How many customs are there for getting married in China? What is Anhui custom?

There are countless wedding customs in China, and every place has its own customs. Let's talk about Anhui: Huizhou Marriage

In ancient Huizhou, the promotion of a marriage can be roughly divided into four stages: matchmaking, engagement, ceremony and marriage. Generally, there are nine procedures: matchmaking, hiring people, invitation, moving marriage, opening a face, welcoming relatives, paying homage to the bride, making trouble in the bridal chamber and returning to the door. After the above stages and procedures, it is "legal marriage". There are other special forms of marriage, such as child marriage, concubinage, changing relatives, adoption, pre-marital wedding and so on. In the old society, the marriage customs of Huizhou people were deeply influenced by feudal ethics, and many people were superstitious and took part in buying and selling marriages. Let's learn more about the nine procedures of marriage in Huizhou.

Matchmaker: In the old society, men 18 years old were regarded as "weak crowns" and women 15 years old were regarded as "He Shen". When children reach the age of thirteen or fourteen, parents begin to care about their marriage. Marriage emphasizes the right family, but in fact, every time the woman looks tall, the man needs to accommodate appropriately. Therefore, there is a saying that "it is high to marry a woman, low to ask relatives, and get together". ; Generally speaking, the good women in the village lobby each other, or the man chooses the object and entrusts the matchmaker to propose marriage. If the woman agrees, the matchmaker will get her eight-character red list and send it to the man's house. The man will put the figure of eight under the stove to see if there is an ominous sign. If the kitchen doesn't lose plates and bowls and lacks spoons and chopsticks within three days, it is considered auspicious. Birthdays, whether men or women, will be sent to fortune tellers to see if there is any conflict, and all of them will be passed. Only when it is confirmed can we formally ask for help and make peace.

Letter of appointment: commonly known as "decision-making" and "engagement", after both parties confirm their marriage, the man will prepare a red sticker called "Mandarin Duck Gift Book", write the date of birth of the man on the inside page, put it in a red envelope, write a marriage proposal, prepare a new writing brush and a new ink and put it in a red leather "book batch box", and ask a male relative of our family to bring a book batch box. At the same time, according to the woman's request, send "head gifts", such as clothes, jewelry, gifts and silver. For example, during the Republic of China, the silver gift in Yixian was 108 silver. But it also depends on family wealth, but the mantissa is eight, which means "If you want to get rich, you must never leave eight". Every silver dollar should be written with the word double happiness in vermilion. After the woman receives it, her parents (father and brother) should write the woman's birthday on the left side of the inner page of the Yuanyang gift book with their newly bought pen and ink, then write "Good luck" on the cover and send it back to the man as a "book batch". The gift money received by the woman is used to buy dowry, and the rich often increase the dowry themselves. This is a formal engagement. The mandarin duck gift book is an engagement certificate. After the engagement, the man will give gifts to the woman's family three times a year.

Invitation period: after the engagement, when a man and a woman get married, the man first invites the matchmaker to ask for marriage. After being accepted, the man picked up the wedding date, wrote it on the Khmer Rouge, accompanied by corresponding gifts, and asked the matchmaker to send it to the woman's home. It was called "invitation period" in ancient times. In modern times, it was called "sending to Japan". Moving marriage: The day before or on the wedding day, the man needs to send someone to the woman's house to move the dowry, which is called "moving marriage". During the wedding, the houses of both men and women are decorated with lanterns and firecrackers. Dowry is generally room furniture and daily necessities. Wealthy families will also put some gold and silver jewelry in the sacrificial box, so that the food, clothing, housing and transportation industries are readily available and the opportunity can be enjoyed for a lifetime. (Some even prepare coffins! ! )。

Open face: also known as "Lamian Noodles". On the wedding day, menstruation or aunt should give the bride a face, that is, aim two silk threads at the hair on the bride's forehead, otherwise she will be ridiculed as "hairy face". Opening a face means that girlhood is over.

Wedding ceremony: The wedding ceremony is on duty. The bride will get married in a sedan chair. There are several boats along the river. Wedding personnel are generally matchmakers, wedding brides, uncles and young men and women of the same age as the bride and groom. There are four sedan chairs and eight rich people. The groom usually goes in person, and there are some people in Shexian who don't need to drum music and don't want the groom to come to meet the bride. When I arrived at the woman's house, her door was closed. After the man stuffed the "happiness bag" into the door, I opened the door and fired a shot to welcome the guests. Then they began to "cry and marry", and the mother and daughter cried bitterly, but the crying was more music than sadness. Why are you crying? As the saying goes, "Don't cry, don't send, cry and send." After the sedan chair goes out, some places secretly hold a bowl of water and throw it out with the sedan chair, symbolizing "marrying a woman and throwing water". The sedan chair stopped at the gate of the men's village and waited for the groom to carry it into the village. There are allusions in it. If there is a quarrel after marriage, the daughter-in-law can argue that "I didn't walk to the door by myself, but you carried me in."

Meeting the bride: It's a custom in Shexian county. When the sedan chair arrives at the man's house, the groom greets the bride in person, that is, meeting the bride. It's a custom in Yixian County. When the sedan chair arrives at the door of the man's house, both the in-laws and the groom go upstairs, waiting for the bride to enter the bridal chamber, shouting "The generation is higher, the generation is better". The bride went into the new house, took a short rest, and then came out to pay her respects.

Make trouble in the bridal chamber: After the banquet of flowers and candles, relatives and friends gather in the bride's room, and everyone makes the bride laugh in various ways, or makes fun of the bride by creating some problems. The picture is also "fried".

Huimen: On the third day of their marriage, the bride visits her parents' home, which is called Huimen. If the groom is with him, it is called "double door". The son-in-law visits all the relatives and elders of the Yue family for the first time. At noon, the Yue family will hold a banquet and call for the son-in-law. There is a saying in Huizhou that "a mother-in-law sees her son-in-law, if she sees the emperor" and "a son-in-law comes to live in her ancestral home". So it's grand. For the first time, before sunset, newlyweds must leave and go home.