Royal wedding in the Spring and Autumn Period?

The marriage process in the Spring and Autumn Period can be called "Six Rites" according to a set of idealized procedures summarized in the later "

Royal wedding in the Spring and Autumn Period?

The marriage process in the Spring and Autumn Period can be called "Six Rites" according to a set of idealized procedures summarized in the later "Yi Li's Wedding", which are briefly introduced in turn:

The first is to receive gifts: that is, the man asks the matchmaker to go to the woman's house to fix it up, and the woman agrees, and then gives the goose as a gift to formally propose. This step is very important, especially for aristocratic families. If there is no media, it may be difficult for men and women to get married, even if it is consensual, that is, as Meng said, "When I was robbed, my children didn't have a good media."

The second is to ask the name: after the ceremony, the man sent an envoy to ask the basic information of the woman, such as the woman's name, official rank, date of birth, etc., which are usually kept secret, similar to later generations. Asking about the situation is good for divination. Then ask the woman's birth mother's name to distinguish it from her real wife. At this point, it is still necessary to send the goose as a gift, and then the woman gives a banquet to entertain the messenger, and the female father sends the messenger away.

The third type is Naji: the man takes the basic information of the woman to the ancestral temple for divination and asks the ancestors or gods about the good or bad luck of marriage. If the result is auspicious, a messenger will be sent with a wild goose (er, another wild goose) to report the good news, which is called "Naji". If it is ominous, the marriage will be ruined and the geese will be saved ... Of course, if you travel freely through Najili, everything you have done before is meaningful.

Fourth, levy: also known as "taking money", it can be seen from the name, which is very similar to the custom of "giving bride price" today. That is, the man sends a dowry to the woman's house, and the two sides announce their engagement. However, Zhou people are relatively simple, and etiquette requires them to send not gold, silver, jewelry and other things, but "bound silks" and "". The former is five black (three) and red (two) silks, and the latter is a pair of deerskin. By the way, the Zheng Na ceremony is an answer to the question "Although there is no good omen" in A Dream of Red Mansions. ? When the Three Kingdoms? Chen Gong: "From bride price to marriage, different grades have different lengths of time. The emperor is a year, the vassal is half a year, the doctor is a season, and the civilian is January ... "

The fifth is the date of invitation: the man's house divines, chooses an auspicious day, and then sends messengers with geese to ask the woman's permission (the fourth appearance)-agreeing or not is just one meaning. In fact, this day is decided by the man, and it is only a courtesy notice to the woman, so it is also called "notice day".

The sixth is the wedding ceremony: this step is the most important and complicated in the whole wedding ceremony, including several parts, 1, wedding ceremony, 2, banquet, 3, meeting; 4. Worship your menstruation.

1, wedding ceremony

Weddings are the most troublesome thing (as always). First of all, before going out, the man put a lot of things at home (basically edible). Then, the groom wears a knight's uniform and a light crimson "petticoat" with black border, and then drives a black lacquer car to the woman's house to marry the bride.

Along the way, someone led the way with a torch, and there were two slave cars and a bride's wedding car behind the groom's car.

The motorcade stopped at the door of the woman's house, and then stood in the room waiting for her to get dressed (pure clothes with red edges) (facing south). The woman's father went out to pick up the groom, and the groom handed the goose (haha) as a gift. The two sides saluted (it's not that simple, it's actually giving a bunch of gifts to a bunch of people and skipping), and then the groom took the bride out-

Is it over? No. The trouble is that the groom has to pretend to drive and invite the bride to get on the bus. After the bride got on the bus, the groom jumped down to find someone to drive for him, ran to another car, rushed back first, ran to his door, and then stood waiting for the motorcade to come back.

2. Catering

After the troublesome wedding ceremony, it is even more troublesome to hold a banquet. First of all, if we believe in "etiquette", the groom, bride, aunt, etc. should find their own position and do a lot of so-called etiquette-let's fast forward. Anyway, the most important part of the banquet is that the newlyweds eat sacrifices, which symbolizes the equality of the two sides and mutual support.

Specifically, new people want to eat the lungs and livers of cattle and sheep, vegetable sauce, meat sauce, millet and pork. The two sacrificed millet and lungs first, then dipped the meat in the serving sauce and ate it three times at a time, and it was over.

After the ceremony, a "tie ceremony" was held, in which a gourd was cut in half, and each side drank and gargled three times, which was called tie. After that, the leftovers of the newlyweds were removed, and the interesting thing came-the food was removed, but the leftovers of the groom were swept away by the woman's house, and the leftovers of the bride were given to the man's servant.

3. Meet each other

Servants and servants prepare wedding rooms for newlyweds, and the bride and groom take off their clothes-dresses, the groom's dresses are for the woman's people, and the bride's dresses are for the man's people. Then the red candle flickered, and the groom personally took off the "tassel" on the bride's head. The tassel is said to be a hair band, which the man gave to the woman. After the engagement, the bride uses it to tie her hair, and the groom can't take it off himself until she gets married. Very romantic.

After that, the candles in the room were removed, irrelevant personnel left the scene, and the dowry staff of the woman stayed at the door (it is said that it was to "call and smell").

4. Worship your aunt

On the first day after marriage, the bride should get up early, take a clean bath (the groom didn't say to take a bath), and wear a "wedding dress" to visit her parents-in-law. She held a bamboo pole in her hand, which contained bamboo poles, dates and chestnuts. She dedicated the dates to her grandfather and gave them to her mother-in-law. Then the bride went out again, came back with beef and pork in her hand, and served her in-laws for dinner in a series of complicated procedures. At this point, the marriage was finally happy and came to an end.

The differences in some key links between the weddings of the Zhou emperors, governors, Qing masters and scholars show the hierarchical system of social members that appeared in the early Chinese civilization.

Emperors in Zhou usually marry a woman who is a vassal's mansion as a queen, and the eldest daughter, common daughter, half-brother and even elder sister-in-law of a vassal can be chosen as a queen. After the son of heaven got married, there were special rules on etiquette from choosing a woman to proposing marriage to getting engaged to marry the queen. Zhou was the highest social member, and even in the Spring and Autumn Period, his status was far higher than that of other nominal governors. Therefore, Zhou did not personally attend the ceremony of marrying women of the princes, but entrusted the princes with the same surname to preside over it. However, the wedding envoy to greet the queen should be the minister of the Zhou royal family, and it must be the Qing Dynasty. When King Huan of Zhou and Yoshioka got married, the wedding was presided over by Lu Huangong. Due to the royal marriage, the priest first went to Shandong and accepted his mission, then went to Jizhou to welcome him to Luoyang. After Zhou married Chen Guiwei, Guo Gong and He were invited to officiate at the wedding. The messenger of the wedding was Yuan Zhuanggong, who was a royal official. In the eighteenth year of Zuo Zhuan, Zhuang Gong was recorded as "Guo Gong, Jin Hou and Zheng Bo made the former Zhuang Gong rebel against the queen". Strangely, when Zhou Lingwang got married, Zuo Zhuan didn't mention marrying the emperor's vassal with the same surname, and it wasn't Qing who went to marry the queen. Biography of the Ram called him "the emperor's doctor", Gu Liangchuan called him a scholar, and Zuozhuan called him "an official teacher", which clearly stated "You can't do it." From this, we can experience some weather in which the royal family declined and the ceremony collapsed and the music was bad at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.

The wife of a prince is generally called a wife, mostly the daughter of public officials in various countries; There are also women of the Zhou royal family, often referred to as; There are also some women from doctors' families in the Qing Dynasty. For example, she married the daughter of Yong, a doctor in the Song Dynasty, and later married her mother Yong. There are many wedding etiquette of princes mentioned in Zuo Zhuan, such as hiring, paying money, betraying women and so on. Employment is marriage, that is, proposing marriage, and sending a special envoy or doctor of the Qing Dynasty. For example, in the eight-year public office in Zuo Zhuan, "Song Huayuan came to hire and hired Ji Ye." In Zuo Zhuan, Zhao Gong wrote for four years that "Pepper was invited to get married". (Jiao Ju, Doctor Chu. ) Giving money means giving the woman a gift and getting engaged. Generally, princes do not travel in person, but they can appoint Qing and doctors as gifts. Therefore, in Zuo Zhuan's Twenty-two Years of Zhuang Gong, the story of Lu Zhuang Gong as a coin, the story of Ram and the story of Gu Liang all commented: "It is indecent to accept new coins." The important etiquette in a prince's wedding is to resist the bride, that is, to welcome the bride back to China. Governors don't go abroad to sell their daughters in person, but they must send ministers to attend the ceremony. Therefore, in the second year of Zuo Zhuan, the Tibetan public said, "Ji is a traitor, and Qing is a traitor." In the fourth year of Zuo Zhuan, Wen Gong said, "Jiang Yuqi is a rebellious woman. You can't do it, it's indecent. " In the classic Spring and Autumn Biography, there are also two examples in which two princes personally disobeyed their daughters. First, "Spring and Autumn" Zhuang Gong twenty-four years, "Summer, the public is like a traitor. In autumn, the public is self-sufficient. " Second, "Twenty-four Years of Zuo Zhuan Gong" contains "Jin Hou disobeyed his wife and got his home". Among them, Jin Wengong Zhong Er married Wenbo by accident. Before that, he had quietly come to the state of Qin to avoid the Luyong rebellion in China. It can be seen that it is extremely rare for the princes of the Zhou Dynasty to marry the bride in person, and it is only in line with the etiquette at that time that the princes did not disobey their daughters in person. Correspondingly, married women also have the etiquette of sending her away, sending her away and hiring her to go. Sending your daughter away is a wedding ceremony, and generally you don't leave the country. As recorded in the poem "Li Yan", Wei Jun's sister's distant marriage is just a "farewell to the wild", that is, to the suburbs of Beijing. For a woman, it is to send her married daughter to her destination. Whether it is to send a woman or a woman, the princes do not personally execute it. In Zuo Zhuan, Huan Gong described in detail the gifts he gave his daughter for three years, saying: "Any man or woman who marries an enemy country or an enemy country's sister will be given to the first king as a gift by the superior; Son, I'll send it to you. In a big country, although you are a son, you gave it to me. Among the sons of heaven, ministers can do it, and the public does not send it. If it is in a small country, it will be sent by a doctor. " If the married woman is not a vassal's wife, she will follow the principle of "sending a woman in reverse shift", that is, the level of sending a woman depends on the level of sending a woman in reverse shift. [5] The gift for Ji Wang is different. The emperor doesn't ask, presided over by the princes with the same surname. For example, in the year of Zhuang in the Spring and Autumn Annals, "In the summer, Shan Bo sent to". In autumn, the Ji Wang Pavilion will be built outdoors. "Returning to Qi" means that Duke Zhuang of Lu presided over the dispatch of women on behalf of the emperor. So, Shan Bo first sent Ji Wang to see Lu, and then Lu built a building outside the city to prevent Qi from getting married. As for the bride price of the country where a woman marries, for example, if she marries Wen Jiang for three years, she will "hire (Lu) in the winter and give her a wife in the middle of the year". [6] After marrying a woman, more and more doctors will be hired. The so-called "modesty and diligence". When a prince marries a wife, the etiquette is slightly different from that of a prince, and he must marry the bride himself. For example, Zuo Zhuan has been hidden from the public for eight years: "On the morning of April, Zheng Gongzi suddenly rebelled against his wife. Xinhai, with the return. Jia Yin, enter Zheng. " Hold this ceremony immediately. A vassal's son is a prince and will not marry him. Zuo Zhuan records that in nineteen years, the king of Chu was hired to marry a woman, and Fei Wuji went to marry her.

The wedding etiquette between Qing and the doctor also includes steps such as hiring women and betraying women. Hired, see "Zuo Zhuan" Wen Gong seven years "Mubo married, saying that he was born again, and his voice was born. If you die, you will be hired by the monarch, and if you live by your words, you will be hired by Yan Wei. " . In the second year of Zuo Zhuan's success, it was said that "the witch minister sent a message (The Last Month Of Summer), saying,' Go home and I'll hire a woman.' "Zuo Zhuan" Zhao Gongnian "Zheng made her sister beautiful and hired her, and Gong Sun was a black bird. If you are afraid, you will sue your son. Zi chan said: "this is the absence of the government in this country, and this is not the pain of my son." Just want what you want. "If you commit a crime, please ask your second son and let the woman choose. It is all allowed." Yang bojun's note: "engagement is engagement in modern times, and it was also called confusion in ancient times ... guy has paid the money." Not appropriate. As mentioned above, if employment is engagement, how can Chrysanthemum people refuse Mubo? Besides, Wu Xu's sister hasn't chosen a husband yet. Who is engaged? Recruitment here is still considered a suitable proposal. As for the third case above, it is also a kind of etiquette, which extends the meaning of intermarriage. Yang Bojun's Note: "In ancient weddings, the first thing was to receive gifts. Accept geese, so it is also called a bird. " When Dr. Qing marries the bride, he must see the bride in person. There are many examples in Zuo Zhuan. For example, in five years, "autumn and September, Qi came to rebel against her daughter, so the book said that she rebelled against her uncle and betrayed herself." There is also an anti-horse ceremony at Dr. Qing's wedding. This is the story of the winter when I married uncle Ji and returned to Lu with her. Zuo Zhuan is interpreted as a gift to Ma Li. Yang Bojun said, "Whoever marries a woman with a doctorate or above will sit in her mother's car and ride her horse. After three months of marriage, the husband left his car and went back to his horse. Zheng Xuan's note:' If the car leaves, learn from your wife. Who? Guy said his wife didn't dare to live in her husband's house for a long time, fearing that if something happened, she would drive this car back to her hometown. Du noticed the so-called "modesty does not dare to be safe". Zheng Youyun's "Anti-horse, the righteousness of the husband is also", and the in-laws will not marry in the future. "Has been explained very clearly.

When a scholar marries a wife, his wedding should include the steps of receiving gifts, asking names, receiving gifts, receiving gifts, inviting parties, and welcoming relatives. There is also an image description of a scholar's wedding in the poem Feng Weimang. In the poem, I wrote in a woman's tone: "I have no good media when I am a bandit." There is no anger in the child, and autumn lasts. ""Boole, well, there is nothing wrong with his health. " "Use your car to bribe me to move. "It clearly describes the ceremony of media engagement, divination, determining the wedding date and welcoming people in the Zhou Dynasty wedding. But also clearly recorded that the scholar married the bride by car. This is not the same as when Dr. Qing marries a bride and has a woman's chariots and horses.

After having a general understanding of the wedding process of social members at all levels in the Zhou Dynasty, we will naturally realize the hierarchical differences of social members included in the wedding system. For example, in the process of marrying a bride, the etiquette system that each level should follow is obviously different. The emperor and the vassal did not greet each other personally, but sent Qing as a betrayer of marriage. The son of heaven also asked the princes with the same surname to preside over the wedding etiquette on his behalf, which further highlighted the aristocratic status. Dr. Qing and Mr. Shi want to marry the bride in person, but there are still differences in etiquette details. Thus, the function of China ancient etiquette system lies in affirming and maintaining the hierarchical differentiation of social members and the social order established around it. Etiquette system not only solidified the hierarchical differences between different social classes, but also stipulated the code of conduct of people from different social classes in detail. Reflected in marriage, it is the difference of wedding etiquette between emperors, princes, doctors and scholars mentioned above. In addition, at that time, people consciously followed and maintained the guidance and intervention of the ritual system on marriage. It can be said that the spirit of etiquette has penetrated into the moral value system. For example, weddings in the Zhou Dynasty all started with media and employment, so people at that time attached great importance to it. Unmarried wives have a low status. Zuo Zhuan has been in public office for eleven years, and records that Dr. Lu Shengbo's mother has not married, so that Mu Jiang, who is also his wife, is ashamed to marry her. When Shengbo was born, she was abandoned and married to Guan Yuxi of Qi. The woman described in the poem "Feng Wei protects himself" has fallen in love with a man who is engaged in cloth business, but she doesn't want to marry him hastily because he hasn't asked the matchmaker to propose marriage.

Besides the strict and complete wedding system, the marriage in Zhou Dynasty has other characteristics.

The marriage form of aristocrats in Zhou Dynasty was generally polygamy. Take the governors of various countries as an example. As mentioned in Zuo Zhuan, the names of their spouses are Madam, Princess or Princess, Yan, and only Madam or Yan is the correct one. There are many spouses of princes. Such concubines are recorded as three wives, Xu Bi and Cai Ji, and six wives, Chang, Shao, Ge Bi, and Song. There are also many concubines, Chen Bi, who is pregnant with her husband's wife and married him, ranking ninth.

In the Zhou dynasty, the aristocratic marriage system was also widely implemented, that is, the dowry system, which is also a reason for the increase in the number of aristocratic spouses. The marriage system is divided into two categories: one is that the prince and the woman marry each other. Yang Bojun explained that in ancient times, a vassal married one country and two countries married the daughter of a concubine. "Zuo Zhuan" said in eight years: "When a warlord marries a woman, the same surname is given, but the different surname is not given." More detailed preparation. But at that time, despite the ritual system, there were records of princes with different surnames marrying women, and the countries that married women were not limited to two countries. For example, when Lv Chenggong married Lu * * * Ji in the eighth year, not only Wei Jin, who had the same surname, came to marry his daughter, but also Qi, who had different surnames. In the twenty-third year of "Zuo Zhuan", it was also recorded that "Jin married a woman to Wu, and Qi Huangong returned her father." Another girl with a different surname. According to Yang Bojun's explanation, the specific process for princes to marry is that countries with daughters send doctors to escort common women to countries with married women, and then to countries with married women. [18] However, the record in Zuo Zhuan that Qi sent women to marry Lu in Wei and Jin Dynasties reflects the following fact: Before marrying Song, only Wei married a woman, and by February of Gongcheng's ninth year, Lu had married Song, but in summer, Jin people came to marry women, while Qi people married women. It can be seen that the country of married women generally sends concubines to the country of married women, and then they are sent back by the country of married women, not necessarily with married women. Secondly, in the aristocratic marriage of the Zhou Dynasty, it was very common for the husband's family to marry their sisters and nephews. Give a few examples. "Zuo Zhuan" has been keeping secrets from the public for three years: "Wei Zhuanggong married the minister's sister named Zhuang Jiang in Qidong Palace, who was beautiful and childless. Ren Wei's behavior also endowed Shuo Ren. He married Chen, called "Gui Li", gave birth to a dutiful son, and died young. His wife wore a dagger and gave birth to Huan Gong. Zhuang Jiang thought it was her own son. " "Zuo Zhuan" was published in two years: "The son of uncle Jiang was also mourned by Jiang, so the Qi people made it." "Zuo Zhuan" was published in the seventh year of Wengong: "Mu Bo married and lived, saying that he respected himself and gave birth to Wen Bo. His voice gave birth to Shu Hui. " "Zuo Zhuan" has been published for 19 years: "The Duke of Qi married Lu, and his name was Yan himself, and he had no children. His nephew is called Ji, and his birth is Prince. " "Zuo Zhuan" mourned the public for eleven years: "Uncle Wei rushed out in winter and went to the Song Dynasty. When I was sick, I married Song Zichao, hehe. " The first is Dai Gui, Shu Jiang, Shengji, Wei Dashu's wife and so on. They are all married as sisters, while Yu Shengji is married as a niece.