Fuxi and Nu Wa made a condition that they could get married if the bamboo cut into many sections could be connected again. Later, bamboo was really connected and a lot of bamboo joints were planted. Two people still don't want to promise.
Fuxi and Nu Wa also offered to roll down two stone mills from two mountains, and if they could roll together, they could get married. But when the stone mill was put together again, they still refused to agree.
At this time, Nu Wa had another idea. If Fuxi can catch up with herself, she can get married. As a result, Fuxi never caught up with Nuwa. Later, a turtle taught Fuxi to catch up from the other side of the mountain. Nu Wa was unprepared and caught up with Fuxi. In this way, the two had to get married.
Because of the marriage between Fuxi and Nu Wa, it spread to the later generations of mankind. Fuxi's pursuit of Nu Wa also became the earliest wedding ceremony in China.
In the clan society, most marriages between men and women are outside the clan or tribe. When a man gets married, he must go to another clan or tribe to find a spouse. Because there were fewer women at that time, it was difficult for men to find a spouse. Once you get a spouse, even if it is stolen, the whole clan or tribe will celebrate, and sometimes they will hold a banquet to celebrate. This is the prototype of the wedding.
Mongolians are nomadic people in the north of China, and they have been married outside the clan for a long time. Because of the vast living area, tribes are far apart, which brings great difficulties to intermarriage and trade. Therefore, among the ancient Mongolians, it is very common for girls to marry far away and rob marriage. Once you get married, drink and have fun to celebrate.
In addition, the function of the wedding is to announce the establishment of the marriage to the people and society through a certain form in order to gain social recognition.
According to Liu Shu's History as a Mirror in the Northern Song Dynasty, in ancient times, regardless of gender, it was only in Tai Hao that appropriate wedding ceremonies were set up, with deerskin as the ceremony. Since then, Lippi has become one of the classic wedding gifts. After that, in addition to the ceremony, parents must be informed first.
In the period of monogamy, marriage is based on mutual love between men and women, but parents must be consulted and not arbitrary. For example, Ewenki, a nomadic people living on the banks of the Ergon River, must consult their parents before getting engaged because of their love. The man's parents should give reindeer, wine and squirrel skin as dowry to his wife. When getting married, both parents should give reindeer to the newlyweds as material materials for their living together.
The article "Wedding" in the Confucian classic "Yili" stipulates that geese and husband and wife skins are used as wedding supplies, similar to Ewenki people using reindeer as dowry. It shows that the goose couple is a legacy of ancient marriage customs.
After entering the class society, the wedding was changed to cloth, gold and silver, cattle and horses, and the dowry used by men to marry their wives was more solemn.
Sacrifice to divine media in ancient times expressed people's good wishes of "marriage through media". In the process of marriage, the matchmaker occupies a special position.
The matchmaker appeared only after the formation of monogamy. At this time, the matchmakers were mostly elders who enjoyed prestige in the clan. Entrusted by the man's parents, he runs for the marriage of young men and women, thinking that this is the beauty of adults. When the two families were in conflict, the matchmaker also actively tried to mediate between the two families and won people's respect.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the slave owners and nobles kept the clan organization of blood relationship to a great extent, and on this basis, they established a patriarchal political system with a high degree of blood relationship and political relationship. Constructing the patriarchal regime system of "family" and "country" with the double standards of politics and blood.
"Home" is the basic unit of the Western Zhou society. The whole society is divided into different levels of "big" and "small" based on consanguinity and consanguinity. Under the typical patriarchal political system in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the marriage system has obvious patriarchal characteristics.
According to the patriarchal clan system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the purpose of marriage is to continue the blood. The Book of Rites records that marriage "conforms to the interests of both sexes, and the upper is to serve the temple and the lower is to inherit the children." Patriarchal system pays attention to the difference between intimacy and humility. In order to be clear and modest, the Western Zhou Dynasty practiced monogamy.
According to the Book of Rites, in the Western Zhou Dynasty, "the son of heaven had a queen, wife and concubine"; "Be a wife, a wife, a concubine." Mingmei is married, and only one wife is allowed, and no concubines or concubines are allowed.
At the same time, the establishment of marriage relationship must be recognized by family and society. As far as families are concerned, parents' consent must be obtained first. Men and women are not allowed to get married without parents' consent. As far as society is concerned, marriage between men and women must be negotiated through matchmakers. "Tell your parents when you get married"; "If you marry a wife, bandits can't"; This principle has been used by later generations and gradually formed a system.
Ancient marriage etiquette refers to six kinds of etiquette from marriage negotiation to marriage completion, namely, receiving gifts, asking names, accepting gifts, inviting guests and welcoming relatives. This wedding procedure was established in the Zhou Dynasty and first appeared in the Book of Rites.
In ancient times, men went to a woman's house to visit their wives, all at night. And married people are all dressed in black, and horses and chariots are all dressed in black. This custom is very different from the wedding custom of marrying the bride and wearing red clothes during the day in later generations.
The name and ceremony of "Six Rites" have far-reaching influence on the development history of ancient marriage system. After that, the formal requirements of establishing marriage in various dynasties did not have to go through the six rites procedure, but the name of "six rites" was passed down from generation to generation.
In ancient times, the attitude of the new bride was also very particular. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the man was asked to worship his ancestors in the woman's temple, and then he took the woman to the man's house by car. After welcoming the woman into the man's house, there will be ceremonies such as eating, drinking and toasting. I have to stay at home and watch menstruation the next day. If an aunt dies first, then three months later, she will pay homage to her aunt in the temple, which is called "the gift of seeing her in the temple". After the temple fair was completed, the woman officially became a full member of the family. At this point, the wedding was completed and the marriage was finally established.
In ancient China, the dissolution of marriage also formed a complete system called "Seven Outcomes and Three Outcomes".
"Seven out", also known as "seven going", is the seven conditions for a man's family to divorce his wife established in the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Big Dai Li" records that "women have seven ways to go: to be enemies with their parents; No children, go; Yin, go; Be jealous, go; If you are seriously ill, go; Talk a lot, go; Steal, go. " As long as the woman owns any of them, the husband's family can legally dissolve the marriage relationship.
There are also some restrictive conditions for the dissolution of marriage. According to the etiquette system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, a woman can't be abandoned by her husband's family in three situations, which is the so-called "three noes". Specifically, it is "married, don't go back, don't go; With more than three years of mourning, don't go; " I'm not going to be poor until I'm rich. "
This means that when a woman divorces, she has no relatives at home and cannot divorce her wife; A woman who has been filial with her husband for three years after marriage cannot divorce her husband; A woman who was poor when she married her husband's family and later became rich can't divorce her wife.
According to the requirements of the etiquette system, "the wife is also neat", the husband and wife should be one, the poor should marry, and the rich should leave. This is not desirable, so you can't divorce your wife. Although the restriction on men's arbitrary marriage is out of the need to maintain the patriarchal ethical order, it also reflects the humanitarian spirit in the ancient marriage system in China and the special protection of women's legitimate rights and interests.
The influence of "seven out of three" is also extremely far-reaching. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, even during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the provisions on the conditions and restrictions for the dissolution of marriage were generally not beyond its scope.