Hakka crying and marrying

Authentic Hakka weddings begin with "crying marriage".

At that time, after the Hakka men and women were engaged to the bride price, the bride-to-be would stay at home, stay indoors, invite unmarried sisters to marry him and start crying. Crying refers to singing wedding songs with crying voice. The tune is fixed, but the lyrics are improvised. Such as "Curse the sedan chair song": kick your coffin (referring to the sedan chair) on the head with a blue brick roof tile; Kick the lid of your coffin. How many girls do you carry a year? Crying for marriage is a long-standing custom of Hakka, which contains auspicious meaning. It is considered unlucky not to cry or sing when getting married.

On the wedding day, the man set off firecrackers, beat gongs and drums and played wedding songs. The bride's "Sister Daikin" guided the sedan chair forward. "Sister Dajin" is a pre-selected married woman in the village. She is blessed and loves to plan. The groom, wearing a hat, gown, jacket and red flowers, followed by a group of brothers, commonly known as "stepping stones" (homophonic), ran to the bride's house.

The bride bathed in grapefruit leaf water early in the morning, and then combed her hair with a song sung by her elder sister. She wore a new wedding dress and a dress with feathers, and all the sisters sang a wedding song with her. The sedan chair came to the bride's door, and the girls who accompanied the bride closed the door and asked the groom for admission. The girls offered high prices and bargained "pushing stones". The two sides came and went, and the bargaining voice was endless and the atmosphere was warm. When it is time for the bride to go out, the girls will reluctantly compromise and let their guard down. Taking advantage of this good opportunity, Sister Dajin and the groom pushed the stones in. Sister Dajin took the lead, carried the bride on her back, rushed out of the door and went straight to the sedan chair. The bride struggled, cried and cursed, tried to resist, but was finally put on the sedan chair. To some extent, this custom is a variant of the ancient custom of robbing marriage. In the cheers of the crowd, the sedan chair set off, firecrackers exploded, gongs and drums, the sound of welcoming the bride and the sound of the bride crying and marrying interwoven into a Feng Huang Yu Fei movement.