garfield Lau obtained her Ph.D. in English Language and Literature
from Hong Kong Baptist University. She is an Assistant Professor in Hong Kong
Metropolitan University. She is responsible for courses in English Language and
Literature at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her areas of interest include
Modernism, Psychoanalytic Criticism and Comparative Studies.

Kelly Kar Yue Chan completed her undergraduate degree and her master’s degree
both in the discipline of Translation and Interpretation at the City University of Hong
Kong. She then finished her Ph.D. in Classical Chinese Literature at the University
of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. She is currently an Associate Professor in language
and translation at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, teaching undergraduate and
postgraduate courses on culture and translation, and literary translation. Her research
interests include literary translation, women’s studies in classical Chinese society,
classical Chinese literature (poetry), and translation of Cantonese opera.

Contributors

Bjoern Aage C. Blix City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Kelly Kar Yue Chan Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Ho Man Tin, Hong
Kong SAR, China
Hin Ming Frankie Chik University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
Amic G. Ho Department of Creative Arts, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Ho
Man Tin, Hong Kong SAR, China

xvii
xviii Editors and Contributors

Chi Sum Garfield Lau Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Ho Man Tin, Hong
Kong SAR, China
Enid Lee Department of British and American Language and Culture, Okinawa
International University, Ginowan City, Okinawa, Japan
Peijie Mao ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
Shun Yu Nicola Ulaan Wan City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR,
China
Tin Kei Wong Department of Asian Studies, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of
Arts, Business, Law and Economics, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
 Part I
Revolutionary Alternatives of Conjugal
Relationships in Chinese Culture
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
credit card donations. To donate, please visit:
[Link]/donate.

Section 5. General Information About

Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could
be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose
network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several

printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by
copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus,
we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any
particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: [Link].

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new
eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear
about new eBooks.
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

[Link]