Changing Wedding Apparel In Modern China-as Seen In The Articles Of The Ladies' Journal (Funü Zazhi, 1915-1931)

China has experienced unprecedented changes since The 1911 Revolution. Chinese people who freed themselves from feudal monarchy have unavoidably influenced by western culture and life style. The period of Republic of China which is a turn in Chinese history when China went through huge changes in politics, economics, culture and social system, is also a period of change in our country's clothing & clothing culture & clothing industry. As an important part of clothing, wedding apparel, of course, has suffered from great conflicts with the invasion of western clothing culture, and has showed 2 completely different shapes in Chinese cities and countryside in modern times, in contrast to both conflict and compromise between the internal and the western culture. Wedding apparel has gone through a process from tradition to acceptance of western culture, to mixture of western modernity and Chinese tradition in China's modern history.The research object focuses on the Ladies' Journal (Funüzazhi), an important female magazine in the Republic of China. This paper, firstly introduces the publishing institution where the Ladies' Journal (Funüzazhi) published, the social background at that time and the journal's social impact, and defines the journal readers. Then, based upon the articles of the journal, the process of"six ceremonies"of a traditional betrothal & marriage is analyzed, the traditional wedding apparel before the Republic of China is reviewed, the structure, design, features and the cultural implication of the traditional wedding apparel is concluded. Then the changes in modern customs and subsequent changes in wedding apparel reflected in the Ladies' Journal (Funüzazhi) are specially studied. Through the study of newlywed and wedding guests'apparel specified in Formal Dress Regulations, the structure features of modern wedding apparel are recovered, and the structures of wedding apparel both in urban and rural areas are compared. Finally, based upon these phenomena, the essential reasons such as changes in aesthetic standard, social trend and women status which brought about some major changes in wedding apparel at that time are studied analytically.