-
Traditional Chinese wedding
【
Abstract
】
:
The ancient Chinese
is an important part of ancient Chinese
culture,but
the wedding especially
Three Letters and Six Etiquettes plays an
important role in .the
institution of
marriage. The development of ancient Chinese
society till Zhou Dynasty
had formed a
relatively complete institution of marriage which
had a profound impact
on ancient
Chinese society,and now it still continues to
affect people's life in China.
【
Key
Words
】
China;
ancient times; wedding; Three Letters and Six
Etiquettes
Marriage
plays
an
important
role
in
the
development
of
the
human
society.
By
marriage
human
life
will
be
renewed
,
in
addition,
interpersonal
relationship,social
culture
and customs will come into being. The object
involved wedding is not just a
single
person,it
involves
both
the
man
and
the
woman
who
desires
to
contract
a
marriage,besides
that,two
families
are
included.
Because
of
staff
turnover,these
two
families will inevitably bring about a
series of columns of economic exchanges and
social interaction. Therefore,the
wedding is a ceremony for two families to
establish
social relations. Ever since
ancient times, there has been a saying that the
three most
delightful
moments
in
one's
life
come
with
success
in
the
imperial
examination,
marriage and the birth of a son. For
the male side, it determined the prosperity and
even the future fame of their family;
while for the female side, it meant that parents
lost
the
chance
of
seeing
their
daughter
for
a
long
time.
Most
people
consider
marriage the most important step a
person can take in life.
China is a
large country with 56 nationalities ,different
nationalities have different
marriage
customs,but
whatever
the
nationality
is,
the
wedding
ceremony
is
usually
very
complicated.
In
Confucian
thought,
marriage
is
of
grave
significance
both
to
families
and
to
society
as
well
as
being
important
for
the
cultivation
of
virtue.
Traditionally
incest
has
been
defined
as
marriage
between
people
with
the
same
surname.
From
the
perspective
of
a
Confucian
family,
marriage
brings
together
families of
different surnames and so continues
the
family line of the paternal
clan.
This is generally why having a boy is
more preferred than a girl when giving birth.
Therefore, the benefits and demerits of
any marriage are important to the entire family,
not just the individual couples.
Socially, the married couple is thought to be the
basic
unit of society. In Chinese
history there have been many times when marriages
have
affected the country’s political
stability and international the old days, all
communication
was
through
formal
letters.
Therefore,
the
letters
play
an
important
role
in the events. And the marriage essential process
were the commonly recognized
Letters
1. Request
Letter
This
letter confirms the formal arrangement of a
marriage. It is sent by the groom's
family to the bride's family. This
letter is normally presented with the initial
gifts for
the bride's family.
Letter
This
letter accompanies the formal gifts for the
Bride's family. It is actually a gift
list that records the description and
quantity of the gifts.
g Letter
This letter is presented to
the bride's family on the day of the wedding. It
confirms
the act of bringing the bride
into the groom's family.
Etiquettes
t
for Marrying the Bride
After the groom's family
has spotted a young girl whom the groom wants to
marry,
the family will hire a
spokeswoman who will communicate their wish to the
potential
bride's
family.
In
the
old
days,
it
is
popular
to
hire
elderly
ladies
as
midwives
or
spokeswoman for the groom. This lady
will persuade the potential bride's family to
accept the offer from the groom's
family. Both sides will negotiate
certain terms.
If
successful, both families will proceed
to the next step.
t for Bride and Groom's
Birth Dates
This is the second step in arranging a
marriage. Upon successfully completion of
the previous step, the groom's family
will request for the bride's date of birth and the
eight characters of a horoscope through
the spokeswoman. In Chinese calendar, there
are 22
are
time.
After obtaining the
groom and potential bride, a fortune
telling master will be hired to determine whether
the
two
match
each
other.
If
there
is
nothing
wrong
with
the
bride's
birthdate,
the
groom's
family
will
proceed
to
the
next
step.
Otherwise,
there
will
be
no
further
contact
between
the
families
and
the
groom's
family
may
look
for
another
suitable
bride.
l Gifts for the Bride's
Family
If the
potential bride's birthdate is acceptable, the
groom's family will request the
spokeswoman to send some initial gifts
accompanied by the gift letter.
Gifts for the
Bride's Family
The
groom's
family
will
pick
a
day
and
send
the
bride's
family
the
following
bridal
gifts:
gifts,
cash,
cakes
and
food
and
sacrifices
for
worshiping
the
ancestors. This act confirms the
marriage agreement between the two families.
ing
the Wedding Date
The fortune telling master will select
a
interpretation
by
fortune
tellers
that
perform
the
analysis
based
on
the
bride
and
groom's
and
their
family's
birthdates(day
and
hour)
after
consultation
with
the
Chinese almanac. The
fifteen-day period from the middle to
the end of the seventh
lunar
month
is
considered
inauspicious
because
that
is
time
of
the
Hungry
Ghost