What does self-grooming mean?

Self-grooming girls are women of marriageable age. She wears her hair in a bun to show that she will never marry, which is also called "combing up". Self-grooming is a unique marriage custom in the Pearl River Delta, which prevailed in the early Qing Dynasty and lasted until the early Revolution of 1911, centering on Shunde, Nanhai and Panyu. According to the old custom, when a woman gets married, she must braid her hair on her head and comb it in a bun to show that she is no longer a girl. If a girl who decorates herself doesn't get married, she should choose a good day, and through a certain ceremony, put her argument in a bun in front of her relatives and friends to show that she will no longer courtship. There are two reasons for this custom: first, the feudal patriarchal clan system is centered on men. After a woman gets married, the family power is in the hands of her husband and aunt. Into the poor family, life is not easy, but also have to raise children, mental and physical suffering; Married to a rich family, worried about her husband's change of heart, forgetting her old age and abandoning her wife and concubine. Therefore, many rural women, in order to escape the abuse of feudal patriarchal families and get rid of the severe bondage of husband power, would rather sacrifice their beautiful youth than get married and comb their hair voluntarily. Second, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, silk reeling industry and commerce developed, and silk reeling girls earned more and more money, creating economic conditions for women living alone. Most of them "know each other" and buy a house (commonly known as aunt's room), preferring to be gay rather than get married. There are other reasons for the formation of self-combing, such as parents' poor family, leaving their daughters to help the family, and there is a saying in rural areas that "it is difficult to get rich without self-combing". In the old custom, the married woman should have a rich dowry and bear tea and wine, which is difficult for the poor family to cope with, so simply let her daughter comb it; As the old saying goes, a sister can't "go too far" before her brother gets married, so it's not easy to get married. Many poor girls are forced to comb their hair at home. However, some of them were engaged by their parents when they were very young. Before getting married, the man's family usually arranges to give him a large sum of money, marry another woman and dissolve the engagement. Some people were oppressed by feudal families. When she got married, her bosom friend tied her upper and lower parts tightly, and then she went in and held the wedding. After repeated visits, she never came back, and there was nothing the family could do.

According to the old custom, a self-grooming girl can't be old in her parents' home for a hundred years, in order to solve her final destination in life (such as where is the funeral? Where do you put the spirit tablet after death? Who worships sacrifices and so on. ), some self-grooming girls nominally marry a dead man, commonly known as "marrying a ghost" or "marrying a god", and the funeral can be held at the man's house, and the descendants of the man's house worship and sacrifice. Some nominally married a man, but they stayed away from their husbands all their lives, preferring to give money to their husbands to take concubinage. I still belong to the "main room" and put the spirit tablet in my husband's house after my death, so as not to become a "lonely soul without a owner". It's called "keeping innocent". Some people deal with nuns or fasting halls (commonly known as "aunt's house") and donate some money before they die, so that they can have a place to live when they are old. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the silk industry was hit hard. Self-grooming girls, who are helpless in life, have flowed into cities and squeezed into the ranks of maids known as the "Men in Black Team". Many of them have become "aunts combing their hair" in the streets, and more have become "housekeepers" of the rich in Hong Kong, Macao and Xiguan, Guangzhou, and ended their limited lives under humiliation and humiliation.