Teenage girl dug up to be 'corpse bride' - Telegraph I can't believe this kind of stuff is still going on in China!
Well, obviously, some Chinese have adopted the profit motive. Maybe that's how they did it. Teenage girl dug up to be 'corpse bride' - Telegraph
Don't be so quick to judge a cultural tradition which has been in existance for half a millenium longer than Christianity. It began while China was still a disorganized batch of warring fuedal states, about three hundred years before the Emperor Quin united the fuedal states in 250 BCE. That "punk gangs" are making profit on this is deplorable, whether strangling girls or digging them up. But, greed will out and fill a needed niche if given the chance. The question of why Chinese ghost marriages exist is a complex one with many reasons. One reason for the existence of Chinese ghost marriages exist is to fulfill a previously agreed to marriage contract. If a bride’s fiancé dies before the marriage, the option exists to carry out a ghost marriage in place of a real one. In this situation, the bride has all the normal obligations of marriage: she moves into her husband’s home, participates in a funeral ritual and mourning period for her deceased husband, and vows to remain loyal to him (that is to say, celibate). Another reason why Chinese ghost marriages exist is because of the enormous social pressure for a Chinese woman to get married. Ghost marriage is often the answer when a woman passes away before marrying. This is to ensure that she can join a male line of descent (by joining her husband’s family). Living women are often participants in Chinese ghost marriages as well, since an unmarried daughter is traditionally thought of as an embarrassing burden on her family. Why are there Ghost Marriages for Men? Men that die before they are married are often given ghost marriages as well, either to living or deceased brides. This is to allow the man to have a socially accepted heir and legitimately carry on his family name. A male offspring of a male family member is often adopted as the deceased man’s son, thus ensuring the family line continues. Read more: http://china.suite101.com/article.cfm/chinese_ghost_marriage#ixzz0IdCldHSi&C This isn't some "new" weirdness in western eyes, simply a very bad example of criminals taking advantage of a tradition which goes back more than 2500 years, and adding a "nasty" twist to it.
Leave it to Clint to answer the other side... very very interesting. If I had any rep or salutes to give, they would be all yours. The part of the article that tex provided that was distrurbing to me, was when these gangs or individuals would seek living women to provide that partner for the recently deceased. Other than that, I understand the ritual and tradition. Great feedback Clint
oh clint don't get me wrong, i totally understand and respect different traditions, the irish had (and still do) unusual ones too. this one just aint my cup of tea
I have been always from the "school of thought" that takes the position that just because a country, people, tribe, etc has been doing something that is dumbsh1t for bazillion years, it is still dumbsh1t regardless. But, now that I am older, I concede that tradition is tradition, and as long as they are happy, that's all that counts. But I think it is still dumbsh1t....
Reminiscent of the 'Body Snatcher' days in the UK in the 1800's ... when a notorious gang would murder drunks and prostitutes to supply the medical profession with fresh cadavers due to the graveyards running low on "supplies" (no pun intended).... "Supply & Demand" taken to a new level.
And if the tradition was kept up in the traditional way, I'd not have a problem with it. But just like all traditions, some lazy pricks found a way to bastardize it to make a buck.
I had taken a class in college on Chinese history back in the '90s, so had a sort of a clue as to the tradition. I was originally a bit off put when my instructor started to describe the practice, but the more I thought about how a patriarcal society would veiew inheritance laws, the less odd it appeared. Rather more of a practical solution to a cultural reality. Of course I never understood footbinding in any fashion, except for one I could think of. To make the females unable to "run away", and hiding that ulterior motive behind one of "beauty" in the eyes of the male so that the ladies would accept it. Again, if my supposition is correct, a practical solution to a real problem. Just a guess of course.
Clint, I also had a course in Chinese history and culture, but even further back than you. Your guess about foot binding is on the money. Chinese women have always been subservient in society, and the foot binding made it even more so. Peasant women didn't bind their feet because they needed to be able to work in the fields. Upper class women looked down on the "big footed" because it meant they had to work. The bound feet made it impossible to walk more than a short distance, so obviously, they couldn't work. So, social rules dictated a standard of beauty that also reinforced class differences and sex role differences.
