Marriages in ancient times were mainly robbed marriages. Because robbed marriages were mostly carried out at night, marriage was first called "twilight cause", and the so-called wedding means "getting married in the dark". Due to the strong barbaric nature of plundering marriages and the constraints imposed by various conditions, weddings in the initial sense were very simple. With the development of human civilization and political economy, weddings have gradually become an important etiquette in people's lives. After thousands of years of development and inheritance, wedding customs have become a unique cultural phenomenon rooted in the entire Chinese culture.
Welcoming brides in sedan chairs: According to records, the earliest sedan chairs were only used by nobles in the royal palace, while "sitting in sedan chairs" for married women was suitable for the Song Dynasty. The sedan chair was a means of transportation for high-ranking officials in ancient times. After the establishment of the imperial examination system, in order to show the importance of talents, all candidates who passed the examination were greeted with a sedan chair. Because getting married is a great event in life, people call it "little admission" and think it is as glorious as getting a job. Because of this, even ordinary people still want their new daughter-in-law to sit in a sedan chair for a "ceremonious" ceremony. There are many things to pay attention to when using a sedan chair to welcome the bride. On the afternoon before the bride is married, the sedan bearers will carry the sedan chair to the groom's house. In the evening, hundreds of candles will be lit in the sedan chair, which is called "lighting the sedan chair", that is, the red candles will be shining high, which means to drive away ghosts and pray for blessings. After the sedan chair arrives at the bride's house, it must first stop in the hall. The bride's family invites an old woman to take a look back and forth in the sedan chair with a mirror, which is called "looking at the sedan chair." Its meaning is similar to that of the groom's bright sedan chair; the bride gets on the sedan chair , most of them are carried or carried into the sedan chair by the bride's father and brother. In some places, the bride wears her own red embroidered shoes, then puts on the big shoes of her father and brother, walks to the sedan chair, and then takes off the big shoes after getting on the sedan chair. According to superstition, when a woman gets married, she should not touch the ground with her feet, otherwise she will offend the earth god. After the bride gets on the sedan chair, the bearer will ask for auspicious money, and the woman can only "get up the sedan chair" after giving it to her.
The bride’s veil: starting from the moment she gets on the sedan chair and before entering the bridal chamber, the bride must cover her head with a “red hijab”. Some say that the bride is embarrassed to marry a new person, so she covers her head to cover her shame; some think that the red cloth is used to ward off evil spirits. In fact, there are traces of primitive plundering marriages here. When snatching the bride, in order to prevent her from shouting and seeing who is coming, her head must be covered after grabbing her. This custom has been continued at weddings since then.
Spreading grains and beans: Before the bride gets on the sedan, she should ask an old lady with good fortune and longevity to hold utensils containing millet, beans and other grains, and scatter them everywhere. The last handful should be scattered in the sedan. . When the sedan chair arrives at the groom's house, some people scatter grains and beans as usual. The meaning of this is that the woman hopes that her daughter will have enough food and clothing and enjoy happiness after she gets married; the man hopes that the bride will bring good luck and a bumper harvest! Some people say that this custom is to ward off evil spirits, scattering some grain to those troublesome ghosts and gods to prevent them from entering the house. This is also the meaning of someone throwing wheat skin on the stairs at a modern wedding.
Going to the church to get married: Going to the church, also known as worshiping heaven and earth, is the most important gift in the wedding process. Because the union of men and women continues the human race, they must first worship heaven and earth; starting from marriage, women become formal members of the man's family, so they must worship the high hall; after marriage, men and women will become one body, so husband and wife must worship each other. Regarding worshiping heaven and earth, there is a legend: When Nuwa created humans, she only gave birth to one offspring. Although this young man had food, clothing, and freedom, he felt very lonely, so he asked Old Man Moon to find him a close friend. The old man of the moon asked Nuwa to create a girl for them to become partners. When they got married, the moon led two white-haired elders and said to them, "These are the God of Heaven and the Mother of Earth. You will be inseparable from them in your future lives. First of all, you must pray to the God of Heaven and the Mother of Earth who raised you." Worship." Since then, the custom of "worshiping heaven and earth" has been passed down.
Spreading flowers and fruits: Before the newlyweds enter the bridal chamber, they must choose an auspicious elder from their relatives who has a complete set of children. He holds a tray filled with dates, chestnuts, longans, peanuts, etc., and walks into the bridal chamber. While grabbing these fruits and scattering them to the bed tent, he chanted: "Throw a date, and get a little one (son); throw a chestnut, and get a nanny (daughter); a handful of chestnuts, a handful of dates, the little ones follow the big ones. "Run." Dates are homophones for "Hao Zi", chestnuts are homophones for "Li Zi" or "Ni Zi", and peanuts mean that a couple will give birth to a boy and raise a girl. Together, it means that you will have a son early and have both children. According to records, the custom of spreading tents began with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty married Mrs. Li, he welcomed her into the tent and sat down. The emperor ordered the palace people to scatter the prepared five-color flowers and fruits into the tent. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Mrs. Li who were sitting in the tent rushed to hold up the corners of their clothes. It is believed that having more fruits means having more children after marriage. From then on, throwing the tent has become not only a fun and playful gesture in weddings, but also an indispensable blessing ceremony. Some people believe that the colorful confetti at modern weddings is inherited from the scattering of colorful flowers and fruits.
Setting up the bed and setting up the tent: After the setting up of the tent, the auspicious mother-in-law will help the newlyweds lay out the quilt, and while spreading it, she will also say auspicious words such as "Happy marriage will last a hundred years, and a baby will be born soon". This is called "setting up the bed." ". After the bed is laid, the newlyweds are invited to sit together. First, the groom takes off the bride's hijab, which is called taking off the tassel. Then the newlyweds drink "Jiaobei wine". Before the Song Dynasty, they drank it with a gourd. When the two are combined, it's done. The shape of a gourd symbolizes the couple becoming one. After the Song Dynasty, wine cups were used, and the two wine cups were tied together with red thread. After drinking, the wine cups were placed under the bed. If the wine glass tilts up and closes, it is considered auspicious, symbolizing the relationship between heaven and earth, men bowing down and women looking up, harmony between yin and yang, and a happy marriage. After drinking a glass of wine, a strand of hair on the left and right sides of the man and woman should be combined together, which is called a "combination bun", also known as a hair knot. According to some research, the custom of tying hair at weddings comes from an ancient love witchcraft.
The ancients believed that hair is a part of the body and contains the human soul. If a spell is cast on the hair, it will have a direct impact on the owner of the hair. For example, in "Jin Ping Mei", after Pan Jinlian fell out of favor, she wrote Ximen Qing's birth date on a small wooden figure and entangled him with her own hair, hoping to draw Ximen Qing to her side again. Although this kind of witchcraft has a strong superstitious color, once this kind of good wish is transplanted to something as solemn as a wedding, it loses the element of love witchcraft and is replaced by a folk symbol of husband and wife's love and loyalty. . After drinking the wine and tying the hair, the groom’s right lapel should be pressed against the bride’s left lapel. It is said that men should overwhelm women. The above ceremonies are collectively called tent sitting. After the tent sitting is over, the wedding is basically over.
Due to different customs and habits in different places, wedding customs are also different. In some places, rituals such as jumping on the brazier, carrying the wife on the back, making wedding arrangements, and eating dumplings and noodles are also necessary in some places.
Essentially, marriages in ancient China were centered on the needs of the family. In order to express the wish to carry on the family line and pray for peace, almost every wedding program is endowed with cultural and even divine meanings< /p>