What did the ancients mean by "three media and six hires"?

"Three Media and Six Rites" is also called "Three Books and Six Rites"

Three Books and Six Rites are the traditional marriage etiquette in China. "Three Books" refers to the documents used in the process of "Six Rites", including appointment books, ceremony books and welcoming books. "Six Rites" refers to the whole marriage process from marriage proposal to marriage. "Six Rites" means accepting gifts, asking names, concubinage, accepting gifts, inviting parties and welcoming relatives.

1, "Three Books" is an instrument used in the process of marriage, which can be said to be an effective written record to guarantee marriage in ancient times. It means:

(1) letter of appointment: letter of appointment. When Naji (a man and a woman are engaged), the man's family gives the book to the woman's family.

(2) Ritual book: a document used in the ceremony, which lists the items and quantity of the ceremony.

(3) Wedding book: that is, the document to marry the bride. It is the certificate that the man gave to the woman when he came in to greet the bride.

2. "Six Rites" are six kinds of etiquette in the process of marriage, which refer to:

(1) Nacai: When the child gets married, the parents of the man's family find a matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's family.

(2) Asking the name: After the woman's parents accept the proposal, the woman's family brings her daughter's age eight characters back to the man's family, so that both men and women can live in harmony.

(3) Naji (also known as Guo): After receiving Geng Tie, he will put it in front of the gods or ancestors and ask for good or bad luck to confirm that the characters of the two sides do not conflict. After learning that there are no signs of contradiction between the two sides, they have initially agreed to get married.

(4) Requisition (also called gift): that is, the man's family sends the letter of appointment and gift to the woman's family. One month to two weeks before the wedding, the man's family will ask two or four female relatives (must be Quanfu) to make an appointment with the matchmaker and bring the bride price, gift money and dowry to the woman's family; At this point, the woman needs to return the gift.

(5) Inviting day (also called begging day): that is, the man chooses a good day for marriage and obtains the consent of the woman.

(6) Wedding reception: On an auspicious wedding day, the groom will wear a dress and personally take the matchmaker, relatives and friends to the bride's house. Before the groom goes to the woman's house, he needs to go to the ancestral temple of the woman's house and then send the bride to the man's house in a sedan chair. After the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, land and ancestors, the male family was sent to the bridal chamber.