Photo source: hunan.gov.cn

Photo by the Second Hunan Province Foreigner Photo Contest Participant

The "Crying Marriage Song" is a folk song originating from Tujia people. According to their customs, bride begins to cry a month before the wedding day in different ways with diversified words, to convey attachment to their loved ones and recount Tujia women's sad fate in feudal society when they had no say in their marriage, which was typically arranged by a matchmaker and her parents. Conventionally, the bride must cry for seven days at least and a month at most before the wedding, even in conditions of exhaustion.

 
The "Crying Marriage Song" is a systematic jeremiad of Tujia women and a mirror of the feudal marriage system.

The song follows a structure of "united music system ". The bride sings a long passage repeatedly, and in the process, the rhythm changes with the renewal of words. The changing rhythm, together with the weeping, expresses the singer's profound anguish.

Adopting regular tune and a fixed text, the "Crying Marriage Song" features rich content, refining and plain language, impeccable rhyming and is easy to sing.