China is a country of etiquette, so what are the "six rites" in ancient times?

The ancient "Six Rites" were accepting gifts, asking names, accepting gifts, inviting guests and welcoming people. It is an ancient wedding etiquette, which originated in the Zhou Dynasty. It is still used in folk marriage customs, but it is not strictly followed.

In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou established the conditions for marriage, that is, six rites. Six rituals began in slave society. Although the marriage procedure in feudal society experienced the changes of the times, it basically did not break away from the scope of the six rites, and there were similar provisions in the laws of Tang and Ming Dynasties. This marriage procedure is a combination of arranged marriage, forced marriage and commercial marriage, which is full of strong superstition.

The contents of these six ceremonies include six aspects, which are actually six procedures for marriage; The bride's family asked the matchmaker to propose marriage, and the bride's family agreed to discuss the six wedding ceremonies, and the groom's family was ready to propose marriage. Asking the name means that the man's family asks the matchmaker to ask the woman's name and date of birth. Naji, the man brought back the eight characters and names of the woman and divined in the ancestral hall. Levi, also known as money, means that the man's family gives the woman a dowry.

During the invitation, the man's family chooses the wedding date and informs the woman's family to prepare for the ceremony in order to obtain her consent. The bride sent a dowry a day or two before the wedding and made the bed. The groom went to the bride's house to get married the next day.

In each process, this person will send a wild goose. Because geese are migratory birds, they are punctual and trustworthy. . It turns out that ministers send lambs, doctors send geese and scholars send pheasants. Later, they all became geese. Other programs send geese only symbolically.

The six-ceremony marriage procedure is so complicated that most people simply have no time and financial resources to bear it. Therefore, only officials and nobles strictly abide by it. However, folklore also takes this as a reference and merges some procedures, for example, the first and second can be completed at one time, and the third and fourth can be merged. Up to now, folk wedding customs can also see the influence of the Western Zhou Dynasty and Six Rites.