Image copyright Weibo Image caption A picture of a letter written by a painter/decorator hoping to win over his girlfriend's mother went viral on Chinese social networks

Does status really matter if two people are in love?

That was the question posed by a Chinese painter/decorator in a heartfelt message to the mother of his girlfriend.

Xiao Yang, a 20-something who eschewed university, sensed that his potential future mother-in-law disapproved of his chosen profession. After all, his girlfriend, Chen Chen, is a university educated professional. So he sent Chen Chen's mother a handwritten note:

Dear Auntie,

We met during the Dragonboat festival. I saw that you had some misgivings about me - it was as if you had some misconceptions. So I wanted to write a few sentences to enlighten you.

I am a painter.

You say that painting is filthy and tiring work - in fact doing it fills me with no tears of bitterness.

You say that painting is bad for your body - in fact the paint isn't dangerous.

You say that from dawn to dusk I earn next to nothing, in fact I earn far more than university students who are on limited incomes.

I only ask that you agree to let me marry your daughter, and I promise not to borrow money from you to buy a house.

The letter might have remained mostly a family affair had it not been shared on the Weibo microblogging service by Liu Ji Shou, an acerbic Chinese internet celebrity who became famous for mocking selfies that people sent him. Liu's post, which included a picture of the original note, was seen by more than 15 million Weibo users, and prompted an outpouring of support for Xiao Yang.

"From the writing you can tell that this is a simple and honest man who should be worthy of trust," said user Mou mou wei wancheng. Another commenter, illa1123, said: "I hope that this generation are able to do good things regardless of whether or not they make money. I'll continue to deny that social status is important."

"There is a widespread belief that Chinese people would rather sit in an office all day tapping on a keyboard... a so-called 'white collar' worker is not willing to learn artisan techniques; but to master such techniques takes care and creativity," said Wang Mengfang.

Some Weibo users, inspired by the note, adapted the words to fit other jobs, including policeman, nurse, hacker, and teacher.

Education and social status are of course huge issues in many countries around the world, and China is no exception. Prospective husbands are often expected to have the funds to buy their new bride a house, and as BBC Trending reported before, there's huge pressure on Chinese students to succeed in university entrance exams.

The story of Xiao Yang and Chen Chen was widely reported on in Chinese media, however there's as of yet no word on whether the letter - and the subsequent publicity - managed to win over Chen Chen's sceptical mother.

Reporting by BBC Monitoring's Kerry Allen

Blog by Mike Wendling

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