Taiwan weddings--There Goes the Bride

Wedding Photos in Taiwan

I am NOT getting married. My 26th anniversary is in May.
None the less, I find the Taiwanese bridal industry fascinating. It is sooooo very different from what you'd expect at home in North Carolina.

For the casual observer the first things you notice are the "wedding photos."
Obviously, the wedding photo above was not taken shortly after Rev. So-and-So said, "You may now kiss the bride."

Here, the wedding ceremony itself is quite secondary to the photos and the banquets. Many of the albums have more in common with a layout in Maxim or GQ magazines than wedding photos from a Western point of view.

Wedding photos are taken weeks before the ceremony and banquet. Sometimes over a series of of several weeks depending on the bride's family budget, the weather, and the couple's schedule. The object is to create a fantasy for the bride. She is a movie star, a top magazine model, a queen bee surrounded by make up technicians, lighting technicians, photographers, fashion consultants, drivers, and so on photographing her in the most elegant, romantic and exotic places.

She is adored and desired.

She is marrying Tom Cruise's twin brother.

Then, it is all put on display. A laminated album of poster sized photos are set on easels at the wedding and/or engagement banquets.

The scenarios or settings can range from the fantastical, to the slutty, to the simply mystifying (one photo posed the groom in a white and green tux standing in a swimming pool with water up to his waist while holding the bride halfway out of the water in her wedding gown.)

A walk up Zhong Shan North Road here, takes me by the most elegant and expensive of the bridal services. Young women in fancy clothes stand guard outside their respective boutiques showing off their photographers' works.

Portfolio albums are displayed on custom made pedestals on the sidewalks. Behind them, bridal gowns, ball gowns and the occasional additional poster of a photo fill the showroom windows. Inside, mothers and daughters hunch over catalogs and computer screens going over complex packages of offerings, deciding on the number of outfits, locations, size of the posters, budgets, etc.

typical bridal photo shops--I managed to get a lot of the album portfolio shots because many of the clerks were distracted by cleaning and making spirit money sacrifices to the gods that day and left the portfolio albums unattended. Notice the offerings to the gods on the little table in front of the shop.

In a more middle class part of town, the bridal row shops had set up benches along the sidewalk facing into the shops where bored grooms and fathers could sit and smoke while the women haggle out the deals. There is even an eight story tall building surrounded by a giant red steel ribbon--a business called DEAR WEDDING offering banquet facilities and photography studio services. Recent bride's photos were blown up to billboard size and mounted around the building. Ahem...er none of them was looking bridal or, uhm...innocent in the photos.

Recently, we had a break in the weather, a long string of cold rainy days was broken by one day of great weather. On my walk, I encountered a number of brides, taking the day off to complete some photo shoots for their wedding albums. Any open area of green space in this crowded city is fair game. For more expensive packages, everybody drives out to the central mountains or to the seashore, sometimes in a procession of vans carrying not only the bride, but the groom, technicians, props, and more than a half dozen different outfits.

This bride in a poofy miniskirt I encountered at the Sun Yat Sen historic site next to the Taipei Main Train Station. Yes, her wedding gown really is that short. A make up technician is talking with her.

You can't just get married any old time you want to. When couples announce their intentions (arranged marriages are long since a thing of the past) an astrologer is consulted to determine the "most auspicious" hour and day for the wedding. As there can be only a limited number of "most auspicious days" for a wedding--and nobody gets married in Ghost Month, late July into August on a lunar calendar--there is fierce competition to book wedding banquet catering facilities and the services of the best photographers.

The bulldog's a prop. The bride is waiting to get into a van full of dresses and technicians. Note her shoes and the towel she holds.

The bride's family will host an engagement banquet, generally smaller than the wedding banquet, and centered more on the bride's family and friends. The engagement banquet might be hosted only a week or a month apart from the wedding, regardless of when the wedding is so visitors coming from Canada, the USA, or elsewhere can attend both the engagement and wedding banquets. The groom hosts the wedding banquet. In either event, the first question asked is "how many tables?" A banquet's size is rated by the number of banquet tables seating 8 to 12 people. The food and drink for each guest is considerable and easily costs thousands of dollars (US) per table. In addition there will be a band, karaoke, speeches, gifts the new couple offer guests on leaving, and so on. It is a crushing economic undertaking.
So, they have the guests pay.

Upon arriving at the banquets, guests present "red envelopes," (cash is traditionally presented in red envelopes.) The amount of cash and the guest's name is recorded. One's relationship with the couple or the couple's parents, determines the amount of cash given or even expected. (It seems a great way to do money laundering and a system of tax avoidance.)

another bride off to a photo shoot on a day of nice weather

People who work in large offices complain of getting "red bombed." They might receive five invitations in one month to office weddings (maybe it's a big office and an auspicious time to get married.) They still have to send a little money if they do not attend and a lot more if they do. At one time, the red envelopes were to create a cash nest egg start for the couple. Now, they mostly offset the wedding expenses and, if there is any left over, help pay for the new Western innovation of a honeymoon.

Along a row of bridal shops in more middle class Da An, grooms and fathers wait outside the shops while the women make the decisions.

The working class get married, too. Here, a bridal shop in southern Taiwan in Kaohsiung. Note the tires stacked in front; the family owns the industrial uniform store next door, too.

Nominally, the wedding banquet is all about the couple. They are the center of attention and the whole is inevitably surmounted by a giant "double happiness" symbol, but really it is about the parents' status, collecting debts and payback.
The wedding album is put on display, and suffice it to say, there are very few Western fathers who would tolerate the public display of some (but not all) of the wedding photos I have seen in the portfolio albums.

Sample photo from a portfolio on Zhong Shan Rd. The same bride pictured at the top of this letter.

I don't know that I would want this sort of thing shown at my wedding. My father in-law would have gone off like a rocket (of course, we didn't have alcohol or dancing at our wedding either.)

The economic downturn has forced the wedding photographers to branch out into family and childhood photos. The couple above will shortly be in the market for the photo like this one in a bridal shop on Zhong Shan Rd.

Not all bridal photos are racy--most just cater to more innocent fantasy--see below

The bride will be expected to wear at least three outfits at the banquet (all rented as is her wedding gown and all provided by the wedding photographer) and may well wear a large amount of rented or borrowed jewelry. (An odd thing I notice here: normally women wear very little jewelry, and only now is the custom of even wearing a wedding band gaining ground, let alone an engagement ring.) Often, the bride will wear as one of her outfits, the more traditional chi pao the slender, bright red dress. Red is the traditional color for brides in Chinese society. I watched a bride being photographed in a gorgeous long red silk dress on the steps of the National Theater at Chiang Kai Shek Plaza a few days ago.


The legal wedding is simply a civil ceremony at a government office. People don't take that very seriously and you'll see folks show up for that in shorts and tee shirts. Everybody has to have a civil ceremony. it's not like in the States where the minister files the paperwork for the couple later.
The four percent or so of the island which is Christian, marry in a church.
For the rest of population, though there is great variation in local customs, the general outline of the marriage ceremony itself is as follows. Bright red "prayer cards" are hung on racks at the local temples, requesting happiness and prosperity for the young couple. On the auspicious hour at the auspicious time ( a bride would like to hope it's not 6AM but it's not unheard of) the groom shows up with his best man and or groomsmen at the bride's house. They kneel and make formal statements and requests to marry the daughter and take her away from her parents' house. Often, there has been some early morning ceremonies as the bride's mother and her bridesmaids get her ready and into a Western style bridal gown. The groom is to take her to his parents' house or to where the groom and the bride will live. (I am told that sometimes, for convenience, he simply takes her directly to the wedding banquet.)
If they are going to the groom's home, she will be preceded by the groomsmen throwing firecrackers along the way and at the entrance to scare away any evil demons. Auspicious wedding days can be noisy affairs all through town.
Despite the careful choice of auspicious days and driving away all the demons with firecrackers, Taiwan's divorce rate is rising as Confucian family values fade and economic and social pressures common to the West both liberate and oppress couples more.

To see photos of Taiwan weddings on my Flickr account click HERE
To see photos of Taiwan posted on my Flickr account click HERE

Chop Shops and Green Pancakes--Joel Goes Native

Chop Shops and Green Pancakes--Joel Goes Native
in which I not only get a Chinese name and official chop, but examine wedding invitations and visit a barrel maker

click on photos to see enlargements

To see the full photo album of Chinese chops and seals go to my Flickr album HERE

I needed a Chinese name and an official seal or "chop" to transact some business here. My friend and fellow sculptor, Wen Ching, came by the Taipei Artists' Village to meet me for a stroll over to his cousin's office. His cousin, Liang Jen Li, is not only a sculptor but runs several other businesses, among them, teas, video productions, and arts management.

The weather's perfect here now, so we strolled along Zhong Shan North Rd. just to see the sights. It wasn't long before we came across a the sort of thing you won't find on an American main street--in fact, I understand it's even unusual here considering how active and upscale Zhong Shan Rd is--we found a wooden tub maker. He makes barrels, too, which would make him a cooper, but buckets and tubs are his specialty. His shop has been in this location since 1928 and appears to be virtually unchanged.

All the items are hand made by the man in the middle and his assistant on the left. The metal fittings and hoops are loose since it's meant that the items--made from Taiwan cyprus--will be soaked and kept wet. When wet, the wood will swell to make the metal parts fit perfectly. The big tubs are designed to bathe in with special medicinal herbs; regular buckets and dumpling steamers are seen to the right.


Pushing on, we walked through the side alleys, past shops for dried fruits, and a shop selling dried sea horses, turtle skeletons, and snake skins for medicinal purposes. I hope those aren't soaked in the barrel maker's tubs, too!

Nothing like a little turtle shell and mountain goat antlers to stir up an appetite.

I had to investigate one of the sidewalk breakfast joints offering what I thought was bread sized slabs of lard for sale. Wen Ching was showing a lot of patience waiting for me to examine every mundane detail along the streets. He had gave an astonished laugh when I asked about the "slabs of lard." They are actually pieces of rice flour bread, with various types of spices or meat embedded in them. You buy one and they toast it on the griddle, cut it up for you and top it with whichever gravy or sauce you want. We took a table, placed an order and had enough for two spending only 90 cents US.

We managed to get another two blocks down the road without eating but couldn't get past the attractive young lady selling spongy, green pancakes---with, you guessed it--red bean paste filling. The pan cakes are mixed with ground green tea and cooked on one side only before being whisked off the griddle and and rolled around a filling. The owner walked up, insisting the foreigner try one on the house. I did and must say it was good. Wonder what sort of children's Dr. Seuss book there is in "Green Pancakes and Red Beans on Yellow Dragon Street?"

They look like small green sponges the red bean past can be seen barely peeking out

We made it to Liang Jen Li's office without being offered more food. He immediately pulled out excellent, rare tea and so we drank several cups of tea while (you guessed it) he sent out for lunch! The REAL question in Taiwan is not China, but "What are we eating next?"
Several pots of tea and a full lunch later, we had finished discussing business. It turned out I need a Chinese name and an official chop-- or seal-- for documents. A Chinese name is not an odd idea to the Chinese. Most of them have Western names for convenience in dealing with foreigners or to use on the internet. If I have a Chinese name, then they have a way to address me using sounds they can make. This works both ways. To my mortification, I found from my friend Wen Ching, I had been mispronouncing his family name in a way that made it sound like is was saying..well, ahem...ur..fecal matter.
We soon ran into a problem. Not only is my name VERY difficult for Taiwanese to pronounce properly, but the best transliterations into characters and words come out as "Huh Joe" which means "drinks alcohol." Worse, a name chop needs three characters or words and we only had two. Wen Ching suggested I supply them with my official name including my middle name; perhaps they could figure something out with a little more to work with.



They sort of did. After much chatter between them in Taiwanese and scribbling characters back and forth to each other, they came up with
Spelled in PinYin as Ai He Jiu. Pronounced "Aye Huh Joe."

It literally means------LOVES DRINKING ALCOHOL! (in fairness, Ai is common in Chinese)

"Well," Liang Jen Li muttered, "Nobody will forget your name."

Now, we had to wander up and down the streets looking for a chop shop to make my new chop. Not so fast, I was told, I needed to decide on a style.

Style?!

Liang-Jen pulled a sheet of paper from his files. On it were examples of his companys seals. In one column large size seals were arrayed in various styles of calligraphy; to the right was a column of smaller seals. The left ones, they explained were seals used only for various specific functions of the company. There was one seal style used for company proposals and promotional material; another, using older style calligraphy, was only to be used by the company accountant on financial reports. The seals in the right column were the corresponding styles of company personal seals to be used with each large seal. For example, a financial report would have both the large seal stating the name of the company and a smaller personal seal of the person authorizing the report.
I insouciantly took a photo of the sheet as an example for this travelogue. There ensued between Wen Ching and Liang Jen Li a short conversation in Taiwanese; then, Wen Ching explained in English, that since seals are official and legal signatures perhaps it would be best if in an era of PhotoSHop and easy digital reproduction, that I not publish a sheet of their seals. It is akin to publishing a photo of somebody's bank account numbers or signatures here in the West. Embarrassed, I hastily deleted the photos and they very kindly allowed me to photograph a sheet of seals from a defunct company (which I have altered slightly, so they can still be detected as forgeries.)

The maze like calligraphy is the most ancient style; the brush type being more "modern"

Finally, we were ready to find a chop shop. Wen Ching's father-in-law is a retired master chop carver--in the old days, seals were hand carved. One had to be both an excellent craftsman and an excellent calligrapher. Now, seals are machine carved, running off computer programs. You can go to a very high end chop maker or even find them on the streets. Street chop vendors often work along with key makers--the equipment is the same.

We left the office; walked past the orchids growing on trees along Renai Rd;

Past fruit stands

and coral carvers

and all sorts of other shops--a brassierre shop, a woman preparing betal nuts, and a place that seemed like a

until we found a chop shop similar to this one

stone chops with miniature statues are quite collectible but very expensive. I, and most people, buy wood or plastic sticks from which chops are made, sans decorative little statues

Our chop maker poses with me before starting on making my chop


He paints the end of the blank chop red; then brushes on the calligraphy. Note the wooden nifty adjustable chop holder.


Getting ready to make a chop the modern way--he wouldn't really have to use the red paint and calligraphy.

Notice the large character for "Ai" will be on the right. Chinese reads from right to left, and Chinese always state a family name first.



A machine cuts my chop

My finished chop. The characters written out with a ball point pen and taken to the chop maker on the right. My chop and the red ink pad, a donation from Liang Jen Li since I had forgotten to buy any at the chop shop. Note there is a cap on the right to put over the chop end when not in use. Notice also the dot on the chop so the user knows which way to position it when applying the chop so the characters are right side up and reading from the right. If seals wear out or are damaged, the bottom is simply sanded smooth again and a new seal carved.



It's tough making a living as a chop maker. My wooden chop cost me only NT$ 130 (about US$ 3.75) so they are also the place to have wedding announcements, wedding invitations, birth announcements, and business cards printed. See the photo of a sample fancy wedding invitation below.


Nearly all the chop shops, but not the sidewalk vendors, sell elaborate stone and wood carvings for collectors, but that's not a real money making market. They occasionally also sell ornate stone chops made as gifts. Below, one of the stone curios for sale at the shop.



Our chop maker's front window. The elaborate stcker seen below was in several places in the shop. I also saw it in many other places. It is an ornate combination of four characters welcoming good fortune and money to come into the this place.


So, sealed, but not signed, that was the end of my Chinese name and chop adventure.
It was not the end of the day's adventures by any means but it's all I have room or time for now. We had a discussion of door gods we found in an alley; walked by the Dr. Sun Yat-sen house; and I took Wen Ching out to supper at a Xian style restaurant which serves odd Chinese food even by Chinese standards. Xian cuisine is totally different. Xian, you may recall is the province in north central China where the large underground ceramic army was found. But that's all for another newsletter.

My photo albums of my Taiwan trips can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelhaas/sets/