Top of page

Book/Printed Material Xin bian hun li bei yong yue lao xin shu 新編婚禮備用月老新書

[ Volume 1 ]

More Resources

[ Volume 2 ]
[ Volume 3 ]
[ Volume 4 ]

About this Item

Title

  • Xin bian hun li bei yong yue lao xin shu

Other Title

  • 新編婚禮備用月老新書

Translated Title

  • A Newly Compiled Matchmaker's Wedding Guide

Summary

  • This book is a matchmaker's guide to weddings. The traditional Chinese wedding required much involvement by "matchmakers," a term that came to mean all persons or events that acted as go-betweens in a marriage between two families. The guide is a 24-juan work in two parts, each consisting of 12 juan, printed in Jianyang in the late Southern Song dynasty, or around 1225--79. In Part 1, juan 1 discusses wedding etiquette; juans 2--6 trace the origins of family names; juans 7--9 deal with essential stories; juan 10 records various facts about the marriages of well-known personalities; and juans 11--12 contain some details of the facts in juan 10. In Part 2, juan 1 contains forms of announcements; juan 2 has cautionary warnings about writing marriage contracts; juan 3 advises on how a matchmaker should make an offer of marriage on behalf of a family; juan 4 advises on how to send presents for a betrothal; juans 5--9 contain advice on betrothals for different types of people, including officials and scholars, city employees, relatives, and peasants and laborers; juan 10 advises on betrothals for remarriages and for taking concubines; juan 11 advises how to choose a date for the betrothal; and juan 12 indicates how to welcome a bride and make merry. Issued to meet a practical need, the book now has considerable historical value. This title was not included in the catalogue of Si ku quan shu (The complete collection of the four treasuries) and no new editions and reprints were ever published. This is possibly the only extant copy. The book has a number of seal impressions of several renowned book collectors of later centuries, such as Ji Zhenyi (1630--74), a late Ming and early Qing bibliophile; Mi jun lou, the library of Jiang Ruzao (1877--1954), an industrialist and book collector; and Zhang Heng (1915--63), an appraiser of Chinese painting and calligraphy. There are also inscriptions at the beginning of the work by late Qing and early Republican scholars, such as Yang Shoujing (1839--1915), a historian, geographer, calligrapher and bibliophile, and two scholars, Ye Changchi (1849--1917) and Ye Dehui (1864--1927). A notation by Jiang Biao (1860--99), a member of the imperial Hanlin Academy, records that, when he and a friend acted as matchmakers for two families, on the third day of the eighth month of 1889, the 15th year of the Guangxu reign, they were shown this book by the father of the bride.

Created / Published

  • Jianyang, Fujian Province : [Publisher not identified], [1225 to 1279]

Headings

  • -  China
  • -  1225 to 1279
  • -  Manners and customs
  • -  Rites and ceremonies
  • -  Weddings

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 24 juan in 8 volumes.
  • -  Original resource at: National Central Library.
  • -  Content in Chinese.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
  • -  Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Chinese Books, Manuscripts, Maps, and Prints

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666334

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners

The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For additional information and contact information for many of the partner organizations, see this archived capture of the World Digital Library site from 2021.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Xin Bian Hun LI Bei Yong Yue Lao Xin Shu. [Jianyang, Fujian Province: Publisher not identified, to 1279, 1225] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666334/.

APA citation style:

(1225) Xin Bian Hun LI Bei Yong Yue Lao Xin Shu. [Jianyang, Fujian Province: Publisher not identified, to 1279] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666334/.

MLA citation style:

Xin Bian Hun LI Bei Yong Yue Lao Xin Shu. [Jianyang, Fujian Province: Publisher not identified, to 1279, 1225] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666334/>.