The Marriage Customs of Huian's Daughter

The Marriage Customs of Huian's Daughter

The marriage customs of women in Hui 'an are very strange, which are shown in the movie Widow's Village, which seems a bit difficult to understand and accept. On the wedding day, the bride wore black trousers-known locally as a black phoenix skirt and carried a black umbrella, accompanied by her relatives and friends, and the man did not send anyone to pick her up. It is said that on the first night of her wedding, the bride can't sleep, so she can only spend the night in a bed that stands by. After three days of marriage, they will go back to their parents' home for a long time. It is not until New Year's Eve that the husband can take his wife home for one night, and he must send her back to his parents' house the next day.

After that, only when larger traditional festivals come, such as Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, that is, July 15, winter solstice and busy farming, can the husband take his wife back to live for a day or two, and so on, until the wife gives birth to a child, he can grow up and live with her husband justifiably. In fact, the custom of Huian's daughter waiting for her parents' home for a long time did not come out of thin air. Because men have been fishing outside for a long time, women are engaged in sideline and agriculture at home, thus forming the custom that Huian's daughter lives in her family for a long time. The custom of living in parents' home for a long time has brought misfortune to many Huian girls in the past. With the development of the times, many changes have taken place in these old customs.

It is a procedure of Hui 'an women's traditional marriage custom that the old bride who washed sea clams by the sea walked through the stove and walked out of her ancestral home. It is said that the red flame indicates that the newly married life is flourishing. Like traditional customs, brides usually wear very strange headdresses. Only on the wedding day can Miss Huian wear such a beautiful headdress. It took five or six clever women four hours to comb it. But if the bride is not careful, it is impossible to comb it herself. Then why do these women comb the bride's headdress like this? What's the mystery in this? It turns out that in the past, in the marriage custom of staying at home, it played a supervisory role on the bride's wedding night. It is said that the bride will return to her parents' home after three days of marriage. If people find that her hair is messed up, her sisters of the same age will laugh at her. Therefore, in order to keep the hairstyle neat, the bride usually doesn't lie down and sleep for three days and nights after the wedding, and tries to avoid sleeping with the groom.

When Hui 'an daughter gets married or goes out to be a guest, the headdress highlights the word "hi" and pays attention to bright style. Comb a big bun, insert all kinds of gold and silver ornaments, and occasionally dress up as a small flower bed with various styles of velvet flowers. At the same time, a black silk scarf is the same length as the skirt from the back of the bun. Both ends of the silk scarf are connected with black silk, and various patterns are sewn with green silk. Usually at home, the headdress runs through the word "Jane", pursuing simplicity and truth, but never casually. They often insert some ornaments and velvet flowers, spread a piece of black silk on the top of their heads, sew a rectangular cover made of black coarse cloth inside, support it with three bamboos, and half of it sticks out of their foreheads. At the same time, they made a claw triangle with black silk and stood on it, sewing a red ribbon at the tip. When you live in your parents' home or are widowed, stick to the word "light". Do not comb the bun, do not insert any ornaments, just roll up the tail of the bun, half of it is wrapped in a black scarf, and the other half is exposed outside the scarf, which looks like a bunch of lines, commonly known as "pleating". The former means freedom, while the latter emphasizes punctuality.

Hui 'an women have attracted the attention of folklore researchers with their unique customs.

Underage marriage

Most Hui 'an girls have the custom of "early marriage". Soon after their birth, their families arranged for them to get engaged. There are still a few people who continue this custom.

Live in one's own home for a long time

The marriage custom of "permanently staying at parents' home", also known as "permanently staying at in-laws' home", is no longer a custom. A woman goes back to her mother's house for a long time after three days of marriage, and only stays at her husband's house for a day or two during the Chinese New Year holidays and busy farming. You are not allowed to stay at your husband's house for a long time until you get pregnant. I have lived in my parents' home for at least two or three years, and the longest is more than 20 years, usually five to eight years. They don't go to her husband's house more than ten times a year, each time for no more than three days. When I go back to my husband's house, I usually cover my face with a piece of cloth. Turn off the lights at night to open it, and run home the next morning. You can't be born in your mother's house when you are pregnant. It's considered unlucky to be born in one's mother's family, so it's often too late to have a baby in a half-house. Because the wife seldom goes to her in-laws' house, she goes to her in-laws' house more than at night, and often covers her face with a cloth, so there are often strange things that the husband and wife have not known for many years.

cause analysis

There are four main reasons for analyzing this marriage custom: first, "this marriage custom is the legacy of the transition from matriarchal society to paternal society"; The second is "caused by the different division of labor between the sexes"; Thirdly, marriage customs are related to local "early marriage" and "constitute a supplementary part of the same marriage system"; Fourth, "this special marriage custom is the product of the combination of the marriage custom of Fujian and Vietnamese who are born and bred and the feudal chastity concept that has been pushed to the extreme in China culture"