Customs of Tanqiao Town

Marriage is a great event in life. As a life ceremony, it has been highly valued by all ethnic groups and regions in China, and its customs and cultural connotations are also very colorful and rich. The most basic style of marriage customs is different from the restlessness in life and the depression and desolation in death, showing a spicy style with obvious entertainment.

The wedding customs of Hakkas in Tanqiao Town not only have this basic style, but also are mixed with a large number of folk songs and a series of local etiquette norms, which are more vivid and complicated. With the improvement of people's living standard and understanding level, some old customs and complicated details have gradually disappeared; Instead, it is a more civilized and practical new fashion. However, the uniqueness and novelty of their traditional marriage customs are obvious to all. Once a matchmaker proposes to a Hakka, the first thing to do is to examine whether the "eight characters" of both men and women match. According to the traditional marriage view of Hakka: harmony will make future generations healthy, love each other and borrow old age together; Disagreement leads to family instability, separation and family disintegration, so it is a prerequisite for successful marriage. The eight-character "grass eight characters" and "red eight characters" refer to the eight-character post that the matchmaker first asks the woman's home. Because there are many books on papyrus, it is called "Caobazi". There is also a saying with the mouth, called "mouth eight characters", which are not formal eight-character posts. The "red character" is not the case. It is to write the characters of both men and women in a very formal red paper envelope, indicating that the two families are officially engaged.

Hakka's horoscope is checked and confirmed by a special "Mr. Constellation".

Before liberation, there was another way for Hakkas to match the eight characters, that is, the male family directly put the eight characters on both sides into a bowl, put them into a water tank, sealed the mouth of the tank with a lid, and then opened it for viewing overnight. If the two bowls lean against each other, it shows that the couple's personality is very harmonious; On the contrary, it is not. After the man asks for the woman's eight-character post, he usually puts it under the incense burner of the shrine at home with his own eight-character post, so that the gods of heaven and earth and ancestors of all ages can make another investigation. If the eight characters don't match, there will be some ominous signs at home. Of course, these are old feudal customs that have long been abandoned by modern Hakkas. Another old concept, such as "parents' fate", "matchmaker's words" and "matching the right family", is no longer an important criterion for Luodai Hakkas to choose a spouse.

Hakkas in Tanqiao Town usually get married in February. This is the slack season, people have just settled down from the busy harvest season and have enough time and energy to arrange the wedding. Hakka marriage has always been accompanied by joy after harvest, thus showing a very cheerful and leisurely lively atmosphere. The night before the bride enters the door, she must cry bitterly at her parents' house. It's called "crying marriage" Before crying, light a seven-star lamp in the bucket, and parents burn incense to worship their ancestors and tell their daughter that they are about to get married. My daughter knelt on the red carpet or futon, crying about the past benefits of her parents and brother-in-law, and was afraid of the strange life after entering the door. Both parents are sitting on high stools with tears in their eyes. The lyrics of Hakka crying wedding are sad and unique, expressing the sadness that women's marriage in the old society could not be independent. Hakka crying wedding also symbolizes women's chastity, so the longer you cry, the more you can arouse people's sympathy and goodwill.