Chaoshan wedding customs for welcoming the bride

The marriage customs in Chaoshan are very particular. In the old days, more emphasis was placed on "clear and formal employment". Although the etiquette and customs vary from place to place, the more consistent formulations and etiquette are: marriage proposal, marriage, engagement, betrothal, asking for a date, and welcoming the bride, commonly known as the "six rites". Some also summarize it into "four rites": wedding, appointment, appointment, and marriage.

Proposing marriage

Proposing marriage is also called marriage proposal. That is, the matchmaker goes to the man to propose marriage, or the matchmaker first goes to the man to introduce the woman's situation, and then the man approves and then the woman proposes marriage.

Collapse and edit this paragraph to combine eight characters

Combined eight characters (combined marriage), there are two links in the old custom of marriage. After both parties approve the marriage proposal, the matchmaker will give the woman’s name, birth date The horoscope, place of origin, and ancestry of the three generations are written in Geng Tie and sent to the man. If there are no accidents or unlucky things in the man's house within three days, such as broken bowls, pots, etc., this is called "three good days". With this good sign, the man agreed to exchange Geng Tie. After changing the Geng Tie, each invites someone to get married to confirm whether the man and woman are compatible with each other or incompatible with each other. If they are incompatible with each other, the marriage will have to be abandoned. Contemporary people advocate free love. Although young men and women have long since gotten rid of the marriage custom of "parents' orders and matchmaker's words", and the old custom of exchanging Geng Tie has been abandoned, many people still retain the link of "combining eight characters"

Collapse and edit this paragraph to get engaged

After choosing the auspicious "Bazi", it enters the engagement stage, that is, from the man preparing gifts to the woman making an appointment, also known as "() Ding". Gifts are usually gold and silver jewelry such as gold earrings, gold rings, and gold necklaces, as well as sugar and noodles, which are tokens of engagement. The woman must reciprocate the gift. Both men and women should distribute candies and cakes to relatives, friends and neighbors to inform them that the marriage has been decided.

Collapse and edit this paragraph to send the betrothal

The betrothal gift will be given after the engagement. Xingpin, also known as send-in. In the past, the betrothal gifts for rich families were gold, silver, colored satin, pigs, sheep, wine and fruits; for the poor, betel nut, chicken and wine were just betel nuts. Chaozhou people regard olives as a symbol of good luck and good fortune, which is a unique betrothal gift. Contemporary betrothal gifts include physical objects and cash. The physical objects must include at least four types: sugar, noodles, Taiji (Teochew mandarin oranges), gold and silver jewelry, clothes and fabrics, cakes, etc., but it cannot be an odd number, it must be an even number. Cash is also called bride price, and it can be divided into one, two or four parts, but they are all multiples. During the betrothal gift, the woman must give a return gift, that is, return the cakes and food in the betrothal gift, and give in return mandarin ducks, bananas, oranges, pig hearts, etc. Mandarin ducks and bananas are bananas that grow side by side, symbolizing a hundred years of longevity together, and also have the meaning of attracting wealth; oranges are homophones of "auspicious", symbolizing good luck; pig hearts (half of which is left on the woman) symbolizes concentricity. At this time, both parties should solemnly distribute the cakes and snacks from the other party's gifts to relatives, friends and neighbors to report the happy event of the wedding. Relatives, friends and neighbors should also return gifts to express their congratulations. Giving a gift to the bride is called "giving pollen".

Collapse and edit this paragraph to select a date

Select a date. After the betrothal gift is given, the man must choose the date of the wedding and inform the woman, including when to cut the wedding dress, when to "turn face", when to bathe, when to get married, etc. The time chosen by Chaozhou people is mostly late at night. The Chaozhou custom of welcoming brides late at night is indeed a legacy from ancient times. In ancient times, weddings always took place in the evening, so the bride-to-be must be welcomed after dusk, or even late at night.

Collapse and edit this paragraph to welcome the bride

Welcome to the bride, this is the ceremony where the groom goes to the bride’s house to marry the bride, and it is also the most important procedure in the wedding. There are two types of wedding ceremonies in old times: one is for the groom to welcome the bride, and the other is for the groom to ask a "lucky person" to greet the bride on his behalf. In modern times, most of the bridegrooms welcome the bride themselves. During the whole process before and after the wedding, the bride and groom each have to hold some customary activities, including the following aspects

Collapse and edit this paragraph to wash flowers

Before getting married, the bride must use Take a bath with 12 kinds of flowers including jelly grass and pomegranate flowers. After bathing, you put on a top with "all five robes in perfect order", also known as "senior sedan shirt", which means that the five blessings are complete. In some places, after bathing, brides have to sit in the bathtub and eat two hard-boiled eggs to pray for smooth childbirth after marriage. Moreover, the bride cannot sew bags inside or outside the clothes she wears, so as not to take away her parents' luck.

Collapse and edit this paragraph to share money rice

Before getting married, the bride must "share money rice", that is, a lot of rice mixed with coins should be divided equally among the brothers and sisters in the family. It means distributing wealth to everyone. In Haishan Town, Raoping, the custom of dividing money rice is for the mother to put money rice in a dustpan or bamboo sieve, shake the dustpan vigorously, and chant while shaking it: "If the dustpan is round, the children and grandchildren will be rich; if the dustpan is evenly divided, the next year will be rich." Hold a male grandson.

"Then the money and rice are distributed to each of the bride's brothers and the bride. The bride takes it and puts it in a specially made bellyband, and puts the money and rice in the rice urn of her husband's family.

Collapsed edited version Eat half a bowl of rice at a time

In the morning before the bride goes out, her parents’ family will cook a four- or nine-course breakfast for the bride to enjoy, which must include boiled pork intestines, pork tripe, braised vegetables and other specialties. There are four common dishes such as mixed vegetables, and the rice for the bride should be fully filled, but the bride can only eat one side (that is, half a bowl), which means that after getting married, there should be leftover money for her mother's family.

< p>Collapse and edit this paragraph to lay the bed

Before the wedding, the groom must hold a solemn "bed laying" ceremony when decorating the new house. The bed laying ceremony should be chosen on an auspicious day, and the orientation of the bed should also be particular. , a couplet saying "Good luck to the bed" and "Qilin is here" should be pasted on the bed, and then a boy should be asked to lie down on the bed for a while, which means that a baby will be born early.

Collapse edit this paragraph to pick up the bride.

On the wedding day, the groom goes to the bride’s house and takes the bride back by bicycle, motorcycle or car. The bridesmaid and uncle (the bride’s brother) accompany the bride to the groom’s house with gifts. In addition to a pair of male and female roosters, this gift should also include a bottle of lamp oil, which means that the man will "bring a baby". Nowadays, some use cosmetic oil instead of lamp oil, and the brother-in-law will receive a warm welcome when he arrives at the in-laws' home.

When getting married, the bride must bring a dowry. The dowry must include a lamp, clogs, needlework, a mirror, a comb, a ruler, a rice tube, and a straw head bellyband (two grass head incense sticks with roots in the bellyband). Sedge), etc., should be prepared with toys and stationery for children, and socks for relatives and friends. Wearing clogs means "growing old together" or "following the same steps"; wearing a comb symbolizes that the bride is doing things in an orderly manner, just like combing her hair. Some use small quilts for children to fold into the shape of a bellyband, and put straw heads in the quilt to form a strawhead bellyband.

Fold and edit this section to eat "Wuwantou" and "Hefangyuan".

After entering the bridal chamber, the bride will eat "five bowls": dragon swordfish, pork liver with boiled onions, stir-fried pork with leeks, meatballs, and sweet bowls of glutinous rice or taro paste placed in the four corners of the table. Four sweet cups, put brown sugar in each cup, and stick a little brown sugar on each dish, which means that everything is sweet from beginning to end. The dragon swordfish symbolizes ability, the pork liver and boiled onions symbolize officialdom, intelligence, and reasonableness, and the leeks symbolize longevity. and fast fat, meatballs symbolize reunion, and sweet bowls symbolize the sweetness of life, which are all good wishes for good luck and good luck. The bride and groom should sit at both ends of the bed to eat "shared room yuan", that is, eat sweet glutinous rice balls, and after eating half of them, leave the rest.

Collapse edit this paragraph and serve sweet tea

At noon on the wedding day, the groom will entertain relatives and friends. After the luncheon, the mother-in-law or the groom will take the bride out to greet the relatives, friends and guests. Serve sweet tea or betel nuts. When serving tea, you must strictly follow the order of generations. The mother-in-law or the groom should be there to teach the bride one by one: who is this and what is the name of that? It is commonly called "rewarding money" and saying some words of blessing. On the wedding day, men and women chat and laugh, come to eat wedding candies and see the bride. The bride should give toys and stationery to the children, and socks to relatives and friends.

Collapse and edit this paragraph to return home

On the third day of the wedding, the bride and groom will hold a "returning" ceremony, that is, they will return to the bride's natal home. The ceremony of "returning to the door" is three consecutive times, commonly known as "returning to the house for the first time", "returning to the house for the second time" and "returning to the house for the third time". During the first two visits to her parents' home, the bride and groom need to have lunch at their parents' home, but must return before cooking dinner. Only the third time can you stay overnight at your parents' home. In some places, the "returning home" ceremony is held four months after the wedding.