In China, people of all ethnic groups have their own national customs and festivals. People of all ethnic groups hold various celebration activities according to their own customs, with their own strong national unique style. Among them, wedding customs best represent the cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups. In the old days (Ming and Qing Dynasties), weddings of wealthy families were very particular. The so-called "six rites" could be performed before the marriage could be completed, namely accepting, asking for the name, accepting the auspiciousness, accepting the invitation, asking for the date, welcoming the bride, etc.
Nacai - also called betrothal, is the first gift in a wedding. The man brings a proposal gift to the woman's house and asks for her choice. Before that, the matchmaking had been done, and it was just a formal procedure to propose.
Ask for the name - the man writes his name, year, month, day and hour of birth on a Geng Cambodian post, and sends it to the woman's home. The woman's name, birth year, month, day, and hour are returned to Cambodia. This is called asking for a name.
Najib - for the formal engagement ceremony. After asking for names, the couple's gender is calculated as appropriate and an auspicious date is decided. The man prepares wedding gifts and sends them to the woman's family, and the marriage is considered confirmed.
Nazheng means to accept betrothal. After the engagement, after a period of time, the age and time of the two parties are suitable for marriage. Give the man toilet utensils and gifts, and go to the woman’s house to inform him that he is ready to betrothed.
Applying period - after accepting the application, if the woman has no objection, the man will choose an auspicious day, write a wedding invitation, indicate the date and time of the wedding, and ask the woman to agree. If the woman replies and agrees, the last ceremony can be performed.
Welcoming the bride - it’s a wedding. On this day, the man goes to the bride's house to welcome the bride and perform the ceremony of making love and worshiping the bride.
In the old days, the "Geng Jian" (also known as "Geng Tie") for "asking for names", that is, the eight-character post, used a small piece of red paper. Fold in half to look like a large envelope. The word "Geng Han" is written on the cover.
The wedding invitation is also written on a piece of red paper.
The age of marriage is generally between " and 20 years old. Rich families usually marry their younger sons-in-law (10 to 16 years old) to their eldest daughters-in-law. In the old days, wealthy families believed that they should be well-matched, and only after the matchmaker's advice could the parents' orders Marriage. The original ancient wedding customs of the Leishan Miao people have their own unique forms and customs. Although the society has entered the 21st century, the traditional customs and local customs of the Miao people are still very strong. Six types:
1. Traditional marriage.
2. Corn-eye marriage. This is the Miao people living in Qiaogang, Zhangpi, Taojiang and other places. Marriage customs: When young men and women grow up, they will be engaged by a matchmaker.
3. Marriage between aunt and uncle. This is a blood cousin marriage.
4. , Secret marriage.
5. This is a common wedding phenomenon in the new era. 6. This is a Miao wedding custom. Another form of wedding. Before the engagement, both parties first inquire about each other's family background, family background, body odor, and sexually transmitted diseases. They think that the family background is similar, and the matchmaker will make a match after the family members of the man and the woman agree. The girl's Geng Tie, which details the year, month, day and hour of the girl's birth, is sent to the boy's family. The boy's family asks a fortune teller or private school teacher to calculate whether the boy and girl are auspicious and whether their zodiac signs are compatible. This is commonly known as "a good marriage". It is also said that before the engagement, the groom's family prepares a banquet and invites the matchmaker to accompany the bride's parents and relatives to meet the future son-in-law. After a few days, the bride's family prepared a banquet and invited the groom's family to go to the bride's family for a blind date. During the banquet, the unmarried daughter-in-law came out to see her.
When the husband's family wants to consummate the marriage, they ask "Mr." (a person who practices divination or divination in the countryside) to read "good" (i.e., look at the day), select an auspicious day, and write it on a piece of red paper. Buy two packs of snacks and ask the matchmaker to deliver them to the girl's family. After getting the girl's consent, write down the date of the ceremony. Some people call the ceremony "Zhou Zha", which probably refers to the etiquette handed down from the Zhou Dynasty. .
The groom’s family still brings two food boxes, and the betrothal gifts are generally the same as when Xu Kou was married, but most of them are the clothes used by the woman at the time of marriage, and the quantity and quality are better than those when Xu Kou was married.
p>
On the day of the ceremony, if the bride's family is a "bitter person", they will be picky about the quantity, quality, or even fault of the gifts. At this time, incense cannot be burned and cannons cannot be fired. It is only if the matchmaker can talk things through to the bride's family. , if the disparity is large, the matchmaker will have to make a special trip to the groom’s family to tell them. If the groom’s family accepts it generously and agrees to increase the gift, the bride’s family will be fine. If the groom’s family is stingy and refuses, the matchmaker will have to do the work of both parties. The food boxes cannot be returned on the same day, and some stay at the bride's house for three or five days, resulting in disputes.
Generally, the bride's family holds a sumptuous banquet on the day of the ceremony. Eight tables (eight plates and eight bowls) are used to entertain the matchmaker. The guests are mostly uncles and uncles of the girl's family. When the girl's relatives come, some give them jewelry, clothes, etc., which is called "Tianxi".
After the bride’s family accepts the wedding day, the groom’s family begins to prepare for the wedding: ordering a suona class, ordering a sedan chair, ordering a steward, a chef, preparing food, etc.
The wedding day is the most popular day
The groom's family is generally divided into two groups: one is the group of people who entertain the guests, including the accountant, the cook, the cook, the picker, the custodian, the Twenty or thirty people, such as entertaining, wiping tables, washing dishes, etc., are all arranged by the general manager. A list of deacons is posted in advance, and each of them performs his or her duties. One is the group of people welcoming the bride. The Lu family is very particular about welcoming guests. There is a saying that "If the aunt doesn't welcome guests, if the aunt doesn't see them off, he will pick up his concubine and jump forward."
It's too early to go to the bride's house and several people will carry the dowry back, which is commonly known as "carrying the box". Afterwards, this group of people accompany the groom to welcome his aunt. The groom rides a horse or a sedan (one of the empty sedans is reserved for the bride). There are two "bringers" in front and two in the back who "marry the aunt" (young women), commonly known as "pressing". Head and face". When setting off, firecrackers shook the sky, gongs and drums blared, and the suona team was in front. Those who played gongs, led horses, carried wild geese cards, and held worship boxes (with invitations inside) surrounded the sedan chair. Hao Aai came to the woman's house. The groom and the noodle were welcomed into the guest room and served ten bowls of dishes. Before using chopsticks, the bridegroom took out two buns, took out the buns, put some meat in them, put the two buns together and wrapped them in red cloth. It is tied with a red rope and asked to be taken back by relatives, ready for the newlyweds to eat after entering the bridal chamber.
After the meal, the groom will be accompanied by his relatives to the bride’s ancestors’ spiritual tablets to offer incense
The groom’s relatives will first put red clothes on the groom and arrange flowers (golden flowers on his hat). Three cups. Then the horse leader leads the groom to the courtyard, kneels down and bows to the bride's parents and elders, and then returns to the guest room. At this time, the musicians started playing, and the bride wore a phoenix crown, a red veil, a red silk jacket, green silk trousers, a crimson or pink satin skirt around her waist, satin embroidered shoes, and held a mirror (commonly known as a demon mirror) in both hands. , the elder brother or younger brother carried him into the sedan chair. In some villages, relatives hold the sedan chair. Three cannons are fired, and the groom is asked to mount his horse, the sedan chair is lifted, and all the bridegrooms return in order. The man holding the worship box has to carry the woman's clothes hanger, curtains, towels, etc.; another person has to carry oil lamps and kettles. There are two aunts in the girl's family riding horses, and other relatives accompanying them in the sedan. When encountering a funeral procession or a new grave on the road, the top of the sedan chair should be covered with red felt. If there is a well platform on the roadside, the well will be covered with red felt. When entering Nanjia Village, three cannons were fired. Before the bride's sedan has even landed on the ground, one person lights firecrackers and walks around the sedan for a week. After that, she gets off the sedan and her parents' family sends relatives to carry the bride into the hospital. Along the way, the ground is paved with red carpet, and one member of the male family is holding a grain basket (containing straw knots, dates, walnuts, etc.) and walking with the bride. It is commonly known as scattering grains and entering a wealthy family, also known as removing hijab. In villages where there is no red blanket, two red horse mattresses are used, rotating them towards the front. The bride enters the room, sits on the bed and faces the God of Joy (corner). Then a banquet was held to entertain the guests.
After entertaining the guests
The newlyweds came out of the room and stood together in front of the heaven and earth table. Three cannons were fired and the musicians played music. The person who sings the greeting card (the master of the ceremony) begins to sing: first bow to the heaven and earth, second bow to the parents in the high hall, third bow to relatives and guests; bow in order according to seniority (relatives all give money to the greeting card). After paying their respects to heaven and earth, the newlyweds went into the room to eat Hexi noodles and drink a glass of wine. Then, peers gather to have fun, commonly known as "making room". At the same time, the in-laws of both men and women (or their uncles) go to the main room to exchange wedding invitations. The woman hands over the dowry and red wedding invitations, and the man hands over the thank-you invitations. After the exchange of posts, both parties saw off the guests and bowed to express their gratitude according to their seniority. After the guests left, the male and female relatives came to have a banquet again, and then the female family members returned. ·
Wedding night banquet
On wedding night, young people and children crowd into the new house, and there are people on the underground kang. Some asked the newlyweds to tell tongue twisters, some asked the two to push the cart, and some asked the two to "cross the overpass"... It was humorous and playful, and some also played pranks.
On the second day of the wedding in Shaanxian County and Mianchi, the bride’s brother and sister-in-law went to the husband’s house to “comb their hair”, and on the third day the couple went to recognize their marriage. In most counties, it is the third day after the marriage that someone from the girl's family comes to pick her up and "come home". It was sent back to the husband's house the next day. There are also cases where she returns home on the second day and returns to her husband’s house on the third day.