What are the marriages in Xianning (Chibi), Hubei?

Xianning City is located in the southern part of Hubei Province, with jurisdiction over Xian'an District, Jiayu County, Tongcheng County, Chongyang County, Tongshan County and Chibi City. Xianning City is located in the hinterland of central China, commonly known as "E'nan". Xianning has resources on the ground, there are treasures underground, natural endowments are unique, known as "the hometown of ramie", "the hometown of tea", "the hometown of osmanthus", "the hometown of ramie", "the hometown of tea", "the hometown of osmanthus", and "the hometown of bamboo". Xianning is known as the "hometown of bamboo", bamboo customs mellow and simple, with a long history. Bamboo customs have been integrated into people's lives since ancient times and have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. Xianning bamboo folklore covers a wide range of aspects, such as production, marriage, years, festivals, funerals, etc., the people of Xianning gave the bamboo peace and good luck, luck and evil meanings. In the wedding customs are mainly the following performance: bamboo stick pick hair, bamboo song crying marriage, bamboo sedan chair to meet the bride, bamboo umbrella into the door, tent Penny accompanied by marriage and so on.

The process of marriage in Xianning

Marriage is a major event in a person's life. In the old days, it was often regarded as a "lifetime event". Because after the wedding, the couple will be together for life, old age, woe and ****. Although the old days of men and women get married often out of "parents' orders, matchmakers," men and women do not have the right to choose their own spouses, but to do the wedding is also quite grand. With the change of the times, this process has been gradually simplified, but in the countryside is still quite elaborate, including the following:

Introduction to recognize: In the past, the combination of men and women, only listen to the "parents' orders, words of matchmakers. Nowadays, many people are still through the introduction of the bridge lead, men and women to recognize each other and preliminary understanding of this system is an indispensable part of the marriage.

Engagement: through the introduction of the introduction of the needle, so that men and women get to meet the opportunity to talk. If men and women intend to marry, and with the consent of the parents of both sides, before the marriage is generally engaged. In the old days, betrothal is called "Fat Geng", usually after the birth of a child with "parents' orders, the words of the matchmaker" to enter into a marriage contract. The male and female birth year, month, day, time, written in geng book, in duplicate, mutual exchange, each holding a paper. "Pressing gengshu" tokens, the male side of the hairpin, earrings and other jewelry, the female side of the embroidery to give. Households, engagement tokens more expensive, poor people are general tokens, in order to express their feelings.

Reporting day: the wedding day to choose a good day. The male family asked the fortune-teller according to the time of birth of men and women, choose a day of great luck as a welcome to the wedding of the happy period reported to the female family, known as the newspaper day. On the eve of the wedding day, the male family must be agreed upon by both sides of the original gift (commonly known as the price of silver or silver) and gifts to the female family, in order to prepare for the female family dowry, furniture and other material as a wedding.

Welcome: the man said to marry, the woman said to marry the girl. One or two days before the wedding, the male party to the female party to send the "side of the pig altar wine", carry the box (clothing food), known as the solution to the gift, the female party to the male party to send back to the self-made shoes, the male party's family has a few people to do a few pairs. The day of the wedding, the male party to lift the sedan chair, double blowing doubles (two oboe two gongs) to the female home to meet the bride, the bride on the sedan chair with a couplet to seal the door of the sedan chair, men and women wrote a couplet, the requirements of a neat pair.

Worship: that is, the newlyweds in the hall to worship their ancestors. Newlyweds (bride and groom) into the room first drink "cup wine", and then by the male side of the closest, the most respected women (mother-in-law or sister-in-law) development of rice bubbles, sweets, sugar tea; and then the new couple both "worship", first worship ancestors, and then worship the parents, and then worship uncles, uncles, brothers, sisters-in-law, as well as relatives Then the newlyweds both "pay homage" to their ancestors, then to their parents, then to their uncles, uncles, brothers, sisters-in-law, and relatives in the honored, the elders, by the guest phase one by one called out the name of the salute, where the salute, are required to take out the "worship of tea money. At the same time, also distributed to the onlookers of the rice bubble, sugar. During the wedding climax, people also playfully the groom's father or uncle and other elders face wipe pot black, turn over the sheepskin jacket, waist tie bells, head broken hat, hands and feet symbolically tied, or make it ride a donkey upside down "debut", people call it "play the eunuch".

Cave: after worship, the bride by the bride sedan chair (generally for children of women) and the groom introduced into the cave. Wedding night, both urban and rural areas have the custom of the cave, known as the "newlyweds three days regardless of size", elders and juniors together, noisy and laughing until late at night. At the same time in the new room, friends and relatives to tea tray Sheng jujube, peanuts, cinnamon, melon seeds to the new gallery, the bride to spread, and sing the spread of the tent song, in order to persuade the "early birth" of the meaning of the child.

Back to the door: that is, the third day after the wedding, husband and wife to the woman's home to save the family, go to the woman in the front, back to the man in the front, the day to go back on the same day. In the past, the use of sedan chair as a means of transportation, now walking or car. In the evening of the door, held a "congratulations" ceremony, by friends and relatives with a red card written on the groom's name, beat the gongs and drums, firecrackers to send the door, from now on, others can no longer call the groom's breast name, the groom's family will be hosting a banquet to treat friends and relatives. At this point, the entire marriage ceremony is over.

Characteristics of wedding customs in Xianning

Xianning is famous for "the hometown of bamboo", bamboo culture has y penetrated into people's daily lives. Bamboo in ancient China has a beautiful meaning, for the literati and writers loved. Literally speaking, the character for bamboo is composed of two "个" characters which are pictograms of bamboo leaves. The two "个" are inseparable, symbolizing unity, steadfast love, and happiness of husband and wife. Especially in the southern wedding customs, the use of bamboo as an auspicious object is for good omen. Such as the use of bamboo sticks to pick open the bride's head, carry bamboo sedan chair, send bamboo fan, carry rice sieve mirror and so on. We describe the love life is also commonly used "plum bamboo horse, two little no guess" words. Bamboo, and harmonic "Zhu", "Zhu (bamboo) Jun", "Zhu (bamboo) Fu" is to give people a good, happy and auspicious words of praise.

Bamboo stick to pick hair: modern wedding rituals, in the bride's home before the welcome will be carried out respectively on the head ceremony. On the head ceremony is generally held on the day of marriage, on the head symbolizes a pair of newcomers formally into adulthood, the organization of a new family, shouldering the mission of spreading the leaves. On the head must choose a good time, by the parents or "blessed" elders for the groom or bride combed hair, combing while saying auspicious words of blessing. Such as "a comb comb to the end, two comb white hair eyebrows, three comb children and grandchildren all over the place, four comb comb to four silver bamboo shoots all standard Qi", the meaning of its language for the blessing of the new couple can be together with the white head. Xianning local is made of bamboo comb or bamboo stick on the head ceremony, to take the meaning of peace and good luck.

Bamboo song crying marriage: a few days before the bride married, there is the custom of crying marriage. The content of their own growth process, to thank their parents for raising the grace, and crying about their reluctance to leave home and sisters of the same age to say goodbye to the feelings. Xianning people marrying a woman, to cry the marriage of seven seventy-four nine nights, strictly according to the "test cry, joint cry, persuade the cry, cry, cry, cry, cry, sigh cry, shoot cry" and other rituals, the whole process of crying marriage "no song not cry marriage, no marriage not cry flowers. One of the "Nyonya song" is a bamboo song: "Bamboo flowers blossom pitchforks yellow, mother's daughter's bitter heart, today it is difficult to report the grace of upbringing, in the next life into the bamboo shoots mother to taste, into a bamboo stick to help mother's hand, into a pair of bamboo skips to help mother to build the farms, mother, mother, not in vain, daughter came to the human world."

Bamboo sedan chair to meet the bride: Xianning bride used sedan chair is not ordinary sedan chair, but completely handmade bamboo sedan chair. Will be a good cut Gui bamboo pieces, staggered left and right, pushed flat and then pressed, woven out of a whole side of the meticulous and beautiful bamboo weaving, one side of the bamboo weaving and then linked out of the traditional bamboo sedan chair. With the bamboo sedan chair to welcome the bride is also to take the bamboo of the auspicious blessings of the meaning, but also showed the people of Xianning love bamboo heart.

Bamboo umbrella into the door: the bride out of the sedan chair, to be held by the bride sedan chair bamboo umbrella escort into the door, on behalf of the open branches and leaves.

Tent Penny dowry: Tent Penny is the ancient hanging mosquito nets when the Penny, usually bamboo Penny. The so-called tent Penny dowry is that when the woman got married, the bride's brother to send two bamboo tent Penny, "Nanzhu Nanzhu, a year, a bamboo, the annual development" implies that the bride will be able to give birth to a child. After the male party, the male family to indicate a certain amount of gift money, to show good luck.

Eat tea ceremony: Xianning wedding customs have eat tea ceremony, tea on the wedding bed and wedding night bridesmaids tray tea tray toast spread tent, implied wishing couples a long and sweet and early birth of a child, conveyed the meaning of the ancient tea sacrifices to the gods, embodied in the tea to the gods of reproduction to offer respect to seek a child's consciousness of the pioneers. Xianning area of the wedding tea and fixed marriage tea, Kai Festival tea, into the wedding tea, lift tea tea, tea, spread tent tea, etc., in addition to the bride's tea along the home, generally in the wedding period of the first Spring Festival on the morning of the first day of the bride wearing a skirt and wearing a flower holding a tea tray along the homes of the New Year's Eve tea, the bridegroom pot to add tea, and in some cases, the little sister-in-law to mention the pot. Its purpose is also "and" meaning, through the tea and into the village door of each family contact affinity, in order to walk conveniently in the future.

Summary

Nowadays, with the development of the times, wedding customs are showing more and more simple, more and more modern trend, but people are still very careful about some small details, to take its auspicious meaning, which is also the characteristics of China's wedding customs. As a witness and ceremony to enter the marriage hall, the success of the wedding directly affects the happiness and fulfillment of the marriage family to a certain extent. The composition of the family ensures that society and the nation will have successors, so marriage is not only related to individuals and families, but also to the harmony and stability of the whole society. We should inherit and carry forward the traditional culture of marriage with the progress and changes of the times, and at the same time keep pace with the times and scientific development.