Archive for category Wedding Traditions
Ancient Chinese Wedding Custom – Obtaining the Bride
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Wedding Traditions on September 22, 2009
Firecrackers, loud gongs and drums meant the start of the procession from the groom’s home to the bride’s home. It was believed that doing this could ward off evil spirits. Accompany with a child (as an omen of his future sons), the groom would lead the procession. The bridal sedan chair, attendants, musicians, and sometimes a dancing lion would follow him.
When the groom arrived at the bride’s home, they would meet the bride’s friends first. The bridesmaids would play door game with the groom and his attendants. They would ask the groom’s party to perform stunts until they are satisfied with the red packets of money the groom had given.
In some regions, the groom would receive a pair of chopsticks and two wine goblets wrapped in red paper from the bride’s family, symbolizing his receiving the joy of the family in the person of their daughter.
Ancient Chinese Wedding Custom – The “Hair Dressing” Ritual & “Capping” Ritual
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Wedding Traditions on September 7, 2009
The bride had to start preparations at the night before or at dawn on the wedding day. After bath, she put on her new underclothes and sat before lit dragon-and-phoenix candles.
Then, the Hair Dressing Ritual was performed for the bride. A “good luck woman”, woman with living parents, spouse and children, would help her with the ritual. She should also say auspicious words while dressing the bride’s hair in the style of a married woman.
Meanwhile, the groom’s family performed Capping Ritual for the groom. On the wedding day, the groom had to dress in a long grown, red shoes and a red silk sash. He would kneel at the family altar when his father placed a cap decorated with cypress leaves on his head.
Ancient Chinese Wedding Custom – Preparing for the Wedding Day
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Wedding Traditions on August 21, 2009
As marriage also meant that the bride would leave her former life behind, she had to live for a while in seclusion, always in the family’s cock loft, with only her closest friends. During this period, they would mourn, or curse, the loss of the former life. For this reason, the bride’s emergence on the wedding day also referred to coming out of the cock loft.
For the part of the groom, he was charged with installing the bridal bed on the day before the wedding. The time was carefully selected to influence fertility and a‘good luck woman’ man or ‘good luck man’, the person who have been someone with many children and many living husbands or wives, would preside over the installation.
After that, children would be invited onto the bed as an omen of fertility. Fruit that represented abundance and fertility,such as red dates, oranges, lotus seeds, peanuts, pomegranates, were strewn across the bed.
Ancient Chinese Wedding Custom – the Betrothal
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Wedding Traditions on August 4, 2009
The betrothal would begin when the two families were satisfied with each other. First, both parents would exchange family credentials as tokens of intention. They would have an agreement on a monetary amount and gifts for the girl’s family after extensive discussion.
The girl’s family would choose a special day from several the auspicious wedding dates suggested by the boy’s family after receiving the gifts. Meanwhile, the girl’s family would also choose a date for exchanging betrothal gifts.
Generally, the boy’s family would present betrothal gifs, such as money, tea, cakes, pairs of male and female poultry, etc. In exchange, the girl’s family would present gifts of food and clothing.
Cakes would be distributed by the girl’s family to their friends and relatives in order to announce the wedding. The person who received the cake was expected to give congratulatory gifts.
After the presentation of gifts, the girl’s family would send an inventoried dowry by way of messenger to the boy’s family house. The dowry consisted of practical items, such as land, a house, furniture, servants, grain, etc. The procession of the dowry to the boy’s house is considered a display of the social status of the girl’s family and their love for their daughter.
Ancient Wedding Customs – Proposal
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Wedding Traditions on July 26, 2009
In ancient China, the marriage was arranged by parents. When a boy’s parents identified a likely bride-to-be, they would send a matchmaker to sound out their feelings about the match and present gifts to the girl’s parents. When the girl’s family received the proposal, the matchmaker would record the girl’s birth data (combined from year, month, day, hour, heavenly trunk and earthly branch) on a formal document.
The document would be placed on the ancestral altar in the boy’s family. If there was no inauspicious omen (for instance the loss of property) during that time, an astrological expert would be invited to predict if the boy and the girl would be a good match. If the result was favorable, the boy’s data would be given to the matchmaker to bring to the girl’s parents. Then the girl’s family would go through the same process.
The two families would be arranged to meet only when the both results were favorable. When both of the sides satisfied, they would proceed to the betrothal.
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