‘Makes me want to get married’: Chinese student injects tradition into tying the knot with historical wedding certificate scrolls
- As marriage rates in China hit a record low, an innovative student has gone back in time to give wedded bliss a shot in the arm
- Amateur calligrapher uses the colours red and gold to recreate historical certification scrolls which are proving popular with millennials
The latest official statistics suggest the institution of marriage is under siege in China, but a university student is offering a novel way to keep tradition alive.
Last year, the marriage rate nationwide hit a record low for the first time since 1986, but for a Chinese university student, surnamed Zhang, who specialises in handwritten marriage certificates for newlyweds, the nuptial picture is not so bleak.
Zhang, 24, has been promoting his marriage certificate writing business on his Xiaohongshu account since February, and now receives one to two orders a day, Star Video reported on March 19.
The amateur calligrapher, who is studying digital media at a university in southeastern China’s Guangdong province, said he enjoyed promoting traditional Chinese culture.
Using gold ink on red paper, Zhang’s beautifully written kaishu-style calligraphy usually features poetic blessings for newlyweds that are copied from marriage certificates from the early 20th century.
Zhang’s work, as well as that of other amateur calligraphers, is now trending among Chinese newlyweds who believe the scrolls give their weddings “a sense of ritual”.
One woman on Douyin said: “This handwritten marriage certificate makes me want to get married.”
While he also accepts orders for tailored calligraphy products, such as key chains, Zhang said marriage certificates make up 80 per cent of his business.
In 2021, the marriage rate in China plummeted to 5.41 per 1,000 people, a 45-per-cent drop from 2013 and the lowest since records began in 1986.
However, despite the declining desire to get married, Zhang says the success of his business suggests that Chinese millennials are not as resistant to tying the knot as the statistics might suggest.
“People are willing to get married as long as they meet the right person,” he said.
While the historical certificates perform an ornamental function today, they used to officially certify a marriage.
The poetic blessings that Zhang copies usually drew inspiration from the Book of Songs, a collection of China’s earliest folk poems, many of which pay tribute to love and courtship.
Whereas in earlier times, certificates were very practical documents, the beautiful poems reflect a more modern attitude towards marriage that the institution is all about the love between newlyweds.
