What are the Three Books and Six Rites? What are the specific contents of the Three Books and Six Rites?

Introduction: Many people do not have a clear understanding of the concept of "Three Books and Six Rites". To put it simply, the ancients paid attention to the marriage of the Ming media, so they would complete the wedding process through the process of "three books and six gifts", "ten miles of red makeup", "cocktail chapel" and "eight carrying big sedan chairs", but what are the specific contents of "three books and six gifts"? Let's talk in detail about what three six rites are.

Three books are the necessary documents for the six rites when marrying a wife in ancient times, and also the guarantee of ancient marriage, which is completely equivalent to the current marriage certificate. Among them, "three books" refer to the letter of appointment, gift letter and welcome letter. The "Six Gifts" include accepting the lottery, asking the name, Najib, accepting the levy, inviting guests, and welcoming them in person.

Uncle San

Letter of appointment: This is a letter of appointment. In ancient times, when men and women were engaged, the man's family gave the woman a letter of appointment.

Gift book: it is a document that needs to be used when giving gifts, which mainly lists the items and quantities of gifts.

Welcome book: it is a document to marry the bride. When the bride enters the door, the man gives it to her.

Six rites

Nacai: When the child gets married, the parents of the man's family ask the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's family. When accepting gifts, the man's family needs to send about 30 kinds of auspicious gifts to the woman's family; The woman's family also asked the matchmaker about the man's family at this time. Yi Li Shi's Faint Rites: "Faint Rites, Order to Receive Gifts. Use geese. " Zheng Xuan's Note: "If you want to marry him, you must first let the media know what you said, and then let him know what he said, and the woman allows it, and then let people accept it."

Ask the name: commonly known as the combination of eight characters, that is, after the woman's parents accept the proposal, the woman's family brings her daughter's one-year-old eight characters back to the man's house, so that both men and women can live in harmony. The second ceremony of "Six Rites" in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The ceremony of "asking the name" was first seen in Yili: "Marriage has six ceremonies, namely, accepting the gift, asking the name, taking a concubine, accepting the levy, inviting the party, and welcoming the relatives." He also said: "Ask the name: whoever asks the name will have good or bad luck."

Najib (also known as Guo): After receiving Geng Tie, he will put Geng Tie in front of the gods or seek good or bad luck in the ancestral case to ensure 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.

Requisition (also called gift): that is, the man's family gives the letter of appointment and gift to the woman's family. Confucius' Book of Rites Ying Da: "Those who take the levy also take money. Sign, into also. Hire money before getting married. " After this ceremony, the engagement was completely established.

Invitation day (also called begging day): it is a good day for the man to choose to get married and get the consent of the woman.

Wedding reception (or wedding reception): On the wedding day, the groom in full dress will personally take the matchmaker and relatives and friends to the woman's house to marry the bride.

The Historical Origin of Three Books and Six Rites

The traditional marriage custom of "Three Books and Six Rites" has a long history and can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. The "Six Rites" of the Western Zhou Dynasty had an important influence on the marriage form of later generations.

Chinese ancient books "The Book of Rites" and "The Book of Rites" all discuss this. "The Book of Rites" says: "Those who are faint in ceremony will be in harmony with their two surnames, living in the temple of the upper class and succeeding the later generations. Therefore, the most important thing for men is to receive gifts, ask names, receive gifts, and light invitations. All the masters are just a few outside the door. When they enter the concession, they guard the temple, worship outside the door, and they are promoted. According to the book Book of Rites, there are six gifts when you are confused, such as receiving gifts, asking names, receiving gifts, inviting parties and welcoming guests. It can be seen that this traditional marriage custom originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is generally believed that this marriage custom was established in the Qin Dynasty and then used in the Han Dynasty.