Marriage customs in Shuangcheng, Harbin

Traditional marriage customs in Northeast China

Traditional wedding customs

Observe and evaluate the suitability of future spouse or son.

When the child is underage, parents will find a matchmaker. Once they like it, the two sides visit each other and watch each other. In the meantime, the blind date eats eggs and noodles made by the other party, even if she is married. Then, the two sides discussed the bride price, dowry, bride price and other conditions.

After the eight-character men and women are matched by the matchmaker, the matchmaker will ask the fortune teller to judge good or bad luck through the birthday stickers on the date of birth of both parties.

After the two sides discuss the engagement conditions, the man will choose an auspicious day, prepare gifts such as gold rings and jewelry, and send some engagement money, candy, cigarettes and other gifts to the woman's home. The woman's parents accept gifts and distribute them to relatives, friends and neighbors, indicating that her daughter has been betrothed to others.

When choosing a date, the man writes the selected wedding date on a red paper post and sends it to the woman's home. Both men and women began to choose their own luck and tailor their clothes.

Send a wedding

When a girl gets married, relatives and friends send a batch of clothes or daily necessities to congratulate her, which is commonly known as "sending marriage". After the girl accepts the gift, she should give "pomegranate" bread, white cake, red rice balls and pork to her relatives and friends to show her gratitude.

Marry

Commonly known as "lifting the foot of the sedan chair", that is, two days before the wedding, the man should send all the gifts to the woman's house according to the agreed items and quantities, with a maximum of eight gift plates.

Pick up the bride (in a sedan chair) for the wedding.

On the eve of the wedding, the bride and groom should take a shower and fast. The bride's head is to open her face (twist the hair off her face with a string), dress up and tie a high bun; The groom only cuts his hair, shaves, wears a hat, ties a red bun on the hat, inserts two red roses, and wears a dress and coat. On the morning of the wedding, the man used a red sedan chair or sedan chair and colorful flags to invite ten tones and eight tones to marry him.

(of the bride and groom) salute to heaven and earth.

When the bride's sedan chair hits the groom's head, all family members except the groom should avoid it and put out the firewood in the kitchen hall, which means that "the bride will not be angry when she enters the door, and her relatives will not make the sedan chair head rush", so that the whole family will live in harmony in the future. After the bride got off the sedan chair, she was led into the hall by the matchmaker and two children.

Walk out of the hall

After the ceremony, the bride was introduced into the bridal chamber by the groom, "flower girl" (the bridesmaid) and the matchmaker. Under the direction of the matchmaker, the groom stirred the bride's "veil" up three times with a fan, and then the bride took off her veil and coat. Then dress yourself up, paint your face, put on a pearl screen, and insert gold and silver jewelry and safflower. Then, accompanied by the matchmaker, he slowly walked out of the hall and made a "ceremony". After the ceremony, the bride and groom were led by the matchmaker to meet Weng Gu and the elders and relatives who came to congratulate. People who worship should return the red soil seal, commonly known as "pressing worship." After the worship, the bride returned to the bridal chamber and could not leave the room until the next day.

On the third day after marriage, the woman prepared a "flower tray exchange", which was sent to the man's house by her brother-in-law to visit her newly married relatives.

return

Commonly known as "turning the horse's head." In a famous family, at noon on the third day of marriage, the bride and groom, accompanied by the Eight-color Flag Team, returned to their parents' home in a green sedan chair. In the evening, the newlyweds need to go home.

This is the wedding custom in Harbin, and so is the northeast.