Family marriage in Dehong and Dai areas in the mainland has a more distinct feudal color, and marriage is completely based on buying, selling and arranging. Generally, there are many other fees for the bride price of 300 yuan, such as "opening the door", "closing the door", "going to court", "Buddhist fees", "dowry fees" and "matchmaker fees", which add up to more than ten yuan. This has essentially become a woman's value.
Many young men from poor families, unable to afford the money, took the method of stealing their relatives to get married, that is, when the feelings of men and women were mature, the date of "robbing marriage" was determined. A young man twice his partner, armed with a machete and copper coins, ambushed at a predetermined place, and when the girl came, he "grabbed" and ran. The girl pretended to shout to inform her family that the man took the copper coins and fled. After the fait accompli, please ask the matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman's house, and both sides invite leaders, relatives and friends to discuss and solve it. After the dowry was fixed, they officially got married.
In addition, in these areas, the phenomenon of adoption is also very common, but it is completely different from Xishuangbanna. It is not a legacy of primitive customs, but a product of feudal marriage. The adopted son's social status is extremely low, and his children have no right to inherit property.
Dai people's marriage papers
The wedding of the Dai people is called "golden debt" by the people, which means wedding banquet. The wedding date can only be set from the "opening day" to the "closing day" every year (after the Dai calendar1February 15 and before the following September 15), and the main content of the wedding is the blessing and string tying of the bride and groom.
The wedding will be held at the bride's house. At that time, pigs and chickens will be killed (some people even kill cows), and rich banquets will be held to entertain relatives and friends and villagers in this village. On the wedding day, a "Mao Huan" (literally translated as a soul table) was set up in the bride's hall, with one or three tables, banana leaves, a pair of cooked male hens, glutinous rice filled with banana leaves, rice wine, salt sticks, salt, bananas, red cloth, white cloth and white thread. Both male and female chickens need to be covered with leaf caps made of banana leaves, which is called "Suolei Cave" in Dai language. After the wedding is ready, the bride's girlfriend will accompany the bride to freshen up and wait for the groom to come to the door. The groom also washed and changed at home, accompanied by relatives and friends, and held a wedding on the bride's bamboo building.
At the beginning of the ceremony, the wife who presided over the wedding sat in the middle behind Mao Huan, and the elders sat around the table. A couple knelt in front of the wife who presided over the wedding, surrounded by relatives and friends. The person sitting in front of "Mao Huan" put his right hand on the table and listened to the wedding ceremony. Take off the leaf hat that covers the food at the wedding, and bless the bride and groom first: "Today is a beautiful and auspicious day, and now is the best time of the day. You two get married with love, Jinfeng and Tongfeng get married, and life will be happy and beautiful. I hope children have children, and I hope you have daughters. I wish you happiness and never give up. " .
After the wedding, the bride and groom each grabbed a ball of glutinous rice and put it on the table, dipped it in rice wine, salt, boiled salt and plantain, and put it on the table. The officiating person picked up a long white line, wrapped it around the shoulders of the bride and groom from left to right, and put both ends of the white line on the "Mao Huan" to show that the hearts of the couple are tied together. Then take two white lines and wrap them around the wrists of the bride and groom, wishing the newlyweds a hundred years of harmony and no disaster. The elders present also took two strands of white thread and tied them to the hands of the bride and groom. They tied the thread and read some wishes. After tying the thread, the wedding is basically over and the wedding reception begins. The bride and groom toasted the guests.