Posts Tagged wedding
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 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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