The Ming and Qing emperors who lived in the Forbidden City did not need to be the top scholar, nor did they live in a foreign land. However, they also have to experience the "wedding night" in their lives. Ordinary people's wedding ceremony is a celebration. So what processes do emperors who dominate the world need to take to get married?
As early as the Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Rites identified six kinds of etiquette from marriage negotiation to marriage completion, namely:
Only then did the man's family ask the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's family, and the woman's family promised to propose marriage, and the man's family prepared gifts to propose marriage.
Seeking a name, the man's family asked the matchmaker to ask the woman's name and date of birth, so as to measure whether the combination of men and women is appropriate.
Najib, after the man's family had a good omen, prepared a gift to inform the woman's family and decided to get married.
Zheng Na, the man's family gave it to the woman's family as a dowry.
The date of invitation, the man chooses the wedding date, prepares gifts and informs the woman's family to get permission; Welcome, the groom goes to the woman's house to get married.
In order to prevent the consorts from interfering in government affairs, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, made a rule for future generations: among unmarried girls aged from 13 to 16, concubines and queens were selected in the draft. An emperor who was married before he ascended the throne will not make up the wedding ceremony after he ascended the throne, but only hold the ceremony of conferring the queen. When he ascended the throne, he was not married, so he needed to hold a big wedding and set up a queen and a concubine.
But the sixth emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not abide by the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang. After careful consideration, Zhang Taihou decided to marry the eldest daughter of Qian Yunming, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, as the queen, and officials of the Ministry of Industry and imperial academy had to agree.
Subsequently, the Hanlin Academy was responsible for drafting documents, the Ritual Department was responsible for making treasures, and prepared various supplies together with the Ritual Department and the Neifu Department. Qin began to calculate auspicious days in order to "implement six rites"
On the day of collecting names, "Zhu Qizhen" appeared in the main hall of Gan Qing Palace! Holding the imperial edict in hand, the Xuanzhi official stood on the east side of the pen, loudly announced the imperial edict, appointed the main envoy and the deputy envoy, and went to Qian Shangshu's house to collect and ask names. In the music, the two angels, led by the guard of honor and the drum band, rushed to Qianfu with honors and letters in their hands.
At this point, all the staff of Qianfu have been waiting at the gate. After accepting the gift, they submitted a "form" with their daughter's name, resume, date of birth and other contents to the angel, and hosted a banquet for the angel. After the angel led the team back to the Forbidden City, he gave the "Festival" and "Table" to the eunuch in Li Si prison, and the task was successfully completed. Eunuchs in Li Si Prison guarded festivals and dining tables, and went to Qinggong to reply to the "imperial edict".
Zhu Qizhen "reported" the situation of collecting and asking names to the princes and ministers.
When it's time to pay tribute to Najib, the corresponding ceremony will still be held in the palace, and angels will be sent to Qian Shangshu's house with gifts and related documents.
The emperor's reward belongs not only to Miss Qian, Qian Shangshu and her family, but also to courtiers and servants. After the efforts of Najib and Zheng Na, the marriage was finally finalized. Even if anything happens to the emperor before he enters the bridal chamber, the queen can only bite her teeth and swallow her stomach. In the folk, the wedding is still held on the wedding day. Bride and unmarried sister-in-law, or worship heaven and earth with rooster; After that, either live alone or sleep with a wooden dummy.
After the first five ceremonies, the highlight was kissing. Most people follow the groom's wedding team to pick up the bride at his father-in-law's house. When the emperor arrived, because of his supreme position, he sent a minister with children and women as a representative to meet the bride.
The palace has already been decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and all the major palaces are covered with firecrackers and red hot-stamping double happiness candles. Royal Avenue is carpeted with red carpet.
Before the wedding procession, the guard of honor and the drum band, with the wedding messenger in the middle, followed by the wedding officer, eunuch and escort, went out of the meridian gate, accompanied by the queen's ceremony, carrying a lot of gifts, and went straight to Qianfu. Qian Shangshu led the whole family, old and young, kneeling at the gate to meet the wedding procession. The wedding messenger announced loudly.
Miss Qian, dressed in the queen's clothes, rockhopper and robe, knelt down to accept the golden books and treasures. When Ji arrived, a group of people returned to the Forbidden City, and the queen was sent to the Palace of Kunning to worship heaven and earth as a gift. The emperor's wedding was officially completed.
In the Qing Dynasty, Kunning Palace was no longer the queen's bedroom, but only entered the bridal chamber in Dongnuange. A grand wedding is similar to a wedding in the Ming Dynasty.
"The Qing Draft" said: Zai Chun, the Tongzhi Emperor, got married, recruited talents, distributed books, welcomed guests, and acted according to procedures. The wedding procedures of Emperor Zai Tian of Guangxu are: receiving gifts, giving gifts, welcoming gifts, tying the knot, celebrating gifts and giving banquets.
Among these ceremonies, the most solemn ones are the knighthood ceremony and the welcoming ceremony.
On the day when the Qing Dynasty canonized the queen, the whole country put on festive costumes and decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. The imperial palace should be paved with a red carpet, and the door gods and couplets will be completely new; Red lights should be hung at the palace gate and the temple gate of the meridian gate; Colored silk should be hung in the Double Happiness Gate, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Gan Qing Palace and Kunning Palace.
On the day before the ceremony, the emperor sent officials to offer sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestral temple respectively.
On the day of the ceremony, there were festival cases, calligraphy cases and treasure cases in the hall of supreme harmony, and the emperor displayed a thin brine outside the hall. The emperor first went to Cining Palace to salute the Queen Mother, then went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to study and see treasures, and then acceded to the throne. The ambassador and deputy ambassador took the wedding procession to the Queen's residence. This is basically the same as the ceremony of the Ming Dynasty.