Ballads reflecting real life and criticizing social abuses

One of the major reasons that ballads have been prevailing among the people is that they come from and vividly reproduce. The satire of the evils bears the effect of denouncing the bad things and encouraging people to do good deeds, while also offering people an avenue to vent their feelings.

Ballads reflecting the relationship between wife and mother

Family relationships have always been a mind-boggling issue through ages, while the relationship between wife and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been the hardest to tackle. As a local saying goes, "even an upright magistrate finds it difficult to settle a family quarrel," so a lot of family discontent and dissensions are incorporated in the local ballads. Those with the themes of mother-in-law complaining about the daughter-in-law, with the son being stuck in the middle, abound, as well as those expressing myriad emotions.

With the development of the society, the family mode is also experiencing substantial changes on the Guanzhong Plain. The most common pattern of a family is of three or four members. The conflicts of a large family is gradually becoming more glaring, leading to the breaking up of the traditional mode. More and more youngsters chose to live separately from the parents.

Ballads reflecting marriage and love

Love and marriage have been a theme that never dies; the same is true to the ancient cradle of Chinese civilization. However, the limitation of knowledge level and the low social status of women have caused many unhappy marriages that only followed the will of the parents or words of a matchmaker, but not love. This has been fully demonstrated in ballads, which are usually based upon women's angle of view. The thirst and crave for independent marriage are expressed in the complaining ballads. And for sure, sweet vindications of love also abound.

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