Hakka Marriage Customs in Huidong

1, matchmaking In the past, Hakka young men and women, after the age of sixteen can be entrusted to the matchmaker to introduce the marriage. Generally by the parents of the male family matchmaking to the female family to say, there are female families please matchmakers first visit the male family.　2, see the sisterhood of men and women through the centralized media, such as both parties are interested in, will agree on a time to "see the sisterhood.　3, write geng post After both sides agreed, we should tell each other men and women's birthdays and birthmarks. Go back, each asked the fortune-teller to "eight characters". If the eight characters are compatible, will not collide with each other, write out the gung sticker (commonly known as wedding list), each placed on top of the incense case, such as three days without ominous signs, the marriage will be set (such as the eight characters do not match, the male party to the female gung sticker to return to the female family). 4, the editor of the red list, also known as the "opening of the red wedding invitation", or called the Speaking of wealth. By the male parents, relatives and matchmakers together to the female family, the male party to give the female family's financial gifts to open out. Some of the red list should also be written back to the son-in-law gifts, such as hats, silver flowers, clothes, shoes, socks and so on. Open red list process, the two sides will bargain, and finally negotiated finalized. After the opening of the red list, men and women have to exchange tokens such as rings, handkerchiefs and so on. Finally, the man came to the woman's home to eat lunch and go back. 5, betrothal also known as the "big ceremony", that is, once again formally determine the marriage. Young men and their parents should go to the girl's home, send pig's head, fish, meat, etc., the girl's parents, brothers and sisters-in-law, uncles, grandparents, etc. should appear. After lunch, the girls should come out to meet, call the male parents as parents, the two parents call each other in-laws, in-laws.　6, see the family that is the woman to the man to see the family, some time in the "line ceremony" before, and some in the "ceremony" after the woman to go in addition to the girl and her parents, aunts and uncles, sisters, etc. to go, large and small dozen people, do not bring a gift is to bring a little, the male family is not afraid to take. The male family also dare not take.　7, send the day after the wedding is set, the man should ask the fortune-teller to choose the day of the door, including the bride out of the day, the hour, to the male family to return to the door of the hour, in addition to the female red dress cutting, the male bed-making day should also be selected at the same time. 8, send food and carry the dowry one or two days before the bride passes through the door, the male family to ask the clan will be a red list of provisions of the bride price and fish, meat, poultry, noodles and other things by more than a dozen people sent to the female family, back to the trousseau, furniture, etc. to the male family, the trousseau, the furniture, etc. back to the female family, the bride price, the bride price, the bride price, the bride price and the bride price. trousseau, furniture, etc. back to the male family.　9、Welcome the bride, also known as receiving the bride or passing through the door. The day before the wedding date, the male family to go to more than ten people to the female family to receive the bride, there are drummers band, firecrackers, sedan chair, there are burning incense (to the female ancestral hall, temples, the community to burn incense), a picket, one head to pick with the chicken (a male and a female), the other end of the wine and pine pine Ming, a woman to take the bride to wear the clothes, there are carrying wooden suitcase of the two people to carry to the fish, meat, wine, cakes and pastries, cigarettes, firecrackers, candles And other things, the matchmaker should also go, the groom, some go, some do not go, such as the groom with the groom, the groom should also do sedan chair, firecrackers is the male party's plenipotentiary, accompanied by red envelopes, one or two dozen.　Receiving the bride to the woman's home, first eat snacks, and then by the woman's family two people led to the ancestral shrine to burn incense to honor their ancestors. At noon or in the evening, the woman's family will host a banquet for guests.　Bride move is generally in the middle of the night at dawn or dawn, the more you go, the brighter the sky, symbolizing towards the light, and then go out at night, and will not come across lifting the coffin and other unlucky things. Meet the bride team in front of the lantern, followed by drummers, sedan chair in the middle, behind the people receiving the bride.　The bride arrives at the man's home, such as not yet the required entry hour, we must wait at the gate on the ping or outside the door next to the house. Entry is generally seven or eight o'clock in the morning or eight or nine o'clock, and some even have to wait until noon. To the hour of entry, the bride to kick the sedan chair door, by the male bridesmaids will lead the bride out of the sedan chair, and then in front of the gate, "over the fire", the bride from the cedar branches burned up on the fire across, before entering the door.　10, worship the bride in the sound of drums and music into the hall after the start of worship. Hall set up incense, the east side of the station parents, elders, the west side of the station relatives, the north side of the station house relatives, the south side of the station juniors. Before paying homage to the bridegroom, the outer family will hang a red, five-foot-long red cloth draped over the bridegroom.　Mouth reads: "Take the streamer red five feet long, a heart to play the groom, play the groom to give birth to a noble son, early birth to a noble son in a scholar." Worship, the groom stood left, the bride stood right, by the ceremony called: a worship of heaven and earth, two worship ancestors, three worship high hall, four couples to worship.　At noon, the wedding banquet is held, and the guests are invited with loud ground artillery, which is set off once every half hour, and three times when the banquet begins. Then, the ceremony student will sign up for a list of two seats at a table, according to seniority and affinity, the first to arrange for the first seat, and then other people will be seated at random. Male and female guests are seated separately, the bride and groom to the toast.　11, haunted room haunted room in the hall, a haunted room in the new room, but also in the hall after the first haunted to the new room haunted. During the haunted house, firecrackers every few minutes once, until the midnight party stops.　12, back to the door, also known as "turn the door". Generally the third or fifth day after the wedding, the female party sent the bride's sisters and other female relatives to invite the bride and groom to go with the guests, the matchmaker and the groom's sisters to go with, **** 7-14 people, ate a luncheon, back the same day.　13, send full moon A month after the wedding, the bride's mother's family to send a full moon, while sending chickens, vegetables, seeds, grain seeds, beans, etc., signaling a bumper crop, prosperity.　14, and often the mother-in-law of the daughter-in-law will be strict ~ 3 days after the marriage to start working