How the table was set in ancient marriages and what were the customs of men and women

First of all, it is to seek marriage. In ancient times, parents' orders and matchmakers' words were emphasized. First of all, the man's parents to find a matchmaker, to the matchmaker to introduce the situation, put forward the requirements of the search, to the matchmaker matchmaking gift and show their ability to bride price. In ancient times, matchmakers were professionals who went to the woman's home to introduce the man's situation according to the man's situation. If the woman's parents agree, the man travels to the woman's home to meet her. Both sides are by the parents, but some areas will let the girl hide in a place to secretly watch the male situation, for example, Anhui architecture is generally a circle of small buildings around a courtyard, the male party came in, the girl stood on the upper floors to see (I guess you can only look at the father to guess the son), the building has a very high fence, the people below can not see the above, if the favorites to tell the parents. Therefore, in fact, ancient China is not completely lifted the cover of the two people to recognize the blind marriage. After all, any parents want their daughters to have a good life in the future.

If the two sides feel that the door is right, the conditions are appropriate, the two families will give each other engagement tokens (some places are jade pendant, some places are geese). Interestingly, in some places, if the woman sees the man will give the man a tea, if the man is satisfied with the tea will be put on the table after a number of tea money (must be an even number), so the marriage is finalized.

Next is the betrothal. The two sides exchanged bazi and gave each other geng stickers with their names, bazi and ages written on them. If there is no conflict between the two parties, then the marriage will begin.

The "marriage ceremony" is when the two parties express their acceptance of each other, and the man chooses an auspicious day 15 to 20 days before the wedding to come to the woman's side to send a bride price, a hairpin, and a marriage certificate to propose marriage, which is known as the "big gift".

A few days before the wedding, the wedding bed will be placed in the proper position by a woman who is recognized as having a good fortune. And this person in the day before the wedding to make the bed, the mattress bed sheets, dragon and phoenix quilt, and then sprinkled with a variety of symbols of good luck fruit (jujube peanuts: early life, cinnamon round: complete, and lychee beans, etc.). This is called "making the bed". After the bed is settled, no one can enter the new room and touch the new bed.

This is the man's side. The woman has to prepare the dowry. The dowry will be brought with the girl on the wedding day. In ancient times, the dowry was a symbol of the status and wealth of the woman's mother's family; a woman with an insufficient dowry was likely to be bullied in her in-laws' home, and vice versa, it would help establish her status in her in-laws' home. There are many novels that describe this, for example, in Dream of the Red Chamber, Wang Xifeng often presses Jia Lian with the dowries that she and Mrs. Wang (her aunt) had when she married into the Jia family, and it always has a good effect.

Lastly, we come to the grand finale of the ceremony. It's what we call the wedding. Whew! Seems like it's still easy for modern people ah.

First is to welcome the bride. Ancient weddings were held in the evening. It's not quite the same as modern weddings. It seems that modern weddings must pick up the bride before noon to the evening becomes a second marriage. Before the groom leaves the house, he first has to pay homage to his ancestors, and the bride has to be groomed and covered with a red head by her mother herself. When the groom arrives, the bride is taken out of the boudoir by her sister or bridesmaids and handed over to her father, who then hands her over to the groom. After the bride and groom kowtowed to their parents-in-law, the bride was escorted to the man's home in a sedan chair by the groom.

The groom's family of women open the door to invite out the bride, and then by the male side of a blessed female elders will be tied into a concentric knot of red silk belt to the newcomers, the two holding the red belt into the hall. At this point, it is forbidden to step on the threshold, because the threshold represents the face of the door, the bride must cross over the threshold, and a girl holding a bronze mirror shone on the two people in order to complete.

Finally, it's time for the legendary worship session. Presided over by a protocol master of ceremonies, the newlyweds pay homage to heaven and earth, parents, and husband and wife, before being sent to the bridal chamber with drums and music.

The next morning, the bride and groom have to get up early *** with the in-laws, the groom has to introduce all the relatives of his family to his wife, and then the bride will serve tea to these elders

The third day is the bride and groom *** with the worship of ancestors, so that the bride will formally become a member of the family.

Finally there is a thank you gift for the matchmaker