Magic Lantern Slide, Chinese Ghost Marriage 冥婚, circa 1900

Magic Lantern Slide, Chinese Ghost Marriage 冥婚, circa 1900

Original antique magic lantern slide featuring good quality image of a Chinese lady who was a Christian, but previously had been 'married' to an ancestral tablet.

A ghost marriage could take place for a number of reasons including marrying after one of an engaged couple was deceased before marriage, to ensure that family line was continued where the daughter was unmarried, or to make sure a younger brother would not marry before an older brother.

This slide came from a collection of Presbyterian missionaries to China from Canada in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.

The Chinese lady depicted is captioned as her being from South China and was said to have studied for hours every day in Bible study.

Dimensions:

Slide: Approx 8.2cm square, 1.5mm thick

Image size: 7.3cm high x 4cm wide