-
Contrast Between Chinese and American
Wedding Customs
Introduction
With China stepping up its opening to
the outside world and its entrance to the
World
Trade
Organization,
there
’
re
more
and
more
opportunities
for
China
and
America
to
further
develop
their
relation.
Given
the
difference
in
historical
background,
cultural heritage, political system and economic
development level, it is
natural
that
the
two
sides
have
different
views
or
even
disagree
on
some
cultural
traditions and values. So it is
necessary for them to
have a deeper
understanding of
each
other
’
s distinctive culture.
This article talks about
one aspect of culture---the wedding custom,
presenting a
striking contrast between
America and China. Through the discussions about
the two
nation
s’
different wedding traditions, the author tries to
analyze the causes leading to
the
variation and get the two
nations
’
cultural
connotation across to readers and even
to
more
people
who
are
concerned
about
cultural
exchanges.
The
article
describes
wedding
traditions
in
detail
in
the
aspects
of
diverse
superstitions,
religious
beliefs
and
value
preferences,
striving
to
help
to
improve
understanding
and
minimize
misunderstanding
between
countries
’
communications
in
culture.
Actually
by
now
many
Chinese
and foreign
works
concerning the contrast
of
wedding customs
have
been
produced,
but
unfortunately
most
of
those
outputs
put
great
emphasis
on
the
phenomena
themselves,
without
paying
much
attention
to
the
underlying
causes.
Therefore,
this
article
aims
at
avoiding
the
above
defect
and
resolving
two
basic
1
questions,
one
of
which
is
“
what
are
the
typical
differences
between
Chinese
and
American
weddings?
”
,
and
the
other
is
“
What
are
the
internal
causes?
”
This
thesis
consists of three parts, which are the
wedding places and the according atmosphere,
the
brides
’
dresses,
the
different
behaviors
and
amenities
in
the
wedding
ceremony
respectively .
2
Chapter One
Wedding Places and According
Atmosphere
1.1 The Relation
between Wedding Custom and Culture
As
is
known
to
all,
culture,
including
social
system
and
relations,
spirituality,
value, way of thinking, art, language
and custom, is gradually gained and developed
when people living together form a
common understanding of concepts and ideas and
follow
certain
rules
and
norms.
As
one
form
of
traditional
customs,
gradually,
wedding
tradition
obviously
becomes
part
of
culture.
Considering
Chinese
and
American different
social systems, thoughts and values, their wedding
traditions have
their own features.
1.2
American and
Chinese Wedding Places and According Atmosphere
One
essential difference in their wedding customs lies
in the quite different places
in
which
new
couples
of
the
two
countries
hold
their
wedding
ceremonies,
and
the
weddings’ atmosphere
enjoys quite variance whereupon.
It’s common that we see
in
many romantic American TV shows, the hero and the
heroine
come
to
the
church
to
make
their
wedding
vows,
which
seems
so
fabulous
and hallowed. In
America, almost all the wedding ceremonies are
held in the church
although there are
nowadays
some
young couples
who tend to
have their weddings
outdoors. Ma Qinhua said in her work
“
Just appreciate a scene
from a movie:
it’s in a
magnificent cathedral, the bride
wearing a white wedding gown and also a white
veil,
accompanied
by
one
of
her
family
and
the
bridesmaid,
slowly
goes
towards
the
bridegroom
who
is
waiting
for
her
in
front
of
the
altar.
With
the
wedding
march
beginning to ring, the wedding starts.
”
Generally, in the American way, the
ceremony
3
makes
a quiet and peaceful impression on us. It can be
seen that the bride is wearing
in
white, and the wedding chapel is also decorated in
white, which exactly suits the
church’s
solemn
-ness. At the same time, the
wedding march is serene and soft.
Unlike Americans, Chinese couples hold
their weddings at home, not in churches,
and the Chinese wedding is more like a
food feast or a get-together party at the new
couple’s home, less formal and more
casual. The new couple
has no need to
seriously
vow
to
each
other,
or
complete
the
ceremony
with
the
minister,
friends,
or
the
relatives
witnessing their commitment.
As a result, the Chinese weddings are
always
lively and beaming, deprived of
ceremonial silence in western cultures. Everything
is
in red, and constant firecrackers
cannot be omitted.
1.3
The
Potential
Reasons
for
Choosing
Wedding
Places
and
Creating
Corresponding
Atmosphere
Most
American
weddings
are
held
in
churches,
quiet
and
peaceful,
while
Chinese weddings are
at home, noisy and lively. It is well-known that
in America, the
people have a firm
belief in God and Christian becomes their most
important religious
belief.
As
the
marriage
is
considered
as
the
gift
from
God,
people
assume
that
the
couple is able to find each other with
the help of God. The church and the minister are
viewed as the divine temple of God and
God’s messenger or the person closest
to God
respectively, thus
the minister’s hosting the wedding in
the church
shows the
couples
’
respect
and thanksgiving to God, and the
minister
’
s mission is to
help to free the new
couple
from
the
ominous
and
evil
of
the
devil,
in
this
way
their
marriage
will
be
blessed.
“
In
western
countries,
the
tradition
of
holding
the
wedding
ceremony
in
a
4
church has been
deve
loped with the development of
people’s religious beliefs. Many
people
in America and Europe have faith in Christian,
which faith plays a large role in
their
everyday
life.
Both
Catholic
and
Orthodox,
as
branches
of
Christian,
regard
wedding
and
6
other
religious
rituals
as
the
Seven
Sacred
Ceremony
set
by
Jesus,
which
are
of
great
importance
to
be
implemented.
Those
believers
of
the
religion
thinks unless the
wedding is held under the auspices of the reverend
in the church, the
bride
and
the
bridegroom
are
not
truly
married
or
blessed.
”
Ma
Qinhua
said.
The
author of this essay
agrees with these comments to a large degree.
In the meantime, white, as
a symbol of purity ad chastity,
which
are exactly
Jesus
’
characteristics,
certainly
becomes
part
of
the
atmosphere,
and
the
peaceful
wedding march suits the church, too.
Americans think the wedding is blessed when it
is held in quiet and serious
atmosphere.
However, as far as most
Chinese are concerned, they are deeply influenced
by
Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism,
few of them are Christian, they naturally have
no “Church Complex”.
The
wedding
’
s being held at home
gives an expression of the
family
’
s
importance.
Through
saluting
at
home,
the
Chinese
family
value,
that
is
emphasizing the status of parents in
the family, is well expressed.
Besides,
Chinese
possess
a
special
liking
for
red
color.
Actually,
this
stems
from
the
worship
of
Apollo
---the great red sun which always brings about
harvest, so the sun
’
s red
color
gradually becomes a symbol of
good luck, health, honor and happiness. Red is
almost
perfect
for
Chinese,
for
which
they
make
good
use
of
red
to
describe
and
explain
many
good things. Their weddings are no exception.
In the Chinese’s opinion,
the
5
Americans’
preference for white is not proper for them.
I
n the Chinese symbolization
tradition, white represents
misfortune ,
and they
dress
in
white
only
when a person
passes
away.
Chinese not only like
using red colors to decorate their wedding, but
also tend
to have the wedding lively
enough with enough friends and relatives present
and with
the
constant
firecrackers---both
as
the
translation
of
Chinese
value
of
“
harmony
between
human,
heaven
and
earth
”
---the
former
is
reflecting
importance
of
social
harmony, and the latter is to show
respect for heaven , only loud sounds could draw
the
heaven
’
s
attention
and
help
drive
out
evil
and
demons,
so
that
the
new
couple
would
be blessed.
In
short,
Americans
firmly
believe
in
Christian
’
s
rules,
and
Chinese
speak
highly of Buddhist Philosophy, Taoist
and Confucian ethics. However, both Chinese
who prefer their wedding
cer
emony’s jollification at home
and Americans who enjoy
quietness
in
church
expect
their
weddings
to
be
blessed
by
strictly
observing
their
own traditions and
customs. No need to
argue which place
to hold the ceremony is
better, or which atmosphere is more
attractive, just know that both countries operate
in their own way to achieve the same
goal.
6
Chapter Two
The
B
rides’
Wedding Dress
2.1
American
Brides
’
Wedding Dress and
it
’
s Cultural Source
Apart from
the different
wedding places and the wedding
atmospheres,
another
important fact is that the two
nations
’
brides have
different wearing customs. Wedding
Day
is a big day for everyone, whatever his
nationality is, and people always make
careful
preparations
for
the
wedding,
and
they
’
d
like
to
put
on
the
most
beautiful
garments
and
suitable
accessories
for
their
once-in-a-lifetime
wedding,
hoping
that
everything
may
seem
perfect.
Dressing
culture
is
really
playing
a
big
role
in
the
wedding
culture.
Traditionally, in America, the bride is
wearing a white wedding dress, a white
wreath,
and
long
white
gauze.
As
the
ideas
mentioned
above,
westerners
advocate
white, as it symbolizes love, purity,
and good luck.
In fact, the
custom of wearing a wedding dress can be traced
back much earlier.
It had been
prevalent in the 10
th
century BC that the Mesopotamian women wore veils.
In ancient Greece, not only should the
bride wear the yarn made from flax or wool,
but also the couple should wear a
crown. During the Roman times, people of different
religious beliefs should wear yarn of
different colors. After the Middle Ages, in court
and aristocracy, garlands decorated
with pearls appeared. Later, this garland evolved
into a white veil and the size is
gradually extended throughout in the west. In the
19
th
century,
there was no color specification of the
bride
s’
gown. It was not
until 1820 or
7