Entitled: Bride On Her Way To Wedding, Fuzhou, Fujian, China [c1911-1913] by RG Gold Photograph was spotted, contrast added, scratches and other defects retouched out, and sepia tone added. Note: This particular photograph was also found in the collection of William Charles White (Anglican Bishop who served in China) and the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library of the University of Toronto, instead attributes this photograph to him. They also cite the location therein as, "Hinghua, China." Hinghua was a prefecture of Fukien (modern day Fujian Province). See their link here: www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary/6234741199/in/s...

One of the undeniable silver linings to the religious missionary incursions into the Chinese interior is the fact that, if there was one thing these 'foreign devils' were good at, it was certainly photography. It is because of this that we have such a huge body of social photographs that, in all likelihood, never would have been taken at all. Granted, Chinese official photographers may have been hired for special government events (at government expense), but simple slice of life types of pictures like the one above, rarely would have occurred.

The University of Southern California's Internet Mission Archive, linked here:

digitallibrary.usc.edu/impa/controller/index.htm

...is a general repository for images that were taken by a wide range of sectarian religious missions around the world. A short description from their opening page:

"The Internet Mission Photography Archive offers historical images from Protestant and Catholic missionary collections in Britain, Norway, Germany, and the United States. The photographs, which range in time from the middle of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, offer a visual record of missionary activities and experiences in Africa, China, Madagascar, India, Papua-New Guinea, and the Caribbean. The photographs reveal the physical influence of missions, visible in mission compounds, churches, and school buildings, as well as the cultural impact of mission teaching, religious practices, and Western technology and fashions. Indigenous peoples' responses to missions and the emergence of indigenous churches are represented, as are views of landscapes, cities, and towns before and in the early stages of modern development."

When I first laid eyes on this picture, I was laughing so hard that my sides hurt. Then immediately afterwards, I felt really ashamed of myself. The basket was used to obscure the bride's face in lieu of a veil. It was customary to not allow anyone to see the bride until she was secure in her new husband's home.