What are the historical, social and emotional reasons for the formation of the Tujia Crying Marriage? What are the life rituals involved?

The Tujia Crying Marriage

The Crying Marriage has a special "Crying Marriage Song", which is a traditional skill. Tujia girls start learning to cry for marriage at the age of twelve or thirteen. In the past, girls who did not cry were not allowed to get married. Nowadays, crying for marriage is only practiced in remote mountain villages.　The bride usually begins to cry one month before the wedding, but also two or three days before the wedding or the day before. The bride's family while doing her dowry, while talking about the feelings of separation. The girl will cry within a month without crying repeat, to cry ancestors, cry parents, cry brother and sister-in-law, cry sisters, cry matchmaker, cry themselves. The form of crying is to sing instead of crying, and to cry with the song. Lyrics have a traditional pattern, there are also smart girls in touch with the scene of the improvisation. Tujia girls with "crying" this form of pouring out their hearts, of course, there are really sad and crying, mostly cruel matchmakers pointing out the lovebirds, harming the girl's life.　The climax of the crying marriage is the bride's wedding day. The day before the wedding, friends and neighbors have come to congratulate and cry goodbye. The bride's family to invite the bride's nine best unmarried female companions, accompanied by the bride to cry, called the "Ten Sisters will". These nine girls are with the important role of crying, so no matter how far they live, no matter rain or shine, the bride's family should play sedan chair to send people to pick up. Ten sisters gathered, the bride's family will be two tables put together, placed in the middle of the hall, older than the bride to sit on top, with the bride's age on both sides of the girl, the bride sat in the middle of the girls. The content of the cry is mainly a narrative of sisterhood, but also words of encouragement and consolation.　Crying to the middle of the night, the bride's family set up a midnight snack for the ten sisters to eat, the bride on this subject but also cry a paragraph to thank the nine sisters for their company. In the parents of the marriage, the words of the matchmaker in the marriage years, the matchmaker arranged marriage is very common, so the bride often cry marriage scolded the matchmaker, expressing dissatisfaction with the old-style marriage.　Crying marriage is the prelude to the wedding of the Tujia people, they believe that "not crying is not lively, not crying is not good". Friends and relatives to send off, crying is a kind of friendly, crying is a kind of politeness. For those who sit in the degree of not crying and singing, the bride that is looking down on her and unhappy.

Editing the process of crying marriage

The bride usually begins to cry marriage one month before the wedding, but also in the two or three days before the wedding or the day before the start crying. The bride's family will buy her dowry and pour out their feelings of separation. The girl will cry within a month without crying repeat, to cry ancestors, cry parents, cry brother and sister-in-law, cry sisters, cry matchmaker, cry themselves. The form of crying is to sing instead of crying, and to cry with the song. Lyrics have a traditional pattern, there are also smart girls in touch with the scene of the improvisation. Tujia girls with "crying" this form of pouring out their hearts, of course, there are really sad and crying, mostly cruel matchmakers pointing out the lovebirds, harming the girl's life.　The climax of the crying marriage is the bride's wedding day. The day before the wedding, friends and neighbors have come to congratulate and cry goodbye. The bride's family to invite the bride's nine best unmarried female companions, accompanied by the bride to cry, called the "Ten Sisters will". These nine girls are with the important role of crying, so no matter how far they live, no matter rain or shine, the bride's family should play sedan chair to send people to pick up. Ten sisters gathered, the bride's family will be two tables put together, placed in the middle of the hall, older than the bride to sit on top, with the bride's age on both sides of the girl, the bride sat in the middle of the girls. The content of the cry is mainly a narrative of sisterhood, but also words of encouragement and consolation.　Crying to the middle of the night, the bride's family set up a midnight snack for the ten sisters to eat, the bride on this subject but also cry a paragraph to thank the nine sisters for their company. In the parents of the marriage, the words of the matchmaker in the marriage years, the matchmaker arranged marriage is very common, so the bride often cry marriage scolded the matchmaker, expressing dissatisfaction with the old-style marriage.　Crying marriage is the prelude to the wedding of the Tujia people, they believe that "not crying is not lively, not crying is not good". Friends and relatives to send off, crying is a kind of friendly, crying is a kind of politeness. For those who sit in the degree of not crying and singing, the bride that is looking down on her and unhappy.

Editing the crying marriage song

The Xiangxi Tujia "crying marriage song" has many simple but touching verses. Listen to this: I suddenly heard a golden rooster crowing, as if a random arrow had pierced my heart, the suona blew "Mother sends off her daughter", and the lute played "Big Open Door"...... The suona sounded with a drop of tear, and tore mother's robe and father's clothes.　The bitter daughter sent to the sedan chair, the flesh and blood of the two separated ...... It is a hard-hearted person, listening to such a sound call, word blood tears cry, I'm afraid it is also difficult to avoid weeping it.

Edit paragraph why to cry marriage

Why should the girl get married to cry? There are so many things to cry about. This is a very rich life rituals and customs, but also an interesting wedding event.　As the saying goes, "People don't cry unless they are sad." The reason why a girl has to cry when she gets married is that under the old marriage system, girls (especially those from the families of the toiling masses) are always "thrown" (sold) to the husband's family as sacrifices, and their physical and mental health are greatly hurt. Therefore, girls in western Hunan and other places would cry and holler before getting married, and the song of crying marriage is the best way to express their feelings.

Editing Folklore

The popular "Crying for Marriage's Gemba" in the Tujia area of Baoging County, western Hunan, vividly illustrates this problem. This folk legend says, in ancient times, "is a woman sitting in the world", "people only know A Niang", and later, in the place of haunted Cang Lake appeared a brutal man, tall and powerful, is a "eat Leigong Bureau of the role of fire flashing "One day, this cruel man saw a woman. One day, this ruthless man saw a woman in the stream side of the cancan pick wild fruits alone, eat very happy. He didn't care if the woman was willing or not, he snatched her into the house and forced her to marry him. And, from then on, the custom of marrying a man and marrying a woman was inherited. Because the women are not happy, think of the sad, so, before the girl married out, "all have to count seven and eight, shaking the liver and lungs to cry a few days and nights."　The formation of the custom of crying for marriage can be said to have its remote and proximate causes. The above legend is related to its remote cause (a reflection of the refraction of marriages outside the clan from matrilineal to patrilineal societies). As for its proximate cause, it is the feudal custom of arranged marriage (such as the "Bone Seed Parent" - aunt-cousin marriage, "Bian Tan Parent" - aunt-cousin marriage, "Bian Tan Parent" - aunt-cousin marriage, "Bian Tan Parent" - aunt-cousin marriage, "Bian Tan Parent" - aunt-cousin marriage, "Bian Tan Parent" - aunt-cousin marriage, and so on) that prevailed in western Hunan. --Aunt-cousin marriages, "bed-sitting pro"-brother's death and sister-in-law must marry brother).　For thousands of years, on the footstools of the Tujia people in western Hunan, women have been crying for marriage from generation to generation. Their cries and complaints, in addition to personal grudges, but also mixed with some of the constraints of social opinion. Crying marriage "cry" good, praised, a lifetime of honor; "cry" is not good, will be laughed at, and even lifelong head up. In order not to let others point to the spine, fight for a breath, Xiangxi Tujia girls in many places up to the age of 11 or 12 years old, will follow the big girl to go to the "dowry", specializing in learning to "cry for marriage"; some of the girl's parents even spend money to invite the "cry for marriage" (a kind of semi-dowry), and the girl's father and mother to pay for the "cry for marriage" (a kind of semi-dowry). Some girls' parents even spend money to invite a "marriage cryer" (a semi-professional marriage cryer) to come to their door to teach them the experience and skills of "crying". Therefore, some of the girls who are "waiting for the word in the boudoir" often get together in groups of three or five, hiding in the footstools or in the bushes or streams, and quietly imitate the "Crying Marriage", and learn the art of "Crying". The skill of "crying". After such a peculiar "observation" exercises and hard learning and practicing, until they get married, will naturally reveal the outstanding "crying marriage" skills, cry a torrential and poignant.