Traditional culture questionnaire

Cultural differences between Chinese and western wedding customs

First of all, about traditional weddings. The traditional wedding customs in China are "three books and six rites" and "three worships and nine knocks". The so-called "three books" refer to the letter of appointment, the letter of gift and the letter of welcoming relatives. Engagement letter: A letter of formal engagement between a man and a woman. When Najib (Guo) is used. Gift book: Gift book, that is, gift list, lists the types and quantities of gifts in detail. Use it when receiving gifts. Marriage book: a book for marrying a bride. For picking up the bride on the wedding day. The "Six Gifts" refer to receiving gifts, asking names, Najib, receiving gifts, inviting parties and welcoming guests. (Nacai: In ancient times, the first wedding ceremony was to ask the matchmaker for advice when the woman was interested. It was called Nacai, and now it is called "proposal". Seeking a name: a man asks a woman's name and date of birth, which is called seeking a name, and now it is called "eight characters" Najib: If the name is auspicious, sending a matchmaker to give a small gift is called Najib, and now it is called Guo or Guo. Levy: Giving gifts such as cash gifts, cakes, gifts and sacrifices is a formal bride price, which is called levy, and now it is called "gift". Invitation date: the man asked the fortune teller to choose the date, which is called the invitation date, also known as "begging for an appointment", and now it is called "choosing a date". Kissing: The groom takes a limousine to the bride's house to pick her up. This is called kissing. There are a series of activities in the middle, such as changing the Geng spectrum, writing documents, giving gifts, going to bed and so on. There are many taboos and customs in these activities, such as scissors (butterfly Qi Fei), spittoon (children's bucket), ruler (fertile land), candy (sweet honey), silver belt (wealth), vase (blooming), copper basin and shoes (with the elderly), dragon and phoenix quilt, sheets and pillows. At the same time, there is a certain order when the wedding is going on. According to the general situation, there are: ancestor worship (the man worships his ancestors before going out to marry the bride. Let's go (Even wedding lines are better. Firecrackers should be set off along the way to celebrate the procession of the wedding car. ), waiting for the groom (when the limousine arrives at the woman's house, there will be boys waiting for the groom with tea plates. After the groom gets off the bus and before entering the woman's house, he should reward the boy with a red envelope. The groom will hold a bouquet of flowers in the room for the bride to get married. At this time, the bride's close friend will stop the groom and forbid him to see the bride. The woman can ask the groom's consent before entering. Farewell (the bride will bow to her parents to say goodbye, the father will cover the veil, and the groom will only bow. ), go out (the bride should be escorted on the limousine by the female elders of Fu Gao De Shao with bamboo curtains or black umbrellas, because the bride's position on the wedding day is greater than anyone else, and it is not allowed to compete with heaven. ), the car (after the bride gets on the bus, the car will start soon. Her parents will sprinkle a bowl of water and white rice behind the car, which means that her daughter has spilled water, and she will never ask questions again. I wish her all the best and food and clothing. Throw a fan (after the car starts, the bride will throw the fan out of the window to show that she will not bring bad temper to her husband's family. The fan will be picked up by the bride's brother, and you must cry a few times after throwing it out. A "bamboo curtain" will be built behind the car to symbolize wealth. ), burning guns (on the way from the woman's house to the man's house, we must also set off a salute all the way. Touch the orange) When the welcoming team arrived at the groom's house, a child with an orange or an apple greeted the newlyweds. The bride should caress the orange and give a red envelope as a gift. These two oranges should be left for the bride to peel at night, which means "longevity") and hold the bride (when the bride walks out of the limousine, a blessed elder of the man should hold a bamboo curtain on her head and help her enter the hall. When entering the door, the newcomer must not step on the threshold, but cross it. Wedding reception (both Chinese and western weddings are quite popular now. Most of them entertain guests at night and hold ceremonies at the same time. At the wedding reception, the bride can take off her wedding dress and put on her evening dress to propose a toast to each table one by one. After the wedding reception, the newlyweds stood at the door to see off the guests. They had to carry tea trays full of cigarettes and sweets. ), make trouble in the bridal chamber (the size of the disaster of the newlyweds depends on whether the newlyweds have teased others at other weddings or whether they have been loyal to others. 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, or even stayed for a while, and then went home with her husband. )。 We can see the complexity of our culture, but don't think that complexity is the uniqueness of our wedding. In fact, although different countries have different wedding customs, from the complicated details and metaphors of articles, we can see that respect and expectation for marriage have no national boundaries. In western countries, there are some customs at weddings, such as some old, some new, some borrowed and some blue. Old refers to the wedding dress, headdress or jewelry handed down by mother, representing all beautiful things; New refers to gifts given by friends, such as skirts and ornaments, which symbolize a new life; Borrowing means that you can borrow things from anyone. It is said that you can borrow money or silver from rich relatives and friends and put it in your shoes to symbolize wealth. Blue means that some trinkets or bouquets of the bride are blue, which means the purity and chastity of the bride. There are also many customs of holding weddings in the west. For example, when getting married, the bride always carries a handkerchief. Westerners believe that white handkerchiefs symbolize good luck. According to folklore, farmers believe that the tears shed by the bride on the wedding day can make the sky drop dew and nourish crops. Later, the tears of the bride on the wedding day became a good sign that she would have a happy marriage. At weddings, the bride always stands on the groom's left. It is said that in ancient times, the Anglo-Saxon groom wanted to protect the bride from being taken away by others. At the wedding, the groom asked the bride to stand on her left. Once a rival in love appears, she can immediately wield a sword to scare off the enemy. When holding a wedding banquet, the wedding cake should be specially customized. According to historical records, since Roman times, at the end of the wedding, people will break a piece of bread on the bride's head-wheat symbolizes fertility and crumbs represent luck. Newcomers must use icing to make today's wedding cake. It can be seen that the marriage customs in the West are not simpler than those in China.

Followed by clothing. In the wedding ceremony, there are not only rituals and customs to be observed, but also costumes. In traditional Chinese weddings, the bride and groom wear red dresses, which symbolizes good luck and indicates that the married days will be prosperous. Western brides wear white dresses. White has been a symbol of celebration since Roman times. From 1850 to 1900, white is also a symbol of wealth. At the beginning of this century, the pure meaning represented by white is far more than others. The west believes that white is related to virginity. The bride in ancient Rome wore a white wedding dress and a bright orange veil, symbolizing the flame of passion. In the western Catholic tradition, white represents happiness; In other areas, white represents various ceremonies and meanings in their weddings and funerals. For example, among the Andaman islanders, white represents a change in status. The "traditional" white wedding dress was the privilege of nobles in the early days. In the Victorian era, most brides could only wear traditional national costumes, and only the upper class could wear white wedding dresses representing power and status. It was not until modern times that the privileges of the aristocratic class disappeared and the white wedding dress became the dress of ordinary brides. Compared with the history of western white wedding dresses, the history of the big red phoenix robe in Chinese weddings is relatively simple. Dragon and phoenix play an important role in China mythology. The dragon rules the yang phoenix and the yin, and the yang represents the male and the yin represents the female. So the bride is represented by a phoenix. So it's easy to understand the red dress embroidered with phoenix.

There are some similarities between Chinese and western wedding customs in some small habits. For example, in ancient China, there was a custom of throwing hydrangeas to greet relatives; In the west, the bride and groom will throw flowers into the air after the wedding in the church. If someone receives it, it indicates that he is going to get married soon. Weddings in China are different from those in the West. The main color of the whole wedding is red, which is also the traditional representative of China. This made the wedding jubilant. In traditional weddings, the bride usually wears a red Luo coat, a rockhopper and a red silk scarf, while the groom wears a red dress and jacket and a red hat. The bride sat behind the red sedan chair and the groom rode in front, and followed the matchmaker and the wedding team to the groom's house to pay homage. Both parents sit in the upper hall, and the bride and groom get married in the lower hall. The whole wedding was presided over by the master of ceremonies. Under his command, the bride and groom bowed to the high hall, and then the husband and wife bowed to each other and sent them to the bridal chamber. The bridal chamber is the climax of the wedding. The bride goes back to the bridal chamber first and waits for the groom, who will entertain the guests outside. There are various differences in marriage customs between China and the West, which are directly related to the differences in thinking between China and the West. China people are conservative, like to be lively, and their ideas are conservative, so the whole wedding custom has not changed much in the history of China for thousands of years. It was not until the introduction of modern western culture that China's traditional culture began to transform to the west, but to a great extent it had the etiquette of China's traditional marriage customs. The lively character of China people can be fully reflected in the traditional weddings in China. In addition to the wedding banquets held in China and the West, there is also a farewell dinner for the bride in the traditional wedding custom in China. Secondly, after the wedding reception, the relatives and friends of the couple will go to the bridal chamber to make trouble. People think that the more lively the new house is, the happier the married couple will be. Therefore, the members of the new house are doing their best to make things difficult for the bride and groom in various ways. Westerners are more open-minded and have lower requirements for weddings. The climax of their wedding was in the church: with the sacred "Wedding March" stepping into the bright red carpet, the beautiful bride walked slowly to the groom with her father's roses in her hand, and the bride's father put her daughter's hand in the groom's hand and entrusted her daughter's life to you. Everyone's eyes are on the couple, and happiness is on their faces. She is the most beautiful bride today. Above the sacred church, their vows echoed, wearing wedding rings that will be combined forever, until the priest said, "You can kiss your bride ... Marriage is a lifelong agreement, and you have to stick to it for a lifetime." The Lord Jesus said, What God has joined together, let us not separate. The love of this life is perfect because of today. " Then the bride and groom either go to a dinner party or spend their honeymoon, without all the etiquette of traditional wedding customs in China. Another reason for the difference between China and the West is the different religions between China and the West. China is dominated by Buddhism, while the West is dominated by Christianity. So western weddings are held in churches, and the person who presides over the wedding is a priest. Worship to heaven and earth is the most important part of China's traditional marriage customs, followed by ceremony.

Western weddings are very romantic, and the whole wedding is full of romance from beginning to end. The bride's dress is usually white and the groom's dress is black, which makes the whole wedding look solemn. Going to church for the wedding ceremony is the most important part of the whole wedding. First of all, with the rhythm of the wedding March, the bride took her father's hand to the groom, and his father gave her to the groom. The priest will ask the bride and groom to make a lifelong commitment to each other, which is also the climax of the whole wedding. Then they will exchange wedding rings and kiss each other with the blessing of the priest and everyone. At the end of the wedding, the bride will throw it to the female guests present. Whoever receives the bouquet is the next person to get married, which makes the whole wedding end in laughter.