Horseback riding to meet the bride and hold wooden pillows--Mongolian wedding customs

Welcoming relatives on horseback and holding wooden pillows

--Mongolian wedding customs

Nadam is a grand festival of the Mongolian people and a good opportunity for young Mongolian men and women to chase love. Young men and women dressed in national costumes participate in various athletic activities at the conference. In archery, wrestling, horse racing and other competitions in the winner, can always win the girls adoring eyes, if the girl on which the young man is interested in, then she will gallop to meet the hero in the heart of a handkerchief, and then turn the head of the horse away. The young man then understood, bowed down to pick up the handkerchief, galloped after the girl, once caught up, the young man will be a ring on the girl's hand, a pair of young people fell in love in this way.

There is also a token of love between men and women in Mongolia called "Habteg", which is hanging in the Mongolian robe on a kind of jewelry, usually embroidered by the girl herself. The young man in the choice of spouse, we have to look at each other's "Habteg" embroidered how, if the embroidery is exquisite, that the girl is a hard-working and capable girl, the future days will be arranged very well.

Mongolian wedding is both grand and unique, especially the Ordos grassland Mongolian traditional wedding is more characteristic. Ordos wedding has a history of more than 700 years.

Ordos wedding is mostly held in the first month of the lunar month. Young men and women after parents matchmaking, the girl in addition to comb a big braid, but also in the forehead on both sides of the comb 6 pigtails, which marks the girl has been betrothed to be married.

The two sides chose an auspicious day, and then invited their friends and relatives. On the day of the wedding, the guests wear beautiful clothes, ride high horses and bring gifts to the bride and groom's home to congratulate them.

The groomsmen who welcome the bride and groom all set off in the evening, carrying bows and arrows, food and gifts, and riding their steeds. Before the journey, the groom hides a small white bottle filled with wine under the saddle or inside the horse's mane.

The groom and the procession arrive at the bride's house in the dark. It is customary for them to go around the house before offering a khata to the chief cooks who organize the wedding and presenting a flayed lamb in honor of the occasion. At this time, the groom also brought the bow and arrow placed in front of the Manihong flag symbolizing the brave spirit of Ordos. The bride's companions, meanwhile, can't wait to look for the chalice on the groom's mount.

The bridal party hands over gifts and food to the bride's family one by one. After the guests exchange snuff bottles and greetings, the groom performs a kowtow salute to the woman's celebrant, father-in-law, mother-in-law and guests present. At the woman's grand wedding banquet, people drink wildly while engaging in a funny duet. In people drinking and revelry at the time, someone will introduce the groom into the bride's room, where he has to go through some tests, such as when the groom sat down, someone to bring a piece of boiled goat neck bone, please groom it into two broken, intended to look at the groom's strength has a big. If the bridegroom argued not, people will take the opportunity to make fun of. That night, the bride did not leave the house, she and her best friend while talking and crying, goodbye. In order to express the sisters' feelings of retention, they will be on their own belt down to link together, first from the bride's side of the cuffs into the cuffs, and then from that side of the cuffs out, and then the other girls to do the same, linked up with the belt from each girl's cuffs through the group hugged tightly together in this way to express the feelings of hard to part with.

After all-night fun in the woman's home, in the early hours of the next morning, the wedding party then the bride to depart, by the female guests composed of the wedding party to go together. On the way to marry, according to custom, both men and women to try to get to the male home first, the female side of a person intends to snatch the head of the best man's hat, pick on the whip, and then thrown to the ground, so that the bridegroom dismounted to pick up the cap, which will inevitably delay the female bridesmaids can be the first to go. But the male side also has a trick, not far from the groom's home to set up a banquet, entertaining the female side, the female bridesmaids a drink, the male side will switch to the strongest steed, first to the home. Along the way is such a chase play, gallop, full of fun.

After the marriage to the home, the bride, the bridegroom will also take the horsewhip, the two sides through the two piles of fire, to show that the fidelity of love, but also implies the purity, evil spirits and the meaning of prosperity.

Then the groom's parents came out to welcome the bride back to the cave. After entering the door, the groom's mother in accordance with the custom of Mongolian weddings, the bride's red veil gently removed, and then the bride to the groom's parents to perform the Mongolian ritual. Then, the groom holding a silver pot, the bride holding a wine plate, one by one toast. The bridegroom gives a toast to the bride's guests; the bride gives a toast to the man's guests. Toast, the people present at the song and music, young men and women herdsmen dance. Such a wedding night and day for two consecutive days, enjoyable people before leaving one after another.

Mongolians living in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia, as well as Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and other places in the wedding, there is also a custom of grabbing a pillow.

Before a girl gets married, her parents have to build a new yurt for her next to the one she lives in. The day of the wedding, to give the bride's dowry, a piece of display in the new yurt. When furnished, the female side by four strong men holding a wooden one-meter-long large pillow to the yurt, then the male side of the four young men will come forward to grab. Both sides of the eight people you snatch me, are not easy to let go, until exhaustion. After the two sides **** with the big pillow on the bed, it is considered the end of the ceremony.