Chaoshan Wedding Customs Chaoshan people are very particular about wedding customs. In the old days, they paid more attention to "clear matchmaking and official recruitment".
Although the etiquette and customs vary from place to place, the more consistent formulations and etiquette are: marriage proposal, marriage, betrothal, betrothal, asking for a date, and welcoming the bride, commonly known as the "six rites".
Some also summarize it as "four rites": wedding, appointment, appointment, and marriage.
Asking a matchmaker to propose marriage, marriage and engagement. "Proposing marriage", "combining marriage", and "engagement" are the "writing" of the "four rites".
First, the matchmaker goes to the man's and woman's homes to propose marriage.
With the consent of the girl's family, the matchmaker will then go to the girl's family to ask for her name, date of birth, place of birth, and three generations of ancestors, and write a Geng note and send it to the man. If nothing unlucky happens in the man's family within three days (commonly known as "three days of success")
, the man can give his Geng Tie to the woman, and both parties can predict the marriage (also called the marriage date).
"Betrothal" is also called "engagement", "Xing Ding", and "Food Ding". The man prepares gifts and goes to the woman's home to make a marriage arrangement.
The gift is usually a pair of gold earrings or a gold ring, as well as cakes, candies, sugar, noodles, etc. The woman must give a gift in return.
When getting engaged, the man has to go to the woman's house to "eat a meal", usually eating sweet eggs or sweet noodles (if there are four sweet eggs, he can only eat two; if there are two, he can only eat one, and the other one has to be divided with chopsticks.
two).
Both men and women should send cakes, sweet noodle soup (mostly noodles and sugar now) to relatives, friends and neighbors, and report that the marriage has been decided.
Choosing an auspicious date for wedding dowry "Hong Kong wedding" is also called "sending betrothal", which is a relatively solemn etiquette. There are strict regulations on the style of wedding letter and betrothal gift.
Before the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, in addition to gold, silver and colored satin, rich families gave away pigs, sheep, wine and fruits; poor families gave away chickens and wine, as well as betel nut; in most places, they also gave away pork, commonly known as "washed pork".
, to repay the woman’s parents for their kindness in raising her.
In the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to gold and silver, they also gave away radios (television sets), bicycles, sewing machines and watches; now most of them receive bride price.
After receiving the betrothal gift from the man, the woman will apply for reinstatement and respond with certain gifts. The main ones are: Yuanyangjiao (double bananas, symbolizing the closeness of husband and wife), pig liver and pig heart (indicating that the liver and gallbladder are united), and male and female chickens.
One (symbolizing the comparison of wings between mandarin ducks) and so on.
When the woman is re-employing, she should also consider the elderly people in the groom's family. If the mother (grandmother) is in the family, she must give "mom cake" as an additional gift; if the grandfather is in the family, she should give "husband cake" as an additional gift.
Before the girl's family gives the pig's heart to the boy's family, she must cut out a piece, cook it with sugar and green onions, and then eat it with her. After the boy's family receives the pig heart and liver from the girl's family, they must also cook it with sugar and green onions.
After it is cooked, it is eaten with family, relatives and friends, which means "men and women are of the same mind".
"Requesting a date" is also called "selecting a date", "sending a date", and "proposing a date".
After the betrothal ceremony, the man will choose an auspicious date for the wedding, including cutting the wedding dress, "turning face" and bathing, determining the time and hour of the wedding, and informing the woman.
Twist brown sugar in a handkerchief. When the bride comes out of the palace, she should twist the handkerchief wrapped with brown sugar in her hands. After arriving at her husband's house, before covering the well, she should pour brown sugar into the well, which means that the bride "closes the house inside and outside the house" and "passes the door."
In the old days, in addition to the dowry and the above-mentioned special items, wealthy families also gave away fields and even birthday boards (coffins); now they give away electrical appliances and motorcycles.
Cars or automobiles, etc. The grand final ceremony of the wedding ceremony is "welcoming marriage", that is, the man goes to the bride's house to marry the bride. There are two ways of welcoming the bride: one is the groom coming to greet the bride; the other is sending a "lucky person" to the door.
The groom is waiting for the bride at the door of his home, and the bride is accompanied by a bridesmaid. There are many procedures for welcoming the bride, and the ceremony is grand. The bride has to "eat five bowls of head" separately at her natal home and at her husband's home, and is given food before going out.
Brothers and sisters "share rice" and eat at the "sisters' table". Before the bride gets on the sedan, family members will carry a basin of water and sprinkle it on the sedan. Some will carry a small bucket of water and dip red flowers (i.e. pomegranate flowers) in the water.
Spraying a section of the way the sedan chair passes. Although nowadays people often use bicycles, motorcycles, and cars to get married, some people still retain this custom.
"A mature tree") branches and green bamboo branches are used to express blessings for "a successful husband and a virtuous wife." On the wedding day, the door entering and exiting the groom's house must be pasted with a wedding couplet, and a message written "
The red note "Qilin is here". When the bride arrives at the door of the groom's house, the groom must "kick the sedan door" and "tie Ruyi", and the bride and groom must "cross the fire and smoke" to eat.
During the "reunion", the "Qing Niang mother" should "make four sentences". The bride and groom each eat two sweet balls and then exchange the round cups, and then eat two more round cups. At this time, "Qing Niang Mu" is called "Qing Niang".
"Mother" must "make four sentences" again. "Make four sentences" should run through the whole process of the wedding. From the time the bride goes out and gets on the sedan to entering the bridal chamber, "Qing Niangmu" must "make four sentences". When "making trouble in the bridal chamber", "
The "Qing Niang Mu" should sing to the guests on behalf of the bride. If she encounters some naughty people making crooked poems and making jokes, the "Qing Niang Mu" should immediately respond with "four sentences" to help the bride resolve the embarrassing situation. On the wedding day, there should be a set of
In addition to the above-mentioned rituals, the bride will also hold ceremonies such as "opening a well", "pounding rice heads", and "stirring rice" on the third day of her wedding.
The "Gui Ning" ceremony - "Returning to the House" is performed on the first and second days of the month. The bride returns when the smoke starts to rise at her parents' home. Only after the "Third Return to the House" can she spend the night at her parents' house.