What does the ancient custom of tea ceremony mean?

Three teas and six rites are a custom and etiquette in the traditional marriage process in ancient China, and they are also used to refer to business, transaction and cooperation in modern society.

The "Three Teas" tea ceremony is a grand ceremony in China's ancient weddings, which originally originated from the ancients' understanding of tea tree habits. The ancients believed that tea plants could only germinate from seeds and grow into plants, and could not be transplanted. Therefore, tea tree is regarded as a symbol of eternal love, so people regard tea as a tea gift for men and women to get engaged.

The so-called "three tea ceremonies" were once popular in Han areas in the south of the Yangtze River. There are usually two kinds of sayings: one refers to "drinking tea" when engaged, "ordering tea" when married, and "sharing tea" when sharing. The other refers to the three tea ceremonies at the wedding, that is, the first hundred fruits; The second lotus seed and jujube; The third way is tea. The way to eat is also exquisite: the first and second ways are to hold the cup in both hands and bow deeply, then touch the cup with your lips, and then the family will take it away. You can't drink tea until you bow three times.

The so-called six rituals refer to the whole marriage process from marriage proposal to marriage, that is, the six rituals on which marriage is based, such as receiving gifts, asking names, receiving gifts, inviting parties, welcoming guests and so on.

"Six Rites" began in the Zhou Dynasty. It is said that Zhou Wenwang has a good omen to welcome Taiyou in Weibin. There are six ceremonies in the whole process, namely, accepting gifts, asking names, accepting gifts, inviting parties and welcoming relatives. Later, this ceremony was designated as "Six Rites".

"Nacai" means that the man invites the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's house. If the woman proposes marriage with relatives, the man will go to the woman's house to propose marriage, and the gift he brings is usually a live goose. "Faint ceremony, geese pick." Before the Zhou Dynasty, because of their different status, they received different gifts, and later they were all changed to geese. One of the reasons for using geese is that geese "fall in the south and the ice is in the north", which is in line with the exchange of yin and yang; The second is to think that geese lose their spouses and will no longer be in pairs for life, taking their loyalty.

"Asking for a name" is a ceremony to prepare for marriage when the man asks the matchmaker to ask the woman's name and date of birth. After asking the names, the man will arrange the birthdays of both men and women, so as to decide the good or bad of the marriage. If the eight characters match, you can get married.

"Naji" means that the man tells the woman that she can get married because of the good omen divined by the number one queen, and prepares gifts for her to decide her engagement. This is the main etiquette in the engagement stage. In the past, as a wedding gift, geese entered the stage of "small engagement", commonly known as sending, over-engagement and betrothal. Later, gifts gradually evolved from geese to rings, jewelry, colored silk, gift cakes, gift candles and so on.

"Marriage-seeking" is a complicated etiquette for a man to send a bride price to a woman's house after a man and a woman get married. After receiving the gift money, the woman's family should return the gift money, or return some of the food in the dowry, or send the clothes, shoes and socks prepared by the woman's family to the man's family. The items in the bride price are mostly auspicious words, and their quantity is double taboo. Later, I said, "You can't live without eight" because of this.

"Inviting a day", commonly known as "mentioning the day" and "seeing off the grandson", is a ceremony in which the man chooses the wedding date after the bride price and prepares gifts to go to the woman's house for advice. This kind of etiquette is mostly simple, which determines the wedding date at the same time as the "sign".

Kissing the bride is a ceremony to marry the bride. Etiquette is very complicated and there are many styles. Different places have different practices, which is roughly the whole process of entering the room from the outside. There are many procedures in Han areas, such as welcoming a driver, getting off the sedan chair, worshiping heaven and earth, tying the knot and entering the bridal chamber.

It is worth mentioning that the traditional marriage customs and etiquette of "three teas and six rituals" have enabled married couples to gain the recognition of their ancestors and to undertake and fulfill their rights and obligations to their parents and relatives. Therefore, in ancient times, if men and women did not complete the process of three teas and six rituals, then such a marriage would not be recognized.