China is a country of etiquette, and etiquette is of course indispensable for such a big event as a wedding. The wedding of the Han people starts with the marriage proposal and includes three parts: marriage proposal, engagement and marriage (wedding). In fact, the weddings of us common people are similar to this. The more elaborate the wedding, the closer it is to the ancestors.
The first is to ask for marriage. In ancient times, parents' orders and matchmaker's words were emphasized. First, the man's parents find a matchmaker, introduce the situation to the matchmaker, put forward search requirements, give the matchmaker gifts and demonstrate their betrothal gift abilities. In ancient times, matchmakers were professional. The matchmaker would go to the woman's home to introduce the man's situation according to his situation. If the woman's parents agree, the man will go to the woman's home for a blind date. Both parties are represented by their parents, but in some areas the girl will hide in a place to watch the man secretly. For example, Anhui architecture is usually a circle of small buildings surrounding a courtyard. When the man comes in, the girl will stand upstairs and watch (probably only You can watch the father guess his son), the building has a very high fence, people below can't see the one above, if you like it, tell your parents. Therefore, in fact, in ancient China, it was not a blind marriage where two people only met after completely lifting their headscarves. After all, every parent wants their daughter to live well in the future.
If both parties feel that they are a match and have the right conditions, the two families will give each other tokens of engagement (some are jade pendants, some are wild geese). Interestingly, in some places, if the woman likes the man, she will give him a cup of tea. If the man is satisfied with the tea, he will put a certain amount of tea money on the table (must be an even number), and then the marriage is finalized.
The next step is the engagement. The two parties exchanged horoscopes and gave each other Geng stickers with names, horoscopes, ages, etc. written on them. If the horoscopes do not conflict with each other, marriage will begin.
"Accepting the bride" means that both parties express their acceptance of each other. The man chooses an auspicious day 15 to 20 days before the marriage to propose to the woman by sending him a betrothal gift, a betrothal hairpin, and a marriage certificate. This is the so-called excessive gift.
A few days before the wedding, the woman who is recognized as having good fortune will place the wedding bed in the appropriate position. This person will make the bed the day before the wedding, with mattresses, sheets, dragons, phoenixes, quilts, etc., and then sprinkle various fruits symbolizing auspiciousness (red dates, peanuts: early birth of a precious son, longan: happiness, and lychee beans, etc.). This is "setting up the bed". After the bed installation is completed, no one can enter the new house or touch the new bed.
This is the man. The woman must prepare a dowry. The dowry will be brought with the girl on the wedding day. In ancient times, dowry was a symbol of a woman's natal family's status and wealth. A woman with insufficient dowry was likely to be bullied by her husband's family. On the contrary, it could help establish her status in her husband's family. There are quite a lot of novels describing this aspect. For example, in Dream of Red Mansions, Wang Xifeng often uses the dowry that she and Mrs. Wang (his aunt) received when they married into the Jia family to pressure Jia Lian, which always has a very good effect.
The final ceremony came at the end. This is what we call a wedding. call! It seems that modern people are still relaxed.
The first is to welcome the bride. Ancient weddings were held in the evening. It’s not like a modern wedding. It seems that in modern weddings, the bride must be picked up before noon and stay until the evening, which makes it a second marriage. The groom must first worship his ancestors before going out, and the bride must be groomed and dressed by her mother herself, and covered with a red hijab. After the groom arrives, the bride is taken out of the boudoir by her sister or bridesmaid and handed over to her father, who then hands it over to the groom. After the newlyweds say goodbye to their parents-in-law, the bride gets on a sedan chair and is escorted by the groom to the groom's home.
The female members of the groom’s family open the sedan door and invite the bride out, and then a blessed female elder from the groom’s side hands the red silk ribbon tied into a concentric knot to the newlyweds, and the two walk into the hall holding the red ribbon. . At this time, avoid stepping on the threshold, because the threshold represents the facade. The bride must step over the threshold, and a girl holding a bronze mirror will shine on the two of them to achieve perfection.
Finally it’s time for the legendary worship session. Presided over by the master of ceremonies, the newlyweds bow to heaven and earth, parents, and husband and wife in front of the hall, and then are sent into the bridal chamber with the sound of drums and music.
The next morning, the bride and groom will get up early to meet their parents-in-law. The groom will introduce all his relatives to his wife, and then the bride will serve tea to these elders
On the third day, the newlyweds worship their ancestors together, so that the bride officially joins the family.
Finally, we have to prepare a thank you gift for the matchmaker
The whole wedding is officially over.
The so-called "bridal chamber night of flowers and candles, and the time when the gold medal is named" are the most glorious and proud moments for ancient men