Tibetan marriage customs

Now love and marriage is basically not arranged by parents in lieu of, more free marriage. Men and women in love, inform their parents, and then customary procedures, and eventually married, but still basically follow the past legacy of the proposal, engagement and wedding procedures.

1, marriage proposal

This is the first procedure that must be gone through. Before proposing a marriage, you should first divine the conjugation of the two sides, and then send a hatha to the other side of the family to formally propose the marriage.

2, betrothal

Both sides agreed to the marriage, then sent people to choose the auspicious date, draft the marriage contract certificate. Marriage contract certificate is usually asked to talented people can poetry drafting, the content is to write the combination of men and women, mutual respect and mutual love, mutual understanding, filial piety and elders, moral integrity should be noble, and so on. There are also marriage contract written on the future property inheritance matters. This kind of marriage contract, which is written in the form of poetry, can be recited.

Engaged to be married on this day, the male party to give the female party at home, young and old, each with a hatha, and to give each other's parents to raise their daughters, "Milk Money". The other party prepared tea and wine to entertain people. Representatives of the two sides into the main hall after taking their seats in turn, the host family served "Chema", tea and wine.

The proposal family offers gifts, and also sends back the cost of the day, but also into a piece of "gangdian" (apron). This day's expenses are sent because the man's family proposes marriage, and all the expenses should be borne by the man's family, but now the woman's family is doing it on his behalf, so he should compensate for it with money as a token of his appreciation. The meaning of sending "gang dian" is: the girl did not know how many pieces of her mother's "gang dian" were worn out since she was a child, so she sent this piece to compensate for the loss. After the tea and wine toast, the marriage contract was put in duplicate on a high tray, recited aloud by one witness, and proofread carefully by the other. After reading the engagement book, the witnesses put the family seals of the two families on the book in public, and then solemnly hand it over to each other's fathers by the representatives of the woman and the man. Then, the parents of the two families offered hatha to the witnesses to express their gratitude. On the day of the engagement, neither the young man nor the young woman attends, only their families are present. The ceremony is followed by a day of fun. On leaving, the woman's family presents the hatha and return gifts to each other.

3, marriage

The first day of the marriage ceremony, the man has to send a beautiful set of clothing, as well as bazhou, gaou, bracelets and other decorations, wrapped in silk, sent to the woman's home, so that the bride will pass the door tomorrow to dress with. Welcome this day, the male family to find a person of status, with a team of men and horses, but also have to take a horse ready to ride to the bride dressed in exquisite horse, the horse's color, and the female genus coincides with; the horse must be pregnant mare. At the same time, also have to bring colorful arrows, arrows with mirrors, stone jade, beads and other ornaments. Before the arrival of the horse team, the woman should be held to honor the "Chema", drinking and other farewell ceremonies; men to welcome the marriage team into the door, the first colorful arrows inserted in the bride's back, indicating that she already belongs to the man's family. And put the 璁玉 on the bride's head, this piece of 璁玉 Tibetan custom known as the soul of jade, do this, said the male soul has been entrusted to the female side.

When the female family sends the bride, usually bring a chaperone. When the girl is about to go out, one person in the woman's family takes a colored arrow in one hand and a leg of lamb in the other, standing upstairs and shouting, "Don't take my family's good fortune away ah!" This is repeated many times until the girl goes far away. Horse team went out to start, the leader is a genus of the best, wearing a white robe, riding a white horse, holding a nine palace gossip map in the hands of the people; then, is to welcome the representative; then the bride and accompanying women; finally, the people who came with. Along the way, the man's family to wait at the side of the road to the horse team toast three times. If the road encountered carrying water, carrying firewood, considered the most auspicious, should dismount to the passer-by to honor the Hadar. If you meet someone carrying a sick person, dumping garbage, or carrying empty baskets, this is unlucky, and you should ask a monk to recite sutras to eliminate the disaster after the wedding. During the march of the horse team, the entourage sang "harmonic" (song), the bride was crying while walking.

The man in the bride before the arrival, must dress up the door, specifically for the bride to get off the horse ready mat. Mat is loaded with barley, wheat pocket, covered with colorful brocade, the surface with wheat grains painted with auspicious symbols. The man's family holding "Cheema" and barley wine at the door to welcome.

The traditional entrance ceremony is very cumbersome, from the dismounted horse, the door, up the stairs to the hall, each time you have to sing a chant, offer a Hada. After the bride into the hall, sitting at the groom's head, to welcome the bride and send the bride's party also into the hall in order to sit down, and then they will dedicate the "Chema", toast, to the Buddha, parents offer hatha, hatha hanging on the head of the pillar. The participants in the wedding sing Harmonic Green to show their congratulations. The host offers the khata and thanks all the people. After all this, the groom sends the bride to the bridal chamber, and the rest of the people eat and drink to their heart's content. This activity continues for three days. Three days, friends and relatives can come one after another to dedicate the khata and gifts, the host hospitality wine and tea, the bride is not out of the room around.

Before the wedding, the woman's family to choose an auspicious day, the whole family came to congratulate, and the formal handover of dowry. The handover ceremony is hosted by representatives of both men and women, with one person reciting the dowry list aloud, and with each recitation of a kind, the woman's representative hands the items over to the man's representative on the spot. The amount of the dowry varies according to each person's economic status, but it must include a small bronze bodhisattva, a book of sutras, and a stupa. It is said that when Princess Wencheng married Songtsen Gampo, she brought these three items with her, so they have been passed down and have become a must-have wedding dowry. Once the dowry is counted, the list is placed on a high plate and placed in front of the groom, meaning it is given to him to put away. After the banquet and the handover ceremony, the bride will go out of the room and have fun with her family.

Characteristics of Tibetan marriage:

Tibetan marriage system

Tibetan marriage system was once a monogamous, polygamous, polygamous parallel system, and now most of the monogamous system, only remote nomadic areas due to the hardships of life, less than a room wife can reduce expenses, while the Retention of the phenomenon of several brothers *** marrying a wife. Tibetan young men and women or free love, or meet on a blind date, decided to get married before you have to first eight, the eight words, if the male to the female side of the gift of the hatha to propose, and then choose an auspicious day to officially hold the engagement ceremony, engagement ceremony will begin to prepare for the wedding ceremony.

The day before the wedding ceremony, the man must send the bride's dress and jewelry to the woman's home for the next day. On the day of the wedding, the man takes a pregnant mare as the bride's mount, and lets the representative of the marriage take it to the woman's home, and the color of the horse must match the bride's eight characters. Representatives of the marriage must also bring a decorated mirror, jasper, jewels, colored arrows, once into the home of the woman, the colored arrow to the bride's back, indicating that she has been the groom's family, and then remove the arrow on the jasper on the bride's head, indicating that the bridegroom's soul has been attached to the body of the bride.

When the bride to leave her mother's home, the family climbed to the top of the building, one hand grasped the colorful arrows just inserted in the bride's back, one hand grasped a leg of mutton, and repeatedly shouted: "Do not take away the good luck of our family!" They shouted until the bride walked away. Take the bride back to the bridegroom's home on the way, the wedding party by the whole body wearing white robes, riding a white horse, hand holding gossip map of the people in front of the guide, if the road encountered the back of the water or picking firewood of the passers-by, said that the auspicious signs, must dismounted to send the Haddad; if it is to meet the pouring of garbage or carry the patient, said that there is a disaster, after the wedding must be asked to Lama chanting to lift the disaster.

The man in the bride has not yet arrived before, there will be barley or wheat bags laid in front of the door properly arranged, the bride arrived, stepped on these bags into the bridegroom's home, and then dedicate the "Chema", toast, hanging hatha, blessings of the elders and other ceremonies, into the bridal chamber.

"Love Gua" prediction of marriage

"Love Gua", the Tibetan language called "Day Dream Prayer", popular in Tibetan areas of Yunnan. It is a unique form of expression of affection for young men and women in certain Tibetan areas. However, the Tibetan youth "love Gua" is not the case, but a love for the content of the guessing mind games.

Where the three plus love Gua game of young men and women, each take out a most representative of their own mind of small objects concentrated in the hands of a person. The person who is in charge of the small objects puts all the small objects in his hand, shakes them gently, and then secretly takes one out and puts it in his hand for people to guess. The other young people then guess who owns the object and sing a series of funny love songs about the owner's love situation.

If the object owner has chosen a sweetheart, but is too shy to speak, he or she sings the lyrics with shyness. If the owner of the object has chosen the beloved, but the beloved has long been privately engaged to another youth. In this case, people may make fun of him/her by singing the lyrics in a subtle way, with a variety of funny lyrics. At the end of the song, the person who holds the object releases his/her hand to see whose small object it is, and the song sung just now is considered to be a prediction of who is in love. Of course, no matter what the result of the prediction, it will lead to a string of youthful and joyful laughter from the youth.

Grab hat in love

Tibetan youth in love, often take singing songs to send treasures to grab the hat way to express the other side of the adoration of the pursuit of love. Girls such as fancy a young man, will put their own body of a decorative item, such as neck beads earrings a gift to the young man. If the young man accepts the girl to give something, then it shows that he also fell in love with the girl.

If the young man sees the girl first, he looks for an opportunity to get close to her and take her hat. After a few days, the young man then goes looking for the girl again and gives her back the hat he stole from her. If the girl happily gets her hat back, it means that the girl has also fallen in love with the lad and accepted his love. If the girl refuses to take back her hat, it shows that she does not love the young man.

"Bride" married Qingtian

In the past, Qinghai-Gansu region of Tibetans, the girl grew to thirteen or fourteen years of age, it will be held in a grand "Dai head" ceremony, this is a married girl son-in-law of the general term. However, held a "head" ceremony of the girl married son-in-law is not a handsome and sturdy young man, not a real man, but the blue blue sky, is the girls can look up and see but it is not possible to sleep with the same pillow **** the sky.

Because the object of marriage is the blue sky, so it is also known as "Dai Tian head". In fact, marrying the blue sky as "son-in-law" of the "Daitian head" ceremony, is the Tibetan girls rite of passage ceremony. After the girl held a "Dai Tian head" ceremony, it is said to have grown up, from now on the power of socialization, not only free to talk about love, but also can be loved by the man led back to his home with the sleep **** hostel.

Giving birth to a child, for the "Daitian head" after the girl, is a legitimate behavior, will not incur the public opinion of the public opinion of the difficult." The girl after "Dai Tian Tou" can marry later, or live in her mother's house all her life, relying on her lover to come to her house to live a free sex life. Though she is a girl for life, she forms a matriarchal family with her children who know her mother but not her father.

Polygamy and Polygamy

In old Tibet, the phenomenon of polygamy and polyandry in marriage is still relatively common. Some women have no children in the family, in order to ensure the integrity of the family and the continuation of the ancestral halls, often sisters **** married a husband, into the man has been married to several sisters. This form of polygamy in the form of men into the family, in addition to sisters **** husband, there is also the phenomenon of mothers and daughters **** husband. If a young woman with a young girl dies, she recruits another man to support her family. When the adopted daughter grows up, the stepfather cohabits with the adopted daughter and forms a husband and wife relationship.

In addition to the phenomenon of polygamy in old Tibet, there is another kind of monogamous marriage custom exists. Some Tibetans would take a wife for several sons*** for fear of disasters that would lead to the division of family property and the decline of social status.

Several brothers take turns to live with their **** at the will of their wives to settle their sexual life. Whoever sleeps with his wife puts his token outside and when his husband sees it, he avoids it. In addition, some families, the wife died halfway, the husband generation is not old and the son generation has reached adulthood, in the girl's parents to obtain his family's consent, the father and son of two generations can be married to a wife. However, the wedding of the father and son **** wife, to be held in the name of the only son.