Love & Marriage In T’ang China Essay, Research Paper

The story of Ts’ui Ying-ying takes place during the T’ang dynasty, which is one of the most well known dynasties. This story is one that is good example to see what it was like to live during that time, especially in the context of romantic love and marriage. The story of Ying-ying seems to be filled with double standards and examples of how people react and deal with love outside of the framework of marriage during this time period. In this time period of classic China, romantic love and passion are things that are not a prerequisite for marriage as they are assumed to be in the modern world.

Chang, the protagonist in this story is portrayed as a “person of great beauty” referring to his qualities as a gentleman. This introduction to his character is important as we can see his actions as acceptable and normal in the context of that society and time. He is also introduced as a man who has “not yet enjoyed a woman’s beauty”, which can hold several meanings. This could mean that he has not been in love, or perhaps that he has not yet even been with a prostitute, a thing that is culturally a norm for men to do.

After paying careful attention to the text, I can see that what it means to say is that he has not yet been in love when Chang says that “sometimes I have idled with wearers of silk and gauze, but my fancy was never once detained”. To me this means to say that although he has slept with women, he has never had a relationship because as he said earlier he does not want to “be devoid of feeling”.

This alone gives great insight towards understanding the culture of the time. Further understanding of social norms are seen within the relationship between Ying-ying and Chang and their interactions. At first although Chang claims to have fallen in love with Ying-ying, he does not want to marry to her. We therefore see from the beginning that even though he is in love with her, he has no interest in marrying her. It seems as if from this point of view that indeed love and marriage do not go hand-in-hand. His interest seems to sway much more than hers but despite this, she is viewed as fickle and after he sleeps with her, not fit for marriage because she is not longer chaste.

Ying-Ying, on the other hand, aware of Chang’s advances only seems to hesitate because she probably knows the implications of having a romantic relationship. To Chang, the conquest and the idea of falling in love is something all men experience which is why possibly he is “laughed at” in the beginning by other men when he tells them he has never been with a woman.

Here is where the double standard is quite apparent. It is socially acceptable for Chang to have an affair with Ying-ying, in fact it almost seems that he never anticipated more from the relationship than an affair. We can see this when Chang is speaking with Ying-ying’s maid servant when she advises him to seek her hand in marriage and he replies “What is the use of give me such as that?”. However, it is not socially acceptable for a woman to have an affair. He lures her into believing that there is more to their relationship than a love affair, but knows from the start that it will never be true. I do not feel she was even in love with him from the start, but felt obligated for what he had to done to help her family. This is apparent when Ying-Ying confronts Chang about his advances. “How was I to repel this advance? Had I shown it to my mother, I should ill have requited the debt we owe you.”

Throughout the entire story, there is an underlying tone that women are fickle and conniving. On the contrary however, it seems as though Chang is the one who is fickle. He sends Ying-Yng gifts and a letter but when she replies with emotions of love and possibilities of marriage he then decides to breaks off the relationship. He pressures her into an affair and then backs off because he feels that she is bound to destroy him.

This story, while sad because of the love lost, is a good example of how the notion of romantic love fit in with society. While in modern times, many cultures feel that two people should be in love when they marry and that it is the key to a healthy marriage. However, it seems in this society romantic love is something found outside of marriage. For the man, the affair is not a stigma, but a passing phase. For the woman, the affair leaves her impure and saddened by the love she cannot keep. I do not think that Chang is not sad but rather feels that he is obligated to break off the relationship based on some cultural norms. It ends with Chang suggesting that Ying-Ying get over their affair and concentrate on her current husband. The ending just reiterates how normal the affair was and how normal it is that Ying-Ying should be devoted to her current husband. The idea that Ying-Ying was in love with Chang and vice versa simply does not have a place in that society.