What did ancient people use to marry their wives?

In the 1950s, my grandfather married my grandmother with only a bucket of rice, and in the 1970s, my father married my mother with only half a pig. But it was our turn to get married, but it almost killed my parents. If you get married now, you will not only buy a car and a house, but also pay hundreds of thousands of dowry money. If we could travel back to ancient times, would it be easier to marry a wife? So today, Bian Xiao will tell you about it and see what dowry the ancients used to get married.

The custom of bride price can be traced back to primitive tribal times. After both men and women reach an engagement, the man will provide some assets to the woman in order to show his sincerity, which also means making an appointment. It was just that the bride price at that time had nothing to do with money, but a live wild goose, because wild geese are migratory birds, and sometimes they come and go, never breaking their promises, symbolizing the loyalty of both men and women; Of course, if you are a local tyrant, you can also add a deerskin to your dowry, and then your daughter-in-law can get married in foreign fur.

The Zhou Dynasty's "Zhou Li" stipulates that men and women should perform six rituals when they get married, that is, first propose marriage, then ask the girl's name, and then calculate whether you two match. Next, they will make a dowry, then choose an auspicious day and finally get married. At this time, the dowry is five rolls of silk, which means silk. Five pieces of cloth can marry a daughter-in-law. If I can start over, I really want to go back to the Zhou Dynasty.

During the Warring States period, although money was widely used, it was still a very cheap thing to marry a daughter-in-law. At this time, the dowry is still only symbolic cloth, but there are specific requirements for cloth. "In the Soul of History" records that when a scholar-bureaucrat marries a daughter-in-law, he should use a cloth with red in black and a cloth with red and yellow colors. God, isn't this the color of fried rice with eggs, huh? Because these two colors, one representing the sky and the other representing the earth, are the most respected colors of the Chinese nation, it seems that the ancients are more interested in good luck than money.

In the Han Dynasty, dowry became complicated. In addition to the ancient geese and the cloth of the Zhou Dynasty, there are thirty things such as sheep, japonica rice, sake and white wine. Most importantly, money has become an important part of dowry since then. Without money, it is estimated that you really can't marry a wife.

In the Tang dynasty, due to the integration with ethnic minorities, the bride price was not so important; From thirty things in the Han Dynasty, it has been reduced to nine things, but it is worth noting that the goose has become a particularly important thing at this time. Since the proposal, every time I go to the woman's house, I have to bring a goose. If the goose is difficult to catch, you can use chickens and geese instead.

The bride price in Song Dynasty is quite special, mainly tea. According to tea tasting records, tea seeds will definitely grow after planting, but if tea leaves are transplanted, tea leaves will not produce tea seeds. Therefore, tea is used as a dowry, hoping that the bride can be loyal to her life.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, money was still the main dowry. In the 1950s, when New China was just founded, every family had little money, so it was basically unnecessary to marry a daughter-in-law. Two sheets are rolled together, and they are called marriage. Since 1970s, I began to pay attention to three kinds, watches, bicycles and sewing machines. Now, no car, no room and no ticket, who will accompany you?