My Eldest Girl Should Get Married

My Eldest Girl Should Get Married 大女当嫁
Genre	Romantic comedy, urban drama
Written by	Rao Hui, Liu Shen, Li Xiao
Directed by	Sun Hao
Starring	Song Jia Yu Xiaowei Guo Tao Zhang Haotian Liu Dekai Zhou Jie Sun Yifei
Opening theme	“Don’t want to get old alone” 《不想一个人老去》sung by Liu Xin (刘沁)
Ending theme	”Finding someone to love me”《找个人来爱我》sung by Xiao Ling (萧翎)
Composer(s)	Liu Yue
Country of origin	China
Language(s)	Mandarin
No. of episodes	25
Production
Producer(s)	Wang Li He Jichang Chen Wei Liu Yinghua Hu Huimin Huang Songbao Cui Qing
Editor(s)	Zhang Wenjun
Location(s)	Beijing
Cinematography	Jiang Xiaobo
Running time	45 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	CCTV
Picture format	16:9
First shown in	CCTV-8
Original airing	April 3, 2010

My Eldest Girl Should Get Married (simplified Chinese: 大女当嫁; traditional Chinese: 大女當嫁; pinyin: Dànǚ dāng jià) is a 2010 Chinese urban comedy/drama television series directed by Sun Hao. It premiered on CCTV-8 on April 3, 2010^[1] and comprises 25 episodes. This urban romantic comedy series with elements of farce stars Song Jia, Yu Xiaowei, Zhang Haotian, Liu Dekai, Guo Tao and Zhou Jie. The phrase dànǚ (大女) can refer to unmarried women above a certain age, and hence the title can also be translated as An Aging Woman Should Get Married.

The series concerns a working woman (Song Jia) in her thirties whose family is frantically searching for a prospective spouse for her. The series portrays the phenomenon of shengnü (剩女, lit. “leftover women”), which refer to a phenomenon in East Asian societies where urban women are getting married at a much older age, some of whom continue into singlehood throughout their lives.^[2]

Plot

Eldest child Jiang Dayan (Song Jia), 33, is a schoolteacher living in a middle-income family with her doting 80-year-old grandmother, her father – a retired school principal – and forensic pathologist mother. Ever since her younger sister and brother marry, she is pressured to get herself married since, at 33, is now considered a shengnü (剩女) by Chinese standards. Immediately after her sister’s wedding, the Jiang family makes getting their eldest girl hitched their No. 1 priority and pulls out all the stops to match Dayan with any eligible bachelor in town. Despite having a group of spinster schoolmates who face similar problems, Dayan gives in to her parents’ wishes and go for countless (unsuccessful) matchmaking sessions, even appearing on a TV matchmaking program. Her grandmother gives her a one-year ultimatum to get married, even though Dayan feels personally it is impossible to rush romance or marriage.

After encountering many unsuitable guys and a “contract marriage” proposal, Dayan settles on her first serious relationship in years. Banking manager Peng Tan (Zhou Jie) is polite, well-spoken and good-looking, a doctorate from a US university who is three years Dayan’s senior, a colleague of Dayan’s sister-in-law. Although Dayan is attracted to him at first she realizes as their relationship progresses that she has difficulty coping with his extremely fastidious and demanding mum, and that the ultra-rational Peng Tan is really after a marriage, not love. The two break up after Dayan discover Peng had hired a hooligan to beat up a fellow suitor of hers.

A problem student’s father, popular on-air host Su Rushi (Liu Dekai), ushers in her second romance. The charismatic, mature radio presenter is well known in the city, but is almost 60. While Dayan’s family objects to this May–December romance, Dayan and Su are ready to ditch family dissent and pursue love. But the appearance of Su’s former wife and the emigration of his daughter to Canada cause the two to break up.

As Dayan nurses heartbreak, a third man appears in her life. Energetic young teacher Zhang Yaoyang (Zhang Haotian) is twelve years Dayan’s junior and was a former trainee teacher. Dayan is attracted to his youthfulness but finds it difficult to keep up with his verve or his at times not-so-mature ways. After a protracted break-up, where Zhang ends up causing the injury of another teacher, new Vice-Principal Cheng Chuang (Yu Xiaowei), Zhang whites out from her life.

Cheng Chuang, the responsible, independent vice-principal from Dayan’s school, a former soldier, is four years Dayan’s senior and is a perfect candidate from the Jiang’s family’s point of view. Dayan finds herself with increasing feeling for Cheng, especially after her grandmother’s unexpected death, until a coquettish best friend (Fan Jinlin) professes her interest in the man. Add to the fact that she is unsure of how Cheng is feeling about herself, the romance stalls. A false diagnosis of cervical cancer convinces Dayan Cheng is the right one for her. But will he be the man who will end her singlehood?

Main cast (simplified Chinese)

• Song Jia (宋佳) as Jiang Dayan (姜大雁), a schoolteacher who is 33/35 throughout the series. She is the protagonist, a bespectacled, unostentatious woman who undergoes four serious relationships in the series. Like any woman she has her emotional weakness and is under enormous stress in getting herself hitched, but gets by with an attitude ready to laugh at herself.

• Zhou Jie (周杰) as Peng Tan (彭坦), a 36-year-old banking manager who appears polite and well spoken. His extremely fastidious mother and maternal aunts prove the downfall of his relationship with Dayan.

• Liu Dekai (刘德凯) as Su Rushi (苏如是), a charismatic radio presenter in his late 50s. He has a daughter in her late teens and is a divorcee.

• Zhang Haotian (张浩天) as Zhang Yaoyang (张耀阳), a boyish 22-year-old who is first a trainee teacher then a formal photography teacher at Dayan’s school. He is interested in Dayan and makes no qualms about declaring his romantic interest in her.

• Yu Xiaowei (于小伟) as Cheng Chuang (程闯), a 38-year-old vice-principal and teacher newly posted to Dayan’s school. He is a responsible, independent and caring teacher who knew Dayan formerly and is a former soldier.

• Chu Shuanzhong (储栓忠) as Dazhi (大志), a down-to-earth, honest, blue-collar taxi driver interested in Dayan. Dayan treats him as a good friend.

• Guo Tao (郭涛) as Fang Quan (方泉), a suitor who offers Dayan a “contract marriage”.

• Ma Shuliang (马书良) as Jiang Haoran (姜浩然), the father, head of the Jiang family, a retired school principal. Like his wife, his most urgent wish is to get his eldest girl married.

• Zhu Yin (朱茵) as Dang Sheng (党生), the mother, a forensic pathologist who tries all means, both legal and foul, to get her eldest child hitched.

• Lu Yuan (鲁园) as Grandma/Gao Jinwen (奶奶/高锦雯), the impish 80-year-old grandmother who has a sweet tooth and a soft spot for Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Dayan is her favorite grandchild.

• Sun Yifei (孙镱菲) as Jiang Xiaoyun (姜小芸), Dayan’s younger sister, who is/was married and acts as her some-time love counsel.

• Guo Lin (郭林) as Hao Tong (郝童), Xiaoyun's miserly and rotund restaurant owner husband.

• Zhang Duo (张铎) as Jiang Xiaojun (姜小军), Dayan’s younger brother, a traffic policeman who is married to Qian Lele.

• He Haoyang (何昊阳) as Qian Lele (钱乐乐), Dayan’s sister-in-law, wife to Jiang Xiaojun.

• Fan Jinlin (樊锦霖) as Lü Wei (吕薇), Dayan’s extremely coquettish good friend, who believes in using her assets to hook the best available bachelor. She undergoes extensive plastic surgeries to achieve this end.

Reception

The series was marketed as a TV series with similar themes to Feng Xiaogang’s 2008 film If You Are the One.^[3] The debut on CCTV-8 was a successful one – My Eldest Girl Should Get Married was one of the most popular Chinese series in 2010.^[4][5][6] The series provoked a debate on the phenomenon of shengnü on the Internet.^[7] Liu Xin and Xiao Ling’s songs for the series also became popular hits online.^[8][9] Lead actress Song Jia has professed her dislike for the phrase shengnü, which she considers derogatory, preferring the newly coined and more neutral dǎnǚ.^[10][11]

Notes

1. ^ 《大女当嫁》今晚央八开播 上演剩女相亲记(图)_影音娱乐_新浪网. Ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
2. ^ 大女当看《大女当嫁》 “大女”称谓取代剩女_娱乐_腾讯网. Ent.qq.com (2011年09月05日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
3. ^ 小宋佳《大女当嫁》上演女版“非诚勿扰”-文娱-中国网滨海高新. Culture.022china.com (2010年04月03日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
4. ^ TV Drama 'Big Girl Should Get Married' Is Hot Now. English.cri.cn (2010年04月07日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
5. ^ 《大女当嫁》反响热烈 樊锦霖表现抢眼受认可(图)_娱乐频道_凤凰网. Ent.ifeng.com. Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
6. ^ 《大女当嫁》将上演大结局 网络视频点播过千万_娱乐_腾讯网. Ent.qq.com (2011年09月05日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
7. ^ 关注都市大龄剩女 《大女当嫁》引共鸣-电视剧-文化娱乐. Hljnews.cn (2010年04月10日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
8. ^ 《大女当嫁》主题歌网络热搜 樊锦霖遗憾弃唱 北京广播网. Ent.rbc.cn. Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
9. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
10. ^ 小宋佳不愿被称为剩女 - 京华时报·京华网. Epaper.jinghua.cn (2010年04月02日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.
11. ^ 大女当看《大女当嫁》 “大女”称谓取代剩女_娱乐_腾讯网. Ent.qq.com (2011年09月05日). Retrieved on 2011年10月25日.

External links

• Watch the series online, legal CNTV site (Chinese)
• Sina site (Chinese)
• Baidu site (Chinese)