Chaozhou wedding customs are mostly based on the six ancient rituals: Chaozhou commonly calls Nacai as "proposing a marriage", asking for a name as "combined marriage" or "combining eight characters", Najia as "engagement" or "(扌克) ), the call to accept the invitation is "send employment" and "office", the call to invite is "choose a day", "choose auspiciousness", and the call to welcome the bride is "welcome".
Proposal for marriage
Proposal for marriage, also known as marriage proposal. That is, the matchmaker goes to the man to propose marriage, or the matchmaker first goes to the man to introduce the woman's situation, and then the man approves and then the woman proposes marriage.
Three generations of ancestors wrote Geng Tie and sent it to the man. If there are no accidents or unlucky things in the man's house within three days, such as broken bowls, pots, etc., this is called "three good days". With this good sign, the man agreed to exchange Geng Tie. After changing the Geng tie, each invites someone to get married to confirm whether the man and woman are compatible with each other or incompatible with each other. If they are incompatible with each other, the marriage will have to be abandoned.
Contemporary people advocate free love. Although young men and women have long got rid of the marriage custom of "the orders of their parents and the word of the matchmaker", and the old custom of exchanging Geng Tie has been abandoned, many people still retain the "community" "Bazi" link.
Engagement
After choosing the auspicious "Bazi", it enters the engagement stage, that is, from the man preparing gifts to the woman setting the marriage, it is also called "(扌克) Ding". Gifts are usually gold and silver jewelry such as gold earrings, gold rings, and gold necklaces, as well as sugar and noodles, which are tokens of engagement. The woman must reciprocate the gift. Both men and women should distribute candies and cakes to relatives, friends and neighbors to inform them that the marriage has been decided.
Send the betrothal gift
The betrothal gift will be given after the engagement. Xingpin, also known as send-in. In the past, the betrothal gifts for the rich were gold, silver, colored satin, pigs, sheep, and wine and fruits; for the poor, betel nut, chicken and wine were nothing more. Chaozhou people regard betel nut as a symbol of good luck and good luck, which is a unique wedding gift.
Contemporary betrothal gifts include physical objects and cash. The physical objects must include at least four types: sugar, noodles, Taiji (Teochew mandarin oranges), gold and silver jewelry, clothes and fabrics, cakes, etc., but it cannot be an odd number, it must be an even number. . Cash is also called bride price, and it can be divided into one, two or four parts, but they are all multiples. During the betrothal gift, the woman must give a return gift, that is, return the cakes and food in the betrothal gift, and give in return mandarin ducks, bananas, oranges, pig hearts, etc. Mandarin ducks and bananas are bananas that grow side by side, symbolizing a hundred years of longevity together, and also have the meaning of attracting wealth; oranges are homophones of "auspicious", symbolizing good luck; pig hearts (half of which is left on the woman) symbolizes unity. At this time, both parties should solemnly distribute the cakes and snacks from the other party's gifts to relatives, friends and neighbors to report the happy event of the wedding. Relatives, friends and neighbors should also give gifts in return to express their congratulations. Giving a gift to the bride is called "giving pollen".
Choose a day
Choose a day. After the betrothal gift, the man must choose the date of the wedding and inform the woman, including telling her when to cut the wedding dress, when to "pull the face" (opening the face, that is, twisting the hair on the face with a thread), when to take a bath, and what Time to marry and so on. The time chosen by Chaozhou people is mostly late at night. The Chaozhou custom of welcoming brides late at night is indeed a legacy from ancient times. In ancient times, weddings always took place in the evening, so the bride-to-be must be welcomed after dusk, or even late at night.
Welcoming
Welcoming, this is the ceremony where the groom goes to the bride’s house to marry the bride, and it is also the most important procedure in the wedding. There are two types of wedding ceremonies in the old days: one is for the groom to welcome the bride, and the other is for the groom to ask a "lucky person" to greet the bride on his behalf. In modern times, most of the time, the groom welcomes the bride himself. During the entire process before and after the wedding, the bride and groom each have to hold some customary activities, including the following aspects:
Washing flowers with water
Before getting married, the bride must use jelly, Pomegranate flowers and other twelve kinds of flowers and plants are soaked in water and bathed in water. After bathing, they put on a top with "five robes in perfect order", also known as "senior sedan shirt", which means the five blessings are complete. In some places, after bathing, brides have to sit in the bathtub and eat two hard-boiled eggs to pray for smooth childbirth after marriage. Moreover, the bride cannot sew bags inside or outside the clothes she wears, so as not to take away the luck of her parents.
fenqianmi
Before getting married, the bride must "difenqianmi", that is, divide a lot of rice mixed with coins equally among the brothers and sisters in the family, which means dividing the wealth. To everyone. In Haishan Town, Raoping, the custom of dividing money rice is for the mother to put money rice in a dustpan or bamboo sieve, shake the dustpan vigorously, and chant while shaking: "If the dustpan is round, the children and grandchildren will be rich; if the dustpan is evenly divided, next year "Hold a male grandson." Then the money and rice are distributed to each of the bride's brothers and the bride. After taking it, the bride puts it into a specially made belly bag and puts the money and rice in the rice urn of her husband's family.
Eat half a bowl of rice
In the morning before the bride goes out, her family will cook a four- or nine-course breakfast for the bride to enjoy, which must include boiled pig intestines, There are four common dishes such as pork belly, braised vegetables and haohe vegetables. The rice for the bride should be filled to the brim, but the bride can only eat one side (i.e. half a bowl), which means that after getting married, there should be leftover money for her mother's family. .
Bed-laying
Before welcoming the bride, the groom must hold a solemn "bed-laying" ceremony when decorating the new house.
You should choose an auspicious day when setting up your bed, and the direction of the head of the bed should also be particular. After setting up the bed, a couplet saying "Good luck setting the bed" and "Qilin is here" should be pasted on the bed, and then a boy is asked to lie down on the bed for a while, which means that a baby will be born early.
Picking up the bride
On the wedding day, the groom goes to the bride’s house and takes the bride back by bicycle, motorcycle or car. The bridesmaid and uncle (the bride’s brother) accompany the bride. The uncle should bring a gift to the groom's house. In addition to a pair of male and female chickens, the gift should also include a bottle of lamp oil, which means the groom's "child". Nowadays, some use cosmetic oil instead of lamp oil. When the brother-in-law arrives at the in-laws' home, You will receive a warm reception at home.
When getting married, the bride must bring a dowry. The dowry must include a lamp, clogs, needlework, a mirror, a comb, a ruler, a rice tube, and a straw bellyband. Bring two uprooted sedges, toys and stationery for children, and socks for relatives and friends. Bring clogs, which means "growing old together" or "following the same steps"; bring a comb. It symbolizes that the bride is doing things in an orderly manner like combing her hair. Nowadays, some children use small quilts to fold them into the shape of a bellyband, and put straw heads in the quilt to form a straw head bellyband.
Eat "five bowls of head". , "House together"
After entering the bridal chamber, the bride has to eat "five bowls": dragon swordfish, pork liver with boiled onions, stir-fried pork with leeks, meatballs, and a sweet bowl of glutinous rice or taro. Put four sweet cups on the table, put brown sugar in each cup, and stick a little brown sugar on each dish, which means everything is sweet from beginning to end. The dragon swordfish symbolizes ability, and the pork liver and boiled onions symbolize officialdom, intelligence, and intelligence. To be reasonable, leeks symbolize longevity and rapid growth, meatballs symbolize reunion, and sweet bowls symbolize the sweetness of life. They are all good wishes for good luck and good luck. The bride and groom should sit at both ends of the bed to eat "heifangyuan", that is, sweet glutinous rice balls. After eating half of the meal, exchange the rest.
Serve sweet tea
At noon on the wedding day, the groom will entertain his relatives and friends. After the lunch, the mother-in-law or the groom will take the bride out to greet her relatives and friends. When the guests serve tea, they must strictly follow the order of generation. The mother-in-law or the groom must teach the bride one by one: who is this and what is the name of that? Red envelopes, commonly known as "face money", are given with some blessings.
On the wedding day, men and women chat and laugh, come to eat wedding candies and look at the bride. Returning to the house
On the third day of the wedding, the bride and groom will hold a "returning" ceremony, that is, returning to the bride's natal home three times in a row, commonly known as "first return to the house", "second return to the house", and "return to the house". "Three Returns". The bride and groom need to have lunch at their parents' home for the first two times, but they must return before cooking dinner. Only the third time they can stay overnight at their parents' home. In some places, the "return to the family home" is held four months after the wedding. "Door" ceremony.