Are you still falling into reverie while eavesdropping lover’s prattle in the vineyards? Then welcome to Qianyang Ancient City!
On the evening of August 3, 2022, with the romantic and fantastic sky in Qianyang Ancient City, one could make out the shapes and outlines of a soulful couple—the cowherd and the weaver girl, who hugged each other affectionately, as if they were talking across the sky. Then it followed one after another with Academician Yuan Longping, Qianyang Bingtang Sweet Orange, Qianyang Yellow Peach, and Tuokou Bayberry. Thus the ancient classic beauty matched the modern sparkling images.
At 21:00, 200 unmanned aerial vehicles with flashing lights took off slowly, drawing beautiful and romantic dynamic pictures over the ancient city of Qianyang. Along with the exhilarating music, they sometimes showed the contour of the cowherd and the weaver girl meeting together on the Magpie Bridge, sometimes reduced into the Chinese characters of “Love in Qianyang”, sometimes transformed into delicious fruits in Qianyang... In the light illusion, they created a beautiful and romantic night in Hongjiang for the audience.
In this evening, the 2022 activity themed “Our Festival•Chinese Valentine’s Day•Youthful Heart to the Party & Joint Hands with the Times” in Hunan Province kicked off in Qianyang Ancient City, Hongjiang City.
At the site of the activity, a grand collective wedding ceremony restoring the Han Dynasty was dazzling. The recruited 10 couples wearing Han Chinese clothing performed Chinese etiquette, giving full expression of the beauty of classicality, simplicity, reservedness, gracefuless and elegance.
They took their marriage vows—“For living and dying together, the promise remains forever”. And they performed the ceremony from “cleaning body and mind in order to be sincere and filial” to “sitting together with the bridegroom at the table for eating meat on the plate”, from “drinking gourd wine with long bitter-sweet aftertaste” to “spending a happy life of hundred years with no abandonment”, and from “clasping of ten fingers” to “declaring the wedding commitment”.
On the stage, the faithful love of “holding your hand till the end of the life journey” demonstrates the civilized, thrifty and healthy lifestyle of young people in the new era.
The event was hosted by the Civilization Office of Hunan Province, undertaken by the Publicity Department of Huaihua Municipal Party Committee and Hongjiang City. Taking Chinese Valentine’s Day as a subject lesson, it fully demonstrated the profound historical, humanistic and folkloric customs of the ancient city of Qianyang. It sheds light to young people to shape correct values, in both marriage and morality, and advocates a new socialist trend of reforming customs towards a new style of marriage with civilization and thrift.
Those who attended the event included Xiao Lingzhi, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of Hunan Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Provincial Civilization Office, and Xiong Kewen, Second Class Inspector, Zhang Yuansong, member of the Standing Committee of Huaihua Municipal Party Committee and Minister of Publicity, Xiang Xiaohui, Deputy Minister and Director of Huaihua Municipal Civilization Office, Zheng Xiaohu, Secretary of Hongjiang Municipal Party Committee, Xiang Qingsong, Mayor, Jin Guohua, Member of the Standing Committee of Hongjiang Municipal Party Committee and Minister of Publicity, Gao Changjiu, Vice Mayor, as well as relevant leaders of the Civilization Offices of Changsha, Hengyang, Shaoyang and other cities and prefectures, and leaders of the civilization offices of counties and cities in Huaihua.
On this evening, Xiao Lingzhi, on behalf of the Publicity Department of Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Civilization Office, extended his sincere wishes to more than 23 million families and young people who are pursuing happiness and sweet love.
Zheng Xiaohu emphasized in his speech that Hongjiang City should continue to fully excavate local cultural resources, and organically integrate the promotion of excellent traditional culture and the development of cultural tourism industry, in order to further play the role of traditional festivals as a carrier in strengthening the ideological and moral construction of citizens to promote social harmony, family harmony, and enhance the cultural tourism influence of Hongjiang City.
It also brought the Qianyang Love Story about Academician Yuan Longping and others onto the stage, and the love songs were soul stirring and profoundly touching. Later, seven exemplary couples from all walks of life in Hongjiang City received the honors. They contributed ordinary and faithful love stories to the new fashion of marriage and love and a civilized family style in Hongjiang.
“Today, after sharing their respective marriage stories and witnessing their mutual support, I come to understand that although life is ordinary and flat, it is rare for couples to eternally support each other. In the future, I should follow their examples in my marriage with more toleration and respect for my wife.” Pan Wenchan, 29 years old, got a lot with a deep feeling.
The newlyweds attending the event said that the wedding ceremony was grand and solemn, simple and warm, which made them feel very happy through the millennium romance. From today on, they will continue to advocate, promote and practice civilized marriage customs.
In the blind date activity the next day, the 154 unmarried began to deepen their mutual understanding and relation in such activities as preliminary impression (an insight into ten thousand years), love embedded in calligraphy and painting, and the chance of one’s luck in the game of embroidery balls. The overall activity was endowed with laughters. It is said by all that they have not only increased their knowledge but also made more friends by participating in the activity. The bachelors who were seeking their life-partners shared their contact information with each other, hoping to have further exchanges after the activity.
During the activity, seven classic love films, such as Secret Love for 99 Days, Mandarin Duck, and Blooming Flowers and Full Moon, came to be on show in turn, attracting a large number of tourists to the Longevity Palace in Qianyang Ancient City, which enhanced their correct understanding of love and marriage.
Hongjiang has always attached great importance to inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture, in order to establish a new style of marriage and love, and promote social integrity. By holding a collective wedding ceremony of Han marriage, throwing an embroidered ball to express love, building a long wall of lovers’ prattle, holding an exhibition of love literature and art works, developing a series of love food and other carrier forms, the life scene of young people in free love, pursuit of happiness, and upward mobility is vividly displayed. At the same time, traditional festivals such as Chinese Valentine’s Day and folk festivals such as “March 3rd” are given new significance of the times, so that the local people, especially many young tourists, can fully feel the cultural chrisma and spiritual connotation of traditional national festivals, and also fully impart to the world the perfect combination and interaction of the millennium history and culture of the ancient city of Qianyang with its distinctive folk customs.
(Translated by Tian Xia)