There are six rituals in weddings in my country in ancient times, namely asking for names, making alliances, accepting Cai (accepting employment), accepting coins (accepting levies), asking for dates, and personally welcoming. Later, it was divided into four parts, namely: asking for names, making alliances (sending an appointment), setting appointments (receiving gifts and coins), and personally welcoming (and asking for a term).
1. Asking for Names
The main ceremony of "Asking for Names" is for both parties to exchange official names, years of age, and dates of birth, so that each other can understand the origins of the two families and weigh up the family. Marriage is a "perfect match". The procedure is first for the matchmaker to send the girl's "Geng Tie" to the groom's family, and the groom's family will place this post in front of the gods and on the desks of their ancestors to predict good luck. If everything is safe at home within 3 days, the man's Gengtie will be sent to the woman's family. After the woman's family accepts it, they may ask the horoscope or agree to get married.
At the beginning of the marriage negotiation, the girl's family may ask the matchmaker to ask the boy's family to submit a Geng Tie (character) as a basis for "finding out" the man. If the woman thinks it is appropriate and auspicious, she will write a music score for both men and women and send it to the man's family. Otherwise, the original will be returned and discarded.
The word Zai (Geng Tie) is written on red rectangular paper. Direct scripts from the central government, such as the woman's script "A certain surname Kun Zao was born in such and such a certain year and month and day and time"; the man's script was "A certain surname Qian Zao was born in such and such a certain year and month in such a day and time". The number of characters must be an even number. If it is an odd number, the male character should be added with the word "jian". Add "Rui" to the word "birth" for female. In addition, although "Zi Zi" and "Bazi" are both called Nian Geng, they are slightly different. That is, the Bazi Jia Geng must be used for writing for divination, while the Zi Zi is used to write the place of birth, ranking, etc., for the purpose of research. Commonly known as "Zi Zi" means Xiao Nian Qing, and "Bazi" means Big Nian Geng.
△The marriage has not yet been decided, and the two families cannot be married together until they are agreed upon.
2. Make an alliance
To make an agreement is to make an agreement. The ceremony of making an alliance is called Wending, also known as Xiaopin, which is now the engagement ceremony. After setting the wedding ceremony, choose an auspicious day and the groom's family will prepare the betrothal gift and send it to the bride's family. The betrothal gift is as follows: red silk (pinned with gold letters on the red silk or gold letters inside the post), gold flowers (gold hairpin), gold rings, gold earrings, sheep, pigs, candles, incense salutes, gift cakes, Continuously move flower pots (meaning that there will be many children), pomegranate flowers, etc. (the pomegranate flower means many children).
The matchmaker and the groom’s parents or relatives will accompany him. The bride's family accepts most of the bride price and prepares 12 items as gifts in return. Gift cakes are given to relatives and friends as a notification of engagement. This is called "distributing cakes". Relatives and friends who receive gifts must give wedding gifts in the future.
The engagement ceremony is held and there is a "ring-wearing" ceremony. At the right time, 6 or 12 people (even numbers) from the groom's family will go to the bride's family to give gifts, and the bride's family will place the betrothal gift in front of the ancestor's desk at the shrine for worship. The soon-to-be-married daughter brings sweet tea to the hall and introduces them one by one. After drinking tea, the groom's family each gives a "tea-pressed" red envelope on the tea cup. Then the woman comes back and sits on a chair in the center of the hall (putting her feet on a low table to show nobility; she faces outward when she gets married, and faces inward when marrying her husband). The elder of the groom's family hangs the ring. The ring consists of two gold and copper pieces (copper has the same pronunciation, meaning the couple is of the same mind) and is tied with a red thread to show the couple's marriage. After putting on the ring and Qingnan's family members sitting at the table, the engagement is completed. There are also simplified ones that combine the small betrothal and the big betrothal, that is, the three rituals of making alliances, receiving gifts, and receiving coins are combined into one, which is collectively called "sending the order".
3. Wanpin (receiving lottery and coins)
The two gifts of receiving lottery and coins are called "Wanpin", or Dabain. The marriage certificate, betrothal money, coins and silk (jewelry) and other items are sent to the girl's family with the sign of "paying tribute", and the girl's family will return the favor accordingly. After the engagement, the matchmaker and others will accompany you and deliver the gifts to the bride's family. The betrothal gifts for wealthy families are grand, and the order is: band (band), gift card (recording gift items, ceremony sequence), wedding letter, betrothal money, big cake, rock sugar winter claws, orange cake, persimmon cake, blessing
Pills (dried longan), pig's feet, noodles, candies, two capons, two hens, one or more pairs of candles, two bunches of incense, clothes (bridal gown), bracelets, gold rings, etc. .
When the betrothal gift arrives, the bride’s family burns incense and fires cannons to inform the gods and ancestors, and entertains the groom’s family who gave the gift. Yikunshu (the woman's marriage certificate) is delivered to the matchmaker. If the groom's family does not send any gifts, he will receive part of them or keep them intact according to their species. For example, lucky balls, capons, and hens are all blessings from the groom's family and should be returned. Only the meat of the pig's trotters should be taken, and the bones of the pig's trotters should be returned. In return, gifts such as the groom's attire, clothing, shoes, socks, and bell embroidery are given. "Brophy gift": The betrothal gift is recorded on the red paper gift card. The title should be double and avoid one, and auspicious words such as happy, successful, and double are often used. The style of the betrothal gift post: the wedding letter is completed, the letter is opened, the betrothal money is doubled, the box ceremony is sealed, the training ceremony is sealed, the brocade lin is made into a couplet, the longevity handkerchief is a double blessing, the color fairy is crowned, the golden pig is the first, and the happiness is There are only one sheep, eight dozen candies on the screen, one hundred lucky pills, a box of candies in your dream, and two dragons and candles.
4. Asking for the date
The request for the date is one of the six marriage rituals, commonly known as "sending the sun" or "raising the sun". That is, the groom's family determines the wedding date, and writes the male and female birth certificates on red paper. This is called the date invitation letter, which is carried by the matchmaker to the bride's family, and the host of the bride's family discusses the date of the wedding. With the consent of the girl's family in reply, the boy's family also sent gift books, candles, salutes, etc. to the girl's family. The girl's family then distributed gift cakes to relatives and friends and told her the date of her return.
5. Personal Ying
Personal Ying is when the groom goes to the bride’s house to marry the bride in person, or is called a wedding, which is today’s wedding ceremony. In the old days, the upper-middle families would welcome the bride in person, but the middle-lower families would mostly ignore it and only let matchmakers do it for them. The welcoming ceremony has changed a lot with the progress of the times.
On the day of the wedding, the groom, together with the matchmaker and six or eight relatives and friends, accompany him as guests (commonly known as "the bride", i.e., the groomsmen). When you arrive at the girl's house, treat her to "egg soup" (a sweet soup with a shelled hard-boiled egg inside).
Eat egg soup (just drink the sweet soup and use chopsticks to poke or stir the eggs). At the same time, the girl's family reunited for a dinner called the "sisters' table", which is a farewell banquet. The father warned: "Be diligent and careful, listen to your uncle and husband's words in the morning and evening"; the mother warned: "Be respectful and disciplined, follow the three obediences and the four virtues." The bride was inevitably reluctant to leave her, and the matchmaker urged her to get into the sedan. The bride pays homage to her ancestors and bids farewell to her parents, and then walks out from the west steps with the groom at a determined moment, while a "lucky man" who is old and blessed will support her on the sedan chair. When the bride gets into the sedan chair, she cries a few times, which is commonly known as "crying for good luck" to show good luck. Not far away from the sedan chair, the bride should put down a paper fan or handkerchief, which is commonly known as "putting the fan" or "sending the fan". To mark the farewell anniversary of getting married. It is also said: This means to abandon bad "sexual" habits in order to seek harmony, which is commonly known as "letting go of sex" (Xing and fan are pronounced together). Along the way, the bride and groom set off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits. The sedan chair stops in front of the groom's house, and when the bride enters the door during the auspicious occasion, the groom knocks on the top of the sedan chair three times with his fan, and "opens the sedan door" with his foot three times to show the groom's majesty and make the bride obedient and easy to control. Then the "lucky man" leads the bride out of the sedan chair, the matchmaker holds an umbrella to cover the sky, and the groom escorts her into the bridal chamber.
After the wedding banquet, bridal tea is eaten, commonly known as "bridal party", that is, drinking sweet tea and having fun in the bridal chamber to join in the fun. At this time, happy words are used to congratulate the newlyweds, making the bride laugh for entertainment, and various funny forms are used to test the bride's patience or temperament, but the purpose is still to take this opportunity to watch the bride. The so-called "eating bride's tea" is accompanied by a matchmaker or family members. The bride and groom hold tea trays and serve sweet tea, winter melon and candies to the guests. The guests accept the sweet tea and say happy words. After drinking, the bridegroom and bride come to take back the tea cups. The congratulators should put red envelopes in the tea cups as congratulatory gifts and also say happy words to congratulate them. The happy sentences recited are four lines that rhyme, commonly known as "reciting four sentences". In addition to expressing congratulations, the meanings of the sentences are mostly auspicious or humorous. There are ready-made sentences, and there are also impromptu chants, and there are often many witty sentences. . As for "bridal trouble", there are endless tricks, which always embarrass the bride and groom and their families, but make the troublesome guests happy.
Ancient weddings and funerals:
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