What are the customs of ancient weddings?

Chinese traditional wedding customs originated from thousands of years of cultural and historical accumulation in China, and happiness and auspiciousness became the main theme of Chinese weddings.

One or three books

According to the traditional etiquette in China, it refers to the documents exchanged during the engagement, that is, the "engagement letter"-the engagement letter, which is exchanged at the time of engagement; "Gift Book"-a list of gifts, which lists the types and quantities of gifts in detail and will be exchanged when giving gifts; "Wedding Book"-a book for marrying the bride, which is used when picking up the bride at the door on the wedding day.

Second, six rites

It refers to the process from matchmaking to marriage. They are "talented"-commonly known as matchmakers, that is, the man's family asks the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's family, and the woman's family promises to propose marriage, and the man's family prepares gifts to propose marriage; "Ask the name"-commonly known as the eight characters, ask the matchmaker to ask the woman's date of birth and name to prepare for the wedding ceremony; "Naji"-that is, after the man's family has a good omen, he will prepare a gift to inform the woman's family that the marriage is preliminarily agreed; "Zheng Na"-also called a gift, the man chooses an auspicious day to hold an engagement gift at the woman's house; "Please invite"-choose an auspicious day to get married. In the past, auspicious days of the zodiac were usually bimonthly and bimonthly, and I didn't like to choose March, June, November and Wednesday with scattered voices. I don't choose six because I don't want a half-life marriage; 1 1 month is full of meaning. "Kissing"-On the wedding day, the man personally went to the woman's house with a congratulatory letter to marry the bride.

Third, make a bed.

A few days before the wedding, choose an auspicious day, spread bedding and sheets on the new bed, then spread a dragon and phoenix quilt, and sprinkle all kinds of happy fruits on the quilt, such as peanuts, red dates, longan and lotus seeds. In other words, the couple will have a baby early. Those who lift the bed, make the bed, and sprinkle happy fruits are all carefully selected "lucky"-parents are alive, brothers and sisters are complete, marriage is harmonious, and children are in pairs. Naturally, I hope that such people can bring good luck to the newcomers.

Four. dowry

The escort in the woman's home is a symbol of her family status and wealth. The dowry will be delivered to the in-laws at the latest the day before the wedding. In addition to clothes and ornaments, dowry is mainly a good omen, such as scissors, which means Hu Die and Qi Fei; Spiton, also known as the children's fight; Vase, meaning flowers bloom with wealth; Shoes mean growing old together; Feet, meaning fertile land and so on. Of course, customs and pay attention to different places.

V. Above

Prenuptial ceremony for men and women. It is also a good day to choose. Men and women comb their hair in their own homes and say loudly at the same time: comb it to the end, comb it to Qi Mei with white hair, comb it to the children and grandchildren, and comb it to four silver bamboo shoots. "Climbing to the top" is a very exquisite ceremony. Comb your hair with a new comb, and the person who helps "the top" must be a "full-blessed person", that is, this person is a person with six relatives and a house full of children.

Six, take the red umbrella

On the wedding day, the bride's sister or maid of honor stands in the open air and holds a red umbrella on the bride's head, which means "spreading the branches and leaves" and scattering rice into the sky and the top of the umbrella.

Seven, change Geng spectrum

The family members of the man and the woman exchange genealogies as evidence of their engagement. After the matchmaker proposed marriage, the characters of men and women did not collide, and the two sides changed the Geng spectrum.

Eight, Wen Ding, a gift.

The man's family will choose an auspicious day and bring some gifts to the woman's family, usually three sacrifices and wine gifts. , and formally issued a letter of appointment. "Guo Wen Ding" will be followed by the "Guo Da Li" ceremony, which is the most grand and important engagement ceremony. Because after this ceremony, it's like a formal engagement. Like Guo, men will choose an auspicious day and bring the same dowry and various gifts to the woman's home; And the woman's family will also prepare gifts in return. Gifts are even to get the meaning of "yes man".

Nine, crying marriage

"Book of Rites" said: "Marry a woman's house, keep candles for three nights, and miss each other. "In ancient times, because modern transportation was inconvenient, it was difficult for my daughter to see her family after she got married. In fact, married women can't go back to their parents' homes to visit relatives at any time, as they do today, and they need the consent of their husband's family. In addition, there is the following statement: It is said that crying marriage originated from the fact that ancient women could not marry freely, so they would use the song of crying marriage to accuse the unfair marriage system in ancient times.

Headscarf

Ladies usually cover their heads with a square red scarf three feet long on one side. This kind of red scarf is called "hijab", commonly known as red hijab. It is usually men who lift women's red hijab. There are generally two opinions about the wedding custom of hijab: one thinks that hijab is to hide shame; There is also a saying that originated from predatory marriage in ancient times, which means that the bride can never find her way back after covering her head.

Xi。 wedding ceremony

In ancient times, men had to greet the bride. "Greeting" is the most solemn etiquette among the six rites. Without the groom, there is no married bride. In ancient times, there were people on foot and by car, and it was more common to greet them with eight-person sedan chairs. People in sedan chairs must be strong. Don't touch someone else's sedan chair. You must walk around. When you come back from the wedding ceremony, you have to find a way to go back so that you won't go back. If you pass through temples, shrines, graves, wells, rivers and other places on the way, the married man should cover the sedan chair with a red carpet as a means of "avoiding evil spirits". If you meet a funeral procession on the road, the person who greets the wedding will say, "Lucky today, you have met a treasure!" " "Because the homonym of the coffin is' viewing wealth', which means seeing treasure. This is mainly for the sake of good luck.

Twelve. Meet the bride

Also known as "worshipping heaven and earth", it is a very important ceremony in the wedding. "Visiting the church" does not belong to the ancient "three books and six rituals". This marriage custom was very popular after the Song Dynasty. After "visiting the church", the woman officially became a member of the man's family. When "paying homage to the church", the master of ceremonies who presided over the wedding would say loudly, "One worships heaven and earth, the other worships the high hall, and the husband and wife worship the church and enter the bridal chamber together." In fact, worship of heaven and earth represents the worship of the god of heaven and earth; And worshipping Gaotang is the embodiment of filial piety; As for the worship of husband and wife, it means that husband and wife respect each other as guests.

Thirteen, get out

Going out means that the bride leaves her family. At the auspicious time, the woman must be carried on the sedan chair by Sister Daikin. It is said that it will bring bad luck if the bride lands on her feet. When going out, the bride's sister-in-law is not allowed to send it away. This is because the word Sister-in-law has the homonym of jinx, so people believe that going out to send her away will bring her bad luck. Nowadays, when the bride goes out, the bridesmaid will hold up a red umbrella to protect the bride, which means spreading her branches and leaves. While walking, Sister Dajin and other sisters sprinkled rice on the sky, the roof of the umbrella and the roof of the flower car to "feed the golden rooster", which means that the chicken will not peck the bride after pecking the rice. Finally, before boarding the float, the bride will bow to her relatives and friends to show her gratitude.

XIV. Doors

Passing the door means that the bride formally enters the man's house after leaving the woman's house to meet the elders of the man's house, such as Weng Gu. Legend has it that Aunt Weng can't directly see the newcomers entering the door in the lobby because there will be a collision. So when the woman enters the man's house, Weng Gu will come out of the room and meet the couple in the hall. Then the bride and groom will worship heaven and earth first, and then their ancestors. Newcomers will offer tea to Aunt Weng and bow down. Aunt Weng will say some greetings and send jewelry and gifts to the bride. The bride should wear the ornaments as soon as she receives them to show her gratitude. Then, the couple will offer tea to other elders and relatives.

Fifteen, three dynasties meeting door

That's mothering. Three Dynasties means that on the third day after marriage, the bride, accompanied by her husband, went back to her mother's house to worship her ancestors with roast pigs and gifts, and then went back to her husband's house with her husband. According to legend, there was such a custom in the pre-Qin period. Mothering-in-law means going back to my mother's high school to report my parents' peace. In ancient times, modern transportation was inconvenient. If a woman wants her husband's family to stay away from her mother's family, she may not have a chance to return to her mother's family after marriage. Therefore, returning to the door may be a woman's last chance to set foot in the family. Because of this, people attach great importance to visiting their parents, which is a wedding custom. When going home, men need to prepare: a roast pig, two boxes of cakes, a pair of wine, two bamboo sticks, a pair of chickens, lettuce, two baskets of raw fruit, two boxes of sticky rice noodles, two pounds of chicken lanterns, two pounds of pork belly and pork.

Sixteen, makeup

It is a ceremony that the man's family sent someone to bring gifts to urge the woman's family to make up the bride as soon as possible. In the Song Dynasty, three days before the wedding, the male family would give the female family ornaments, gold hijabs and flower fans, and the female family would use gold and silver to win over the royal family, Hualuopu heads, green robes and boots.

Seventeen, send makeup

A few days before the wedding, the bride's family sent someone to deliver the dowry to the man's house. Dowry is often packed in boxes, and some people spread it out with the square table to show off their dowry and send it to the man's house in a row. Dowry usually includes boxes, bedding, jewelry, clothes, silks and satins, Four Treasures of the Study and gold and silver utensils, as well as fields, houses, shops and pawn shops. In Zhejiang, there is a kind of dowry called "Tong Tong" (there is a big lid on the bucket for the bride to have a baby). The bucket contains red eggs and happy fruit, which is called "giving away children" and means blessing. In Shaoxing area, there is "daughter wine" as a dowry, that is, after the daughter is full moon or a few years old, that is, several winemaking jars are buried in the ground and taken out as dowry gifts for the man's family on the day of her marriage.

XVIII. Workshop

It is a ceremony that the woman sends someone to the man's house to build a new house, sometimes at the same time as sending makeup. In the Song Dynasty, the day before the wedding ceremony, the woman's family would send people to the new house, spread curtains, bedding and other utensils in the room, and prepare gifts to warm the room. Then use a trusted woman or a married woman to guard the room, and no outsiders are allowed to enter, waiting for the new person. The shopkeeper must be a "good woman" with a long life and a well-off family to get good luck. This custom is still popular in some modern places.

Nineteen, booze

Booze is almost an indispensable ceremony for every newly married couple. Today, "Eating Wedding Banquet" has become the abbreviation of folk wedding. The most important significance of the banquet is that the marriage of the bride and groom has been recognized by relatives and friends. Therefore, booze is also the most social part of the wedding.

Twenty, wine.

Connected by thread, the bride and groom each hold one side and drink opposite each other. The glass is divided into two, which symbolizes that couples are originally two bodies; Connect the handle with a thread, symbolizing that the two people are connected through marriage; One of them symbolizes that although the couple are still United. The newlyweds eat the dishes prepared by tripod and drink a glass at the banquet, which symbolizes the mutual respect, love and intimacy between husband and wife. Because of the profound significance of this ceremony, this program is essential for the subsequent wedding. Of course, with the changes of the times, the names are different, the utensils are also changing, and the forms of drinking are different.

Twenty-one, noisy room

In modern times, this is a ceremony for newlyweds to receive congratulations and frolic in their new houses on their wedding night. There is a folk saying that "it makes no difference to get married for three days" and "the more noisy, the happier". Different places have different ways and methods of "noisy rooms", and the degree of noisy is also divided into elegance and vulgarity. Sometimes it is too much, which often brings embarrassment and unhappiness to both the host and the guest, but because it adds a warm atmosphere to the wedding, this program is often essential in later weddings.