The ancient customs of Xinxiang
Before the founding of New China, Xinxiang had the custom of early marriage. The age of marriage for men is generally 15 to 20 years old, and that for women is generally 15 to 18 years old. Men and women must obey their parents' orders and matchmakers' words when they get married. There are many red tape in the process of getting married. Talking about marriage: When talking about marriage for the first time, parents first entrust a matchmaker, through which they can learn about each other's zodiac signs and look at their zodiac combinations according to the superstition of Yin and Yang. The signs of aggressive animals are chickens and dogs, dragons and tigers. The most suitable zodiac sign is the dragon rabbit, which is known as "the dragon wraps around the rabbit and makes generations rich". The woman can be two or three years older than the man, but not one year older. There is a folk saying that "the wife is the oldest, the gold is the oldest", "the wife is the youngest", and "the female freshman has no food". Blind date: after asking about the other family, blind date. The two sides agreed on the date of blind date, and the woman was guided by the matchmaker, and met the man with the accompanying personnel at the place designated by the man or the matchmaker, and the matchmaker introduced the situation of both sides face to face. After the visit, the man gave the woman a present. If both parties are satisfied, this is the original agreement. Engagement: On an auspicious day, the man's parents agree on the wedding date and inform relatives and friends. New set: New bedding and pillows must be sewn by women with children and couples. Before sewing, my mother-in-law grabbed three handfuls of cotton and spread it out. Then, she grabbed some peanuts, red dates and walnuts and sewed them into the bedding, meaning "early birth." Box pressing: On the day before the bride's wedding, the bride's sister-in-law or sister put the bride's wedding dress in a box and put money on it. When the bride arrives at her mother-in-law's house, her mother-in-law will put money into this box, and it is more than the money in the box. On the day before the wedding or in the morning, the woman or the fraternity inserted a cypress branch into the bride's family's dowry and sent it to the man's house, which means evergreen. After the dowry was delivered, the man's family hosted a banquet, and the accompanying guests asked the dowry for the key to open the box, sealed the money to the key holder, and handed over the key only after the other party was satisfied. Wedding: Two days before the wedding, the man sent the bride a communication box, which contained makeup and sedan chair clothes (clothes must be matched) and jewelry, plus a bottle of wine, a piece of meat, a liter of rice and noodles. The day before the wedding, the man decorated the new house, and the groom's younger brother pressed the bed that night and was allowed to pee in the new bed. On the wedding day, the man prepares four sedan chairs, one for the groom, one for the bride, one for the wedding guests and one for the children. Wedding ceremony: the usher guides the groom into the bride's house, and at every door, guides the groom to worship the guests. The bride's family must give the groom and usher a bowl of jiaozi soup and play music three times before the bride can get on the sedan chair. Getting on the sedan chair: The bride must wear blue shoes when getting on the sedan chair. These shoes are not allowed to be worn back to her family. Before getting on the sedan chair, her mother gave her daughter money to leave her mother and gave the marriage certificate to the bride, who took it to her husband's house and pressed it on the bed to show that the two families were safe. Getting on the sedan chair is divided into big marriage and small marriage. In the big wedding, the bride does not step on the sedan chair, but is carried by four people sitting in a chair. At the wedding, the bride stepped into the sedan chair, which was lifted up greatly. If you meet a sedan chair on the way, you must get off the sedan chair and play music before you can go again. Get off the sedan chair: Before getting off the sedan chair, the bride should comb her hair and say, "One comb for gold, two combs for silver, and three combs for mules and horses to run in groups." The husband's family will also give the bride a sedan chair gift, and then help her get off the sedan chair. In the event of a blind year (that is, there is no "beginning of spring" in the middle of the year), the bride must walk forward with lighting when getting off the sedan chair to show that she will have children in the blind year. After the bride gets out of the sedan chair, her feet are not allowed to land. She must spread a blue cloth from the sedan chair door to Tiandi Hall. The bride walked to the table with blue cloth on her feet, and the man sprinkled grass on her. Worship heaven and earth: Worship heaven and earth is a wedding ceremony. Put a bucket full of grain on the table of heaven and earth, seal it with red paper, put a red candle on each side, and put some fruit bowls in front of the bucket. Spread a red carpet or mat in front of the table, put flowers in front of the mat and put a saddle in front of the flowers. The bride wants to touch flowers across the saddle, which is called "riding a saddle to touch flowers" to show that her family is safe and more than enough. Then the bride and groom stand at the table of heaven and earth, face the god of heaven and earth, worship heaven and earth, worship their parents, and then the husband and wife worship each other. Entering the bridal chamber: After worshipping heaven and earth, the bride enters the bridal chamber, with her sister-in-law holding a washbasin and putting a bun and a coin in the water. The bride must take out the bun and throw it under the bed, and then the sister-in-law will send the water away. Then, her sister-in-law sent the cooked jiaozi to the new house for the bride to squeeze out with chopsticks for the groom to eat. Banquet: The family held a banquet to entertain the guests. When the banquet is held, the man leads the way with the guests, and the gift giver accompanies the groom to see the dishes before the woman sees him off. The man accompanied the guests and shouted, "The groom looks at the food!" The woman's elder replied, "Save trouble three times." Then the ceremony began and the groom bowed three times. After the farewell dinner, the escort will lead the way. The elder of the groom held a wine tray in his hand and said, "The wine is cold and the banquet is bright. Please take care of your in-laws. " The other party replied: "I have enough to eat and drink, and my in-laws are fine." The groom's elders said to him, "Try the wine first. I want to marry a daughter-in-law. Your family is busy." The other party replied: "Everyone is very busy! Busy! " This set of etiquette is commonly known as "clock". Meet the bride: The farewell party of the bride is to meet the bride before returning from the banquet to show comfort. After seeing the guests off, the domestic guests (the relatives and friends of the groom) and the guests sitting at the bottom (the elders of our family) get together, and the brides kowtow to the bride one by one, and the bride-worshippers pay for the bride-worshippers. Make trouble in the bridal chamber: the younger generation or peers of the groom enter the bridal chamber to play with the newlyweds until late at night. Wedding lights: On the wedding night, put a table on the bed and light two red candles, commonly known as "wedding lights". One for the groom and one for the bride. Whoever lights the wedding lights for a long time shows who has a long life. Huimen: On the ninth day of the wedding, the bride's brother will take her home for a few days, commonly known as "Jiujiu". After the founding of New China, the government promulgated the Marriage Law, abolished the old arranged marriage, and practiced equality between men and women and marital autonomy. However, weddings are usually held on holidays or on the third, sixth and ninth days of the lunar calendar. In the wedding management, some still retain the traditional colors such as meeting gifts, wearing new clothes, giving dowry, pressing money, setting banquets, and making trouble in the bridal chamber, but it is much simpler than in the old society.