This custom still prevailed in rural Sichuan until the end of Qing Dynasty. In the late 1980s, there was still the custom of crying marriage in the mountainous areas of northern Sichuan.
According to the old people, in the early days, no family got married but didn't cry. If a girl marries but doesn't cry, she will be regarded as an uneducated person by her neighbors and passed on as a laughing stock; According to legend, a married girl was beaten by her mother for not crying. Of course, this mother is also a leading director.
In the old story, a sedan chair came to the door, and my father forced me to cry "Song of Cursing the Media in the Wind". It can be seen that there are lyrics and performances in Crying Marriage, which was originally used to render the atmosphere and set off happiness with sadness; But because marriage is arranged, there are really many people crying and cursing.
When I was a teenager, I lived in the suburbs of the county town in the later period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and the atmosphere was relatively open. The wind of crying for marriage is no longer popular, but the old people are still talking about it. But in fact, I only saw it once. Neighbors said that the old grandmother insisted on ancient rituals and customs, but the younger generation could not resist. The way to cry is that from the first day of the month before the wedding, at dusk, the girl complained that she had been crying for about an hour and her voice was whining. Ten days later, her mother also cried. Ten days later, her grandmother also cried. There are no aunts and sisters in this family, and people say that if
If there is, join the crying.
Weeping and marrying in western Sichuan is called sitting in the court. In the Qing Dynasty, Taoist Ji wrote in "Xuan Zuo Tang Lun": Marriage customs are different in different provinces. However, the provinces are similar. The poem that men marry women first is called' makeup reminder'; The bride's daughter is called' sitting in the classroom'. Those women sitting in the hall should be happy for a few nights before the wedding. They buy wine for their ancestors and say auspicious words, thinking that they are praising beautiful women, while women declare their intentions to answer. There are many girls around women, so those who follow the trend are also learned. His ci is vulgar, but it has a sad rhyme and a vigorous style, such as ancient songs and folk songs. Cai, a famous operator in Luojiang, visited the countryside incognito. One day, when she went to a certain place, a woman came back, and all the daughters praised her with eulogy, and the woman also answered meaningfully. Suddenly the wind blew a sentence into my ear, saying,' Phoenix falls on the table, which daughter will leave her mother'. Every word turns, rhyme is sad. Who is the voice of nature? Not a fool's wife! Yun Yun. The surname of Taoist Ji is Zhou Mingji Tang, and he is from Chengdu. Long Ji remembers it clearly, but it's a pity that he only remembers a crying marriage, so it's hard to see the whole leopard. Fortunately, in the old days, there was a kind of "training women to cry and marry", which was obvious. The contents of this little book include: girls crying, mothers educating their daughters, eldest sister-in-law crying, parents crying, brother crying, sedan chair crying in the house, uncle crying, brother crying, grandparents crying, uncle crying, Xiangxiang crying and so on. The editing is a bit messy. It's almost the same when the fifteen national styles of poetry have not been deleted! Several passages are recorded as follows.
Crying in the boudoir
Mother is listening to birds in the backyard and her daughter's voice in the room.
My mother is bitter vine. She climbed up bitter vine and complained.
Mother's grievances have been bitter, and daughter's grievances have taken root.
............
The leaves are green and orange, and the birds are open to me.
The new copper pot holds water, and the new scissors are blue on both sides.
I don't talk, I talk, I don't talk, I talk.
When the door is a lotus tree, the lotus tree hangs scrolls.
I finished reciting a passage of scripture, and my mother didn't come to speak.
Thanks to my mother's sound sleep, my parents' tears are as expensive as gold.
Cry for parents
The moon bends in the flower pond, and my daughter begins to call her parents.
Parents have no hope of raising their children, such as the dream in Conan.
If the child is raised one foot and five inches, it will be wet and bitter when it is dry.
............
A waste of effort, but also a waste of parents' pain.
Cry brother
Black lacquer tea tray ebony, elder sister stay away from younger brother.
Stay until your sister eats your meal and stays until your sister wears your clothes.
My brother took charge of his own business, married his sister and bought a place.
Buy Qi Tongchuan house on the top and Qi Suining Township on the bottom.
............
This book records the lyrics of northern Sichuan, but what I saw before was southern Sichuan, and what Dao Chang remembers is western Sichuan and eastern Sichuan, which probably won't be much different. It's a pity that although there are words in the book that only complain that the matchmaker has no conscience, there is no list of cursed matchmakers, probably because the matchmaker is too embarrassed!
In fact, cursing the media is an indispensable program and the most rebellious lyrics in crying marriage. In the old society, women had no freedom of marriage. Because of the bondage of three obedience and four virtues, they can hardly say a word about their lifelong events at ordinary times, and they are all at the mercy of matchmakers and parents. Therefore, the media abuse before getting on the sedan chair is a rare opportunity to vent. This has long been reflected in art, such as opera and folk rap.
In the past, Liu Yin in Sichuan Opera was worse than Yingtai in scolding the media 10%. Yingtai reprimanded the matchmaker with fierce words and expressions, which fully demonstrated Zhu Yingtai's strong character and anti-feudal spirit. She scolded: I hate her even more when I mention the matchmaker. I'm talking nonsense ... I just wish your family would be cremated, while water pushes sand in the countryside. However, the play has been deleted now. In 1950s and 1960s, Sichuan Opera "The Story of Liu Yin" performed by the First National Opera Association also had this discount. It was played by Chen Shufang as Zhu Yingtai and won the first prize. Now people in the city probably think that matchmakers don't need to be scolded, but in remote areas, matchmakers seem to be still raging. However, it is said that matchmakers are never afraid of your scolding, and they are afraid that you will not scold; If you don't scold him, he can't get rid of his mildew. This is also a kind of humor in customs!
Among the people of the Three Gorges, especially the Ba people (Tujia people), crying marriage is undoubtedly the most distinctive wedding ceremony.
The bride began to cry half a month before marriage until she got on the sedan chair. The custom of crying marriage is related to the ancient marriage system. In the past, Tujia people had several unreasonable marriage customs, such as "all the daughters of aunts should marry the sons of uncles", which was called "bonesetting"; Second, no matter which woman, as long as the man takes a fancy to it, buying a string of firecrackers at her door is an engagement, and no one can object to it. If a woman is seen by several men at the same time and an engagement ceremony is held, the man sometimes even knocks down the marriage opponent to win the marriage, which of course endangers the woman's safety; The third is to rob relatives; Fourth, most marriages in the past were "the orders of parents and the words of the media". The woman doesn't understand the man and his family and is full of worries about her future life. Under such a marriage system, women's marriages are usually unhappy, so crying is inevitable.
The process of crying marriage begins with the girl to be married crying alone. The night before the wedding, the girl's lover girlfriend and three relatives and six sisters got together and sat in a room, crying in turn. The content of the crying wedding narrative has gradually evolved into a tune with a certain mode and rhythm, which has become a "crying wedding song". Moreover, Tujia people also regard whether they can sing wedding songs as a sign to measure women's intelligence and virtue. The bride should not only sing a song to everyone in her family, but also sing everything when she meets strangers.
The content of wedding songs is generally about parents' nurturing grace, brothers and sisters' deep friendship and parting pain, or expressing their worries about future life, etc.
A farewell song sang, "My mother, my mother, you have to make a dowry for your daughter. You have to catch three in ten days and nine in January. The road becomes grooved and the path runs hairy. " As soon as the chicken spoke, mother walked on the road; The sparrow entered the forest, and the mother walked halfway. The magpie fell into the nest, and mother met it on the road. Red, green and green are several large quantities, and they are much more combined. Oh, my god, my mother, leeks have nine leaves, and my mother has been pregnant with me for ten months. Pregnant in October, miserable. 10/day, when I was in labor, my mother was too busy, biting her nails in her mouth and stepping on the ground. When I woke up and looked at my body, I was very sad. There are tens of millions of benefits of mother, and it can't be counted in ten days and a half. "
Another example is a crying wedding song circulating in Sansheng Township, Jiangbei District, Chongqing: "I am so short-lived and heartbroken!" My father, my mother, I grew up at the foot of your milk roots, and I worked hard for my parents. Thanks a thousand times, ten thousand drops of dew are not paid. I will leave you tomorrow. I don't know what family he is. Who can I express my heart to? My father, my mother, I would rather serve my parents than marry them. "
Weeping wedding songs are simple and natural, with long feelings and obvious characteristics of the Three Gorges, which is also a manifestation of the simple folk customs of the Three Gorges. For example, a crying wedding song bid farewell to brother and sister-in-law, singing: "brother and sister-in-law, a twelve-petal orange, brother and sister are going to be scattered;" A bamboo has twelve knots, which should be connected on holidays; An egg doesn't turn yellow, and your sister's life is long; A water tank with three iron rings, you don't know my sister well. "
In addition to the crying of the girl to be married, parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends also sang back. A song sung by my mother: "Adults are getting married. My mother said a few words to me: First, be filial to parents-in-law; Second, we should respect our husbands; Third, sister-in-law should be more harmonious; Fourth, be careful, tea and rice should be even, candles should be careful, and cooking should be clean; Fifth, get up early, sweep the floor in front of the hall, and the distinguished guests arrive home with cigarettes and tea; Sixth, we must learn to cut, so as not to be inconvenient to ask for help. Don't be too playful, rely on it in the future. " Lyrics are the mother's little exhortations and instructions before her daughter leaves.
There is also a song sung by a friend: "Sister, sister, pick a pomegranate and share it equally." Open 12 grids of pomegranates every three or four times. "
The wind of crying marriage has disappeared in most places, and it can only be seen in places where Tujia people live in compact communities, such as Qianjiang, Shizhu and Xiushan in Chongqing and Badong and Changyang in Hubei.
In western Guangdong, the singer is a peasant girl, and the mother, sister-in-law and sisters sing or answer and sing together. Married women are crying and singing, and they are reluctant to part with their parents and relatives.
Xinyi in western Guangdong married and cried, which was mainly popular in Xintu area in the past and has been circulating in western Guangdong for more than a thousand years. Weeping wedding songs are extremely rich in content, with local cultural color and rich cultural landscape; It is a lyric song sung by the bride-to-be and female relatives and friends. The language of the wedding song is concise and simple. Generally, five sentences and seven sentences have many structures, smooth rhyming, popular and lively, and easy to sing.