In ancient times, the man gave the bride price to the woman called "under the tea", "tea gift", why use tea to betrothal?

In ancient times, men and women reached a marriage contract, the male party must give the female party to provide a part of the property, commonly known as "under bride-price ", to show the male party's goodwill, which is also a reservation of possession of the meaning of: "You received the My bride-price, is my family's people. So in ancient times, tea as a kind of bride price, play what kind of role.

The Qing Dynasty Kong Shangren's "Peach Blossom Fan - Mei Za" has "The colorful sedan chair is crowded in front of the door. Quite a few owe the gift of tea in cents." These all show that the custom of tea as a bride price. In the Chinese nationalities are still circulating.

As early as the Ming Dynasty, there are "engagement tea" records. Qing Dynasty people Fugue in the "listening to the rain series of talk" volume eight, said: "today's wedding line recruitment, to tea as a coin, Qing Han's customs are all the same, and is not the right room do not use." Tea-related wedding customs, the most interesting when pushed to southern Fujian and Taiwan. Fujian and Taiwan marriage rituals known as the "three tea day ceremony".

The Bai men and women are betrothed and married to send tea gifts. Yunnan Zhongdian around the Tibetan youth, in festivals and agricultural leisure time to play a good ghee tea to the field party, met the girls will invite people seat.

If you fancy each other, you can take the opportunity of the tea ceremony to snatch each other's hats, and then leave the crowd to negotiate, such as do not agree to be a spouse, you will take back the hat.

In Lahu marriage customs, after the man and woman determine the date of marriage, the man should send gifts of tea, salt, wine, meat, rice and firewood to the woman.

Lahu people often say, "You can't be considered married without tea." Friends and relatives must be invited to drink tea at the wedding. When the Dong people break off the marriage contract, they adopt the ritual of "retreating from the tea".

The night of the wedding, the bride and groom drink a cup of tea, indicating that they will always be together. In the Jiangnan water town, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou area, the young girl before the marriage, the family always prepare some good tea, to treat the girl in the young man, also known as "hair foot son-in-law tea".

Once the love relationship between men and women to be determined down to the betrothal ceremony, in addition to the bride price, but also to give each other a teapot as well as red paper wrapped in flower tea were given to their friends and relatives, commonly known as the "betrothal tea".

Some places, but also the female side to accept the male side to send the bride-price called "tea", and the female side also have to bring back to the male side of the house a bag of tea and a bag of rice to "tea instead of water, rice instead of soil", said that in the future the female side of the marriage to the male side of the house, can serve "Water and soil". When a woman gets married, her mother's family prepares salty tea. Salty tea is made of tea and sesame, baked green beans, orange peel, dried tofu, dried bamboo shoots and other ingredients prepared into a dozen kinds of salty tea, to be magnetized to the male party's family and friends in the neighborhood, commonly known as "Daijiajia tea ".