The picture of ancient marriage in China

The picture of ancient marriage in China

In ancient China, the wedding process was divided into six stages, which were called "Six Gifts" in ancient times, namely, receiving gifts, asking names, receiving gifts, inviting guests and welcoming relatives.

1, Nacai

That is, the man invited the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's house. If the woman agrees to propose, and the man formally proposes to her, he must bring the live goose as a gift to make people accept his choice. In the book "In the Soul of Li Yi's Poems", it is said: "When you are unconscious, the geese pick it."

Step 2 ask the name

Asking the name is that the man asked the matchmaker to ask the woman's name and eight characters in order to prepare for marriage. "In the Soul of Li Yi's Poetry" records: "What's your name, Bin Zhi Yan?" Most of the names asked are: "If someone orders them, they will be added to divination. Who dares to ask the woman's name? " If the woman agrees, send a gift; Men decide their luck by divination. If the eight characters of men and women match, proceed to the next step.

3. Najib

That is to say, telling the woman the good news of divination marriage is also a gift to the goose-later generations often take gold and silver jewelry and other things as gifts. Equivalent to the current engagement, commonly known as delivery, over-commitment, engagement.

4. Zheng Na

That is, the man sends the bride price to the woman's house, which is commonly known as paying money, hiring a big one, giving a big gift and so on. In ancient times, birds and animals were used as gifts. In ancient times, the whole deer was used as a bride price, and later generations simply used deerskin. Cui Jian's "Wedding Text" records: "Tell the bird to drink the goose with deerskin." The Book of Songs, Zhao Nan, said: "There are dead elk in the wild, and white grass covers them. There is a woman who loves spring, and Ji's family lures her. " It's about proposing to a girl with wild deer. Because in ancient times, hiring more geese was a betrothal gift, so the betrothal gift was also called "supporting birds". Of course, not all birds and animals were used as gifts in ancient conscription, as in "Self-protection Feng Wei", "Self-protection flies, silks wear clothes." When bandits come to trade silk, they come to me, which is an example of using cloth as a dowry Later, the collection of gifts became more and more complicated and became one of the most complicated processes in the Six Gifts.

5. Please make a date

That is, after the man chooses the wedding date, he prepares a gift to the woman's house and asks for the wedding date. Now people commonly call it "raising the sun" and "sending the sun".

Step 6 welcome in person

That is, to marry a bride. Their manners and manners are different, but most men go to the woman's house to greet their relatives. After returning to the man's house, the bride and groom eat in a tripod, and then cut a gourd in half. Husband and wife hold each other's drinks, which is called "marriage"-this is the origin of the toast of later generations. This process is one of the most colorful events in marriage custom culture.