According to the records of Confucian classics, the most prominent and typical of the traditional wedding etiquette in the Zhou Dynasty is the "six rites", namely, nacai, asking for names, naji, and nazheng (or nacheng). , pay money), please give due date, welcome in person.
1. Nacai means that the man’s family invites someone to explain the request for marriage to the woman’s family, which is equivalent to marriage proposals and matchmaking in later generations. Arranged marriages have traditionally been popular in our country, and young men and women have no autonomy. When it's time to get married, the man's parents will ask a matchmaker to propose marriage to the girl's parents who have already chosen them, expressing their desire to marry each other. Of course, this choice is conditional.
2. Asking for names means that after permission has been received, the girl’s family has accepted the gift, and both parties ask each other about the name, age, birth date, place of origin, names of the three generations (great-grandparents, grandparents, parents) and official positions of the man and woman. Wait so that the other party can have a preliminary understanding. Similarly, gifts are also required when asking for names, and geese are also used in ancient rituals. After the six rites were simplified, accepting and asking for names were performed at the same time.
3. Najib had an "underground job" that was not simple between asking for a name and accepting a petition, that is, intermarriage. This can also be seen as part of Nagy’s content. Traditional marriage in our country is not only based on "the orders of parents and the words of the matchmaker", but also on the "signs of the gods". The next step after asking for names is to examine the possibility of marriage between the two parties through divination to determine whether the marriage will be good or bad. This series of activities is called intermarriage, which is later secularly called "Pi Ba Zi". Whether the marriage can be established is the most important issue. If other aspects of the conditions are relatively consistent but the horoscopes are not compatible, then we have to give up.
4. Nazheng is also called Nabi, which is what later generations call "giving gifts" and "putting money". Only after this ceremony is completed, can the man's family marry the woman.
5. The application period is after the completion of the collection. In addition to the preliminary preparations for marrying the woman, it is the application period. The so-called request period means that the groom's family uses divination to determine an auspicious date for the marriage, and asks the matchmaker to inform the bride's family and seek the consent of the bride's family, which is equivalent to the "announcement date" and "next day" for future generations.
6. The personal welcome is the last procedure among the six rites, which is equivalent to the wedding ceremony in later generations. The wedding ceremony in ancient rites was not completed in one day, but lasted for two or three days. Except for the wedding day, it was extended by one day each.