Primitive Marriage Customs in China

"Three Books and Six Rites" is a special part of China's traditional marriage customs. Here is a brief introduction.

Uncle San

Letter of engagement: that is, the letter of engagement, which is created by both men and women. When Najib (Guo) is used.

Gift book: Gift book is a list of gifts, which lists the types and quantities of gifts in detail. Use when receiving credit information (for a big gift)

Marriage book: that is, the book to marry the bride. For picking up the bride on the wedding day.

Six rites

"Six Rites" are the six steps to create a marriage relationship in ancient China society, including receiving gifts, asking names, accepting gifts, inviting guests and welcoming relatives.

National electronic advisory Committee

"Receiving gifts" is the first of the six gifts. When the man is partial to the woman, the man proposes to the woman's family and asks the matchmaker to be the matchmaker. After the woman agrees, accepting the man's engagement gift is called "receiving a gift". In ancient times, the gift of "goose" had four basic meanings; First, take the yin and yang, and the woman is righteous with her husband. The second is to lose time and festivals. The third is orderly marriage between young and old, without boasting. Fourthly, the use of geese at that time was also a metaphor of being faithful to one's own life, in order to strengthen social needs or remind people of their behavior concepts in family life at all times. Now, men carry raw noodles and meat bags to women's homes, and women's homes need scarves, sugar, leeks, scarves, flower bellies and other things.

Q. Name

"Asking the name" means that the man asks the woman's name and birthday time. This is called "asking the name", which is a good omen. Now it is called "matching the eight characters". The purpose of asking names is twofold: to prevent close relatives with the same surname from getting married; Use the date of birth obtained by asking the name to predict whether the marriage of the parties is appropriate.

Najib

"Naji" means asking a name. If it is auspicious, men and women are caught in the eight characters, and there is no conflict. The man asked the matchmaker to send a small gift to the woman's house and told her that the marriage could continue. It was called Naji, and now it is called Guo or Ding Xiao.

"Guo Wen Ding" is played before "Guo Dali", usually held one month before the wedding. The man chose an auspicious day, brought three wine gifts to the woman's house, and formally submitted his letter of appointment.

Zheng Na

Expropriation is a formal gift. The man gives gifts, cakes, gifts and sacrifices until the woman's home. This is called expropriation, and now it is called excessive gift.

In the period of pairing marriage, the nature of betrothal gift is that the groom expresses his goodwill or respect to the woman by giving gifts, so as to prove his ability to support his wife. In addition, the bride price shows that men can undertake family and social responsibilities, which reflects the important position of wealth and power in women's minds under the conditions of private ownership society and underdeveloped productivity, and this custom of expressing men's ability to maintain their families has not suddenly disappeared in the current class society.

Male engagement gift

Gifts are generous and frugal.

A cart of gift cakes (100 kg)

Seafood is divided into four categories, six categories or eight categories, and the types and quantities depend on the economic situation. Usually, each model is divided into two bags, no matter how many Jin. Nostoc flagelliforme is indispensable. Others include abalone, oyster sauce, scallops, mushrooms, shrimp, squid, sea cucumber, shark's fin and fish belly.

Two pairs of three chickens (two males and two females, if the parents are not complete, one pair is enough), and the pork is 3 kg to 5 kg (that is, one piece is connected to two pieces).

Fish, big fish or shad, take its fishy smell.

Two pairs of coconuts (if the parents are incomplete, one pair is enough), take coconuts and sons.

There are four pieces of wine, foreign wine or rice wine.

Dried longan, dried branches and dried peaches are peanuts with shells.

The result is intense living.

Both tea and sesame seeds should be planted, so tea is often used as a gift, that is, to wish the son who will not be planted, and also to imply that once the engagement is concluded, you must keep your promise and never go back on your word, which is called "Ma You Tea Ceremony".

The mailbox (gift box) contains lotus seeds, lilies, green shoots, cypresses, two pairs of coconuts, sesame seeds, red beans, mung beans, red dates, dried peaches, dried longan, red bean ropes, gifts, gold ornaments, a pair of dragon and phoenix candles and a pair of couplets.

Remarks: All gifts, cakes and gifts must be even, preferably in pairs.

Nv Li Jiahui

In return, the woman must have tea and fruit, and others include lotus root, taro and pomegranate, one pair each; He Wei towel; Pants (longevity and wealth); Belt, wallet (built-in profit) and a pair of shoes (meaning to grow old together); Platycladus orientalis and ginger; One reward, one tea fried pile, one sponge cake, one coconut tree, and the rest belong to the male family (meaning Ichiro to the end).

Remarks: Never send a handkerchief, which generally means breaking up.

"Invitation party" means that the man asks the fortune teller to choose a date, and when the auspicious day of the wedding is determined, he sends someone to inform the woman's family and ask her for advice. It is also called "begging for a date", and now it is called "choosing a date".

"Kissing" is the last procedure of the Six Rites, that is, the groom takes a limousine to the woman's house to meet the bride. "Kissing" has two meanings: a man goes to the woman's house to see his mother in person to show his respect for her; It shows that men have a strong desire for their husbands' lives.

In ancient times, people attached great importance to weddings. If you don't get married through a wedding ceremony, it is considered impolite and will be laughed at by the world. At that time, kissing was regarded as the basis of whether the relationship between husband and wife was completely established. If a woman's husband dies before meeting her, she can remarry. But once the husband dies after the wedding ceremony, according to etiquette, the bride can only accept her fate and die.

Ancient wedding process:

As mentioned above, "wedding reception" is the last procedure in the wedding, but it is also the first procedure on the wedding day. Because the ancients paid attention to etiquette, the wedding process was quite complicated. Including bridal chamber sedan chair, wedding ceremony, banquet, bridal chamber, wedding ceremony, wedding ceremony and bridal chamber. The following will explain them one by one.

Car wedding:

Bridal sedan chair

On the wedding day, depending on the distance of the woman's home, the man's home will give gifts in the morning or afternoon. At the ceremony, a reliable person and a matchmaker led four boxes and a basket of gifts to the woman's home. The ceremonial procession of big gongs and drums is mighty, holding colorful flags and carrying sedan chairs to the woman's house. After the wedding procession arrived, after a series of formalities, the bride's brother carried her into the sedan chair, then closed the door of the sedan chair, blew the trumpeter for a while and "boarded the sedan chair" and set off for the man's house.

Meet the bride:

After arriving at the man's house, a ceremony will be held immediately. Worship the church, also known as "worship heaven and earth", is similar to the ceremony of seeing the temple in ancient times. But the temple fair is a tribute to the ancestors of the ancestral temple, and the worship is mainly a tribute to the elders of this world. From the scope of worship, because the family size and the number of relatives are different, please ask someone who is familiar with the clan and relatives to make a list of procedures in advance. At the same time, I invited a gift giver to drink and was worshipped. Orders are given by worshippers: 1. Worship heaven and earth; 2. Worship ancestors; 3. Worship the high hall and the husband and wife. Then, under the guidance of the giver, the couple pay New Year greetings to the elders at home in turn, and then pay New Year greetings to the guests and friends. In fact, the purpose of worshipping the church is to gain the recognition of marriage from the ancestors, elders and neighbors of the gods, thus helping to consolidate the family system.

Banquet:

After the visit, the host family will hold a wedding reception to entertain relatives and friends. In ancient times, the wedding banquet was an important event. On the wedding day, the host family will prepare a sumptuous dinner, including chicken, pigs, fish, meat and wine. The rich family has fine dishes such as shark's fin and ham. But some animals worship their ancestors before the feast. Therefore, we say that the wedding banquet is actually a religious ceremony.

Build a new house:

After a whole day of sacrificial ceremonies and wedding banquets, the newlyweds hope to calm down and bathe in the joy of their wedding. However, they are also influenced by the custom of making bridal chamber. On the night of candlelight, girls and boys broke into the bridal chamber or made noise outside the bridal chamber, which made the newlyweds unable to sleep. It is said that the custom of making a bridal chamber is of far-reaching significance. Once upon a time, the bride and groom met for the first time in the bridal chamber. Through various entertainment activities, the newly-met couple lost their shyness and happily started a new family life, so that the bride could immediately adapt to this strange family, but also lost the fear and anxiety of their wedding night.