How crazy was the luxury of marriage in Jiangnan area in Ming and Qing Dynasties?

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has become an ethos to pay attention to property in weddings and funerals in Jiangnan. The spread of this fashion reflected the social changes and economic structure changes in Jiangnan area at that time. At that time, marriage paid attention to parents' orders and matchmakers' words, which was quite different from the modern marriage system. It is fair for men and women to compete for bride price and dowry. The luxury of marriage and wealth was forbidden by the Ming and Qing governments. So why did the wealth marriage theory in Jiangnan get worse and worse from the middle of Ming Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty? Mainly because of the influence of local economic development on values and consumption concepts.

When the Yuan Dynasty was transformed into the Ming Dynasty, everything was in ruins and the population was sparse. Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to change customs, and marriage, as the first of the four ancient etiquette systems, naturally became the top priority. The four rites include weak crowns, weddings and funerals, and sacrifices. Zhu Yuanzhang personally decreed that marriage should be simple and simple, and it was forbidden to compare luxury and bride price.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, local authorities sent to Jiangnan, including Yu Chenglong, Governor of Liangjiang, issued notices and even stipulated the amount of bride price and dowry. However, the regulations lack supervision and operability and have not received practical results. Then the main reasons for this situation are as follows:

First, the development of commodity economy in the south of the Yangtze River has laid a material foundation for wealth's marriage theory.

Jewelry, dowry, food and gifts needed for the wedding can be met under the developed commodity economy conditions in Jiangnan area. The silk industry in Nanjing and Jiaxing, Hangzhou ranks first in the country, and the cotton textile industry in Suzhou and Songjiang is also increasingly prosperous. Many of the emperor's royal materials were purchased in Jiangnan.

In addition, the communication between Qiantang River and the Yangtze River shipping and the Grand Canal has enabled goods from Fujian, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Anhui to circulate, and a large number of seafood, litchi, sugar, paper and wood have gathered in the south of the Yangtze River.

Secondly, the consumption concept of wealthy literati and aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River promoted the ostentation and extravagance in this wedding etiquette.

At that time, the dignitaries and rich people in Jiangnan often made conspicuous consumption in order to make the reality different. The policy of attaching importance to agriculture and restraining business makes the literati show their uniqueness, become fashion leaders, and drive ordinary people to follow suit and follow the crowd.

Thirdly, the rich atmosphere of marriage in Jiangnan area is also related to local traditions.

Since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the imperial court established in the south of the Yangtze River paid attention to luxury and extravagance. The consumption tradition of Sanwu only intensified when the material was more developed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition, the amount of dowry is an important factor affecting a woman's position in her husband's family, but it brings two problems. First, the rich woman's rich dowry makes her husband's eyebrows low and obedient. Second, when the dowry is not enough to satisfy the in-laws, it will easily lead to conflicts between husband and wife, menstruation and sister-in-law.

With the emergence of industrial workers in Jiangnan, traditional textile factories have begun to take shape, and the germination of capitalist economic factors has also changed people's traditional values and lifestyles. The traditional concept of family and marriage has been shaken, and getting married with money has become a new trend, and money has become an important criterion for marriage choice. In traditional society, the interests of two married people are not concerned, but the interests of two families are more concerned. This change of traditional marriage structure and concept has also brought modern dawn, but the final marriage change is a process of constant evolution of the times.