Why did ancient brides cover their heads with red cloth when they got married?

The marriage of ancient brides is completely different from now. The bride should wear a red cloth on her head. After the groom visits the bride's house or enters the bridal chamber, the groom's official picks up the red cloth on the bride's head with a pole or something else. This practice can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the society was in turmoil, and many people had no time to use complicated wedding ceremonies to get married in a hurry when they met a good day.

Because it didn't conform to the wedding etiquette at that time, I covered the bride's face with gauze to hide my shame. This was only a stopgap measure at that time, but later generations passed it down as a custom. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, women generally used headscarves to keep out the cold. In the Tang Dynasty, the hijab gradually evolved into a hat worn from head to shoulder.

In addition, the custom of red cloth is also related to Zhuge Liang's wife. Around A.D. 197, Zhuge Liang prepared to choose a mate. Huang Yueying heard that Zhuge Liang had a good personality and profound knowledge, and he admired him very much. He proposed to his father. In order to judge Zhuge Liang's criteria for choosing a spouse, he asked his father to deliberately say that he was ugly in front of Zhuge Liang to see if he was an ordinary person who judged people by their appearances.

So Huang Yueying's father said to Zhuge Liang: You are choosing the other half of your life now, and I have an ugly daughter, which may be very suitable for you, because her talent is extremely high. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang readily agreed to the marriage. On the wedding day, Huang Yueying covered her head with a piece of red cloth. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang picked up the red cloth without saying anything. Later, Huang Yueying helped Zhuge Liang never to marry another woman in his life.