Why are housing prices in Enshi Lichuan so high?

Marriage has always been an eternal topic for mankind. Since the Zhou Dynasty, our country has formed a relatively complete set of marriage customs. It includes two major steps: engagement and marriage, specifically including six rites, namely accepting gifts, asking for names, accepting gifts, accepting invitations, asking for dates and welcoming in person. The customs of the six rites have great differences in the specific expressions of different ethnic groups and different places. With the development of culture and social changes, marriage customs have undergone tremendous changes. The whole process of a young man and woman from the Tujia ethnic group in Lichuan, Enshi, Hubei, from meeting each other to getting married. Whether it is a childhood love, a childhood sweetheart, a free love marriage, or a marriage where the matchmaker's words indicate that the matchmaker is marrying, Tujia people have gradually formed an unwritten rule in their marriage customs, that is, the matchmaker is required to talk about marriage, propose marriage, marry each other, check the family, There are many procedures such as asking for birth dates, making promises about marriage, welcoming the bride, and returning home. There are also unique plots in weddings: crying to marry, passing gifts, making love, wearing flowers and wine, carrying the bride, welcoming the bride, playing the bride, consummating the marriage, worshiping in the hall, enthroning, making room, putting on shoes, returning home, etc., retaining and displaying the traditional customs. The differences between family weddings and other ethnic groups.

Proposal

After a young man from the Tujia ethnic group in Enshi falls in love with a girl from a certain family, he invites a matchmaker to propose to the girl’s family. When proposing a marriage proposal, in addition to bringing gifts, the matchmaker must also bring an umbrella whether it's windy, rainy or sunny, to show that the matchmaker is willing to be beautiful. If the girl's family accepts the gift, there is 80% chance of getting married. After that, the matchmaker has to go back and forth three times before the bride's family can agree to the marriage, to show their cautious attitude towards the marriage. If the girl's family does not accept the gift, it means that she refuses the proposal, and it will be useless no matter how diligent the matchmaker is. The woman agrees to the man's proposal, and after the two parties agree on the financial gift, they choose an auspicious day to get engaged. When getting engaged, the man should prepare wine, meat, clothes, cakes, etc. as gifts to the woman's family. The girl's family holds a banquet to entertain the boy's guests and the matchmaker, and gives the girl's "horoscope" to the boy to signify the formal marriage between the two families.

Look at the door

Going through the door is an important step for Tujia men and women to enter into marriage. That is, the prospective uncle, accompanied by a matchmaker, goes to the girl's family for the first time. The girl's family asks the clan members to help with the "blind date", and everyone provides their opinions for the girl's family's reference. After discussion, if he agrees to the marriage, the matchmaker will ask him for the marriage date. After getting the date, the man will go home to prepare for the marriage. The day before the wedding, the prospective uncle, accompanied by the matchmaker, came to the bride's house and took her to the groom's house. On this day, the man invites relatives and friends to his home to accompany the guests, and they sit on the flowing mat until late at night. After the meal, the prospective uncle burns incense and pays homage to his ancestors. After breakfast the next day, they "make the incense table" and invite the girl's family to sit down at the incense table. After they sit down, the man's relatives come one by one to recognize his relatives and give the girl's family a certain amount of money. The gift money is usually one hundred yuan. A girl who is about to get married will recognize all her relatives as her uncle-to-be, which is called changing her identity. In addition, the man's family also needs to give a certain amount of gift money to the woman's family, which is called sending money, to prepare the dowry. After everything is done, a cannon is fired to send the woman home. This is the basic content of the ceremony. After passing the door, the man and woman began to interact as if they were a family.

Engagement

The well-married pig's leg is a code for the coincidence of the wedding date. When Tujia young men and women are getting engaged, the girl will usually look carefully at the pig legs brought by her lover to see the information conveyed by the pig legs. There's something very particular about it. If the pig's legs are bare, it means that the man has not yet decided on their wedding date; if there is a hole for blowing air near the hoof (the Tujia people kill New Year pigs, cut a small opening on the hind legs of the fat pig with a sharp knife, and blow the air to inflate it. If there are pig tails on the pig legs, it means that this year's farming work will be very busy, and the marriage will be held after the harvest. The end is over; if the girl's family has no time to arrange the marriage or is reluctant to leave their daughter for a while, they will cut off the tail of the pig's leg and put it in the return gift. The man will understand after seeing it.

Crying to marry

The Tujia people used to have the custom of crying to marry. At that time, the Tujia people regarded whether they would cry to marry as a sign of a woman's intelligence and virtue. Therefore, girls attach great importance to crying for marriage. As age increases, youth awakens and matures, the depression and resentment in the heart accumulates more and more, and when you get married, tears will pour out like a river bursting its banks.

Different regions have their own characteristics in the content of crying marriage. Generally, there are several parts such as "female crying for mother", "mother crying for daughter", "sister crying for sister", "sister crying for sister", "scolding matchmaker", etc. The duration of crying marriage depends on the family's financial situation. It usually lasts from seven to 20 days, but can also last as long as a month. When "crying" begins, one expresses sadness in soft songs and chants. Later, as the divorce came closer, her words became more pitiful and her voice became sadder. She cried until her mouth was dry, her throat was hoarse, her eyes were red and swollen, and she felt like she was crazy. Nowadays, times have changed, and young people yearn for freedom and happiness, and make their own decisions about marriage and love. Tujia girls no longer need to follow the marriage customs of the old times when they get married. Although this custom is still preserved in some remote villages, it is not popular to marry with tears. Even if you cry, you often cry three or five times. The singing partner makes jokes and the bride can't help but laugh. This is also considered a "cry" . After generations of women's oral creations, they have been continuously enriched and processed, and some contents have gradually been finalized, forming a lyrical tragic poem with a long poem structure. The artistic conception is sad and miserable, the language is simple and concise, and full of rich local flavor. It often cleverly uses metaphors, puns, and Rhetorical techniques such as personification, repetition, word imitation, contrast, and exaggeration have strong humanistic and literary qualities.

Banquet

The Enshi Tujia people usually hold weddings and funerals. The host family will arrange dozens of banquets to entertain relatives and friends from afar or from neighbors. . The host has planned and arranged the number of tables for the wedding banquet in advance. Generally, there are at least twenty or thirty tables, and as many as seventy or eighty tables. This depends on the number of diners and the amount of gifts received to determine the extent of the boss's friendship and his ability to deal with others. Happy events are generally divided into two categories: red happy events and white happy events. Marriage, leaving the court, soup cakes, housewarming, birthdays, entering higher education, etc. are called red joys; the death of an old person is called white joys. The specifications and rules for weddings, weddings, and weddings are all different. Each has its own way and rules. There are so many of them that it would take days and nights to describe them all. Let’s just talk about the customs and habits of the Enshi Tujia people in terms of weddings and happy events.

Preparations

Three or four days before the wedding, the groom’s host family starts to get busy. They have to plan how many tables to arrange and how many people to borrow their bowls, chopsticks, tables and stools. , how many pigs should be killed (including the family’s wedding ceremony and the gift letter sent to the bride’s family (the gift letter: ham, pig’s feet or pork), how many dishes should be served (plus a soup dish, usually an even number), How many people are needed to help? Then the host family borrows tables and stools, the west family borrows bowls and chopsticks, this family borrows steamers, and that family borrows tea trays, the bride's family is no exception, they are busy buying dowry. , buy electrical appliances and daily necessities, notify relatives and friends, etc. The main banquets for the men and women are one day apart, the woman’s banquet is at noon on the first day, and the man’s banquet is at noon on the second day. >

On the first day of the wedding, people from all walks of life came to the host’s house early in the morning to help. Everyone was in a mess, doing this, doing this, and eating three times, five times, five times two times. After breakfast, we started to work in the kitchen, setting up a chopping board (for cutting, arranging, and washing vegetables). In some places, when setting up a large chopping board, you have to seal red envelopes. The size of the red envelopes depends on the owner. It depends on the degree of generosity. If you seal four pieces, it means getting rich all year round; if you seal six pieces, it means you will get lucky every year; if you seal 12 pieces, it means you will get rich every month; It means cutting open the fish, roasting the pig's feet, washing the meat, etc. to prepare for the formal banquet the next day; the beginning of the dining room: cooking the rice (putting the rice in a pot with boiling water until it is half cooked before taking it out) and steaming the rice; the beginning of the tea room Packing tea leaves and boiling water to make tea; Guan Kesi (every family has a happy event, a person who has a certain reputation in the local area and can speak well will take charge of the affairs. That is to say, when the family is on that day, we call it Guan Kesi. The guest manager, also known as the general manager, starts to assign work and draw up a list of helpers. The general manager will arrange the work for everyone who comes to help. The host will not be in charge on the day of the wedding, and it is completely arranged by the guest manager.

The title of the help deacon slip has its own meaning depending on the happy event.

For example: the wedding banquet is called the "natural match to help the deacon list", the wedding banquet is called the "leaving the pavilion to help the deacon list", the three-day banquet after giving birth is called "Nongzhang (or soup cake) to help the deacon list", moving to a new house The whole wine is called "the deacon order for the completion of the Huatang", the wine for the whole life is called "the deacon order for the birthday", the wine for the whole school is called "the deacon order for the help in the list", and the person sitting at night is called "the deacon order for the help in important events". . Then write down a list of all the people who helped and the things they did in the order of four classes and eight rooms. This is very particular. The general order of Hongxi from right to left is: general manager, guest support, gift room, and room pickup. , kitchen, dining room, tea room, smoke room, wine room, firewood room, holding basins, adding rice, pouring tea, setting tables, holding firewood, water and electricity, stereo, making fire, doing chores, etc. After the deacon's list is written, it is posted under the right window of the main room, in order from right to left, and the left side should be exactly aligned with the door frame, so that the helper can find his or her job easily, and it is also convenient for the customer service department to arrange work. People who are more particular will also put happy couplets on each pillar. Red happy birthdays are written on red paper, and white happy birthdays are written on white paper.

Gifts

The day before the wedding is the woman's "Huayuan Wine", which means flowers and a full moon, and she wishes the woman a happy marriage in advance. On this day, the woman laid out all the dowry, placed it in the main room, wiped it clean, tied it up and tied it up. Relatives and friends come to congratulate and send gifts. Close relatives will also give a quilt and cover to the bride, and at the same time, they will wash and dress the bride. To "open the face", "go to the head", "wear flowers" and "open the face", you need to ask your aunt, aunt or sister-in-law to perform the operation. Use gray thread to wrap and twist the hair on the forehead, twist the eyebrows like a crescent moon, and pull the hair into a braid. "Papa bun", wrapped with a red headband, inserted a silver hairpin, and put on jewelry, she is completely different from the girl.

After breakfast, the groom’s family will be sent by the guest management department to the bride’s house to celebrate the ceremony. Gifts are gifts to the bride's family. Common gifts include gift letters, matching gifts (other gifts that go with the gift letter, such as noodles, sugar, non-staple food, etc.), clothing, and gifts. In some places, where the rules are more strict, the woman asks the man to give five "ones": 10,000 yuan, 100 catties of meat, 100 catties of rice, 100 catties of noodles, and 100 catties of wine. The procession of passing the gift is led by the matchmaker and the matchmaker, and the gift money is also kept by them. When he arrives near the bride's house and is about to reach the door, the matchmaker lights a small string of firecrackers to indicate that the ceremony team has arrived and to remind the bride's housekeeper that the bride's housekeeper is ready to receive guests.

After the bride’s family hears the sound of firecrackers, the housekeeper will also light a bunch of firecrackers to indicate that they are ready and can enter the house. After the ceremony team arrives at the bride's house, they first place the gifts in the main room and ask the bride's butler to count them one by one according to the gift list. Then the matchmaker will arrange the gifts (usually the money into a certain shape). Shapes and words such as fan-shaped, circular, semi-circular, double happiness, celebration, happy wedding, happy marriage, etc. should be framed so that they are beautiful, conspicuous, and safe) and hand them over to the bride's family manager. After finishing, you can enter the wing to rest.

Welcoming the bride

On the morning of the official wedding day, Genius Ma Ma Liang, the large group of people welcoming the bride set off in a mighty manner under the leadership of Mr. Daibin. The wedding team is composed of the following people: the guide (i.e. the person who leads the bride’s home to welcome the bride), the eight immortals (i.e. the person who plays the suona and gongs and drums), the reception guest (i.e. the bridegroom’s close female relatives, such as sisters, aunts, aunts, etc. ), the groom, and the person carrying the dowry with a rope and a sliding pole (made of wood or bamboo of different lengths). (With the development of the times and the convenience of transportation, cars are now generally used for pick-up and drop-off, and the rules have also changed slightly.)

After traveling over mountains and ridges, climbing uphill and uphill, we finally arrived at the bride’s home. It's still the same as the rules of the ceremony. A bunch of firecrackers are blown up in advance. After the firecrackers at the bride's house echo, the welcoming team will pass through the main room and enter the side room to rest. Mr. Guibin will negotiate with the manager of the woman’s family to exchange opinions, courtesy, and matters that need attention from both parties. After a short rest, the bride-to-be began to tie up the dowry (sound: XINGJIA). After tying it up, they carried it outside the dam and put it away.

The wardrobe, which is the heaviest and most difficult to lift, is ranked first, followed by cupboards, small wardrobes, cabinets, boxes, desks, washstands, bed frames... and finally the braziers, chairs, etc., each small There will be a quilt cover on the bedside rack. Passers-by can tell from the amount of PEILIAN (dowry, dowry) quilt covering the bride whether the bride's family is well-off, whether the dowry is good, and whether it makes other girls envious.

It’s time to settle down. No other guests from the woman’s family will sit in the first round. If there are extra seats, they can sit. Because this round must first arrange the people who welcome the bride, give gifts, and send off the bride. They can rush on their way after breakfast, because the groom’s family will not hold the banquet until they return home.

Promise

After the ceremony, we are ready to get married. The Guan Kesi shouted: "My relatives and friends, listen carefully. The auspicious time has arrived. The Eight Immortals are playing gongs and drums, please play music, firework, firecrackers, fire cannons. The bride is preparing to invite the new nobles to get on the sedan. The wedding is here! Everyone is in your place."

The dowry bearers will come to the wedding venue where they claim to be married. The procession of welcoming the bride will be organized according to the order of the guests, the ceremony recipients, the Eight Immortals, the receiving guests, the groom, the bride, the sending guests (the bride’s closest relatives), the pressing guests. The sedan boys (male relatives of the bride who are younger than herself, responsible for holding the tent and the keys to the box, so that they can get a relatively generous red envelope) are arranged in order and ready to go.

First of all, the groom stood in the hall waiting for the bride, and the Master of the Eight Immortals stood at the Eight Immortals table specially arranged on the eaves outside the door. He puffed up his cheeks and blew hard and sang the soul-stirring and tear-jerking "Going Out Tune" to start the ceremony. The gongs and drums were beating vigorously to the "Wedding Song". In the sound of desolate music, the bride, who has been crying for a long time, is slowly carried to the boudoir by her brother-in-law or younger brother. Those who do not have a brother-in-law or sister-in-law are replaced by uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. Parents are not allowed to carry the bride. When passing through the main room, put it down in the main room, let the bride stand on a square bucket that has been placed in the main room in advance, and step on a pair of footprints, which is called "stepping on the bucket". The bride's "stepping on the bucket" means leaving wealth and honor to her parents' family, and wishing her parents' family good harvests every year. Then the steward of the bride's family lights a torch made of sunflower poles or fragrant tree bark and throws it back and forth to the bride, scattering sparks throughout the room, indicating that the bride will have a bright future. The bride throws the two chopsticks prepared in advance in front of and behind her, wishing her brothers and sisters and herself a prosperous life.

At this time, the bride wears a "dew dress" with an open chest on the right side and large sleeves, an eight-piece skirt called a "dew skirt", a green silk handkerchief on her head, Zhuhua silver ornaments, and a lantern pendant. Dingdang, supported by others, cried and bowed in the main room, bid farewell to ancestors and parents, and then set off on foot. The bride bows deeply to the incense burner (the seat of heaven, earth, kings and relatives placed in the middle of the hall) and shouts: "Mom, Dad, I'm leaving!" Then her brother and sister-in-law carry her out of the gate. The bride's feet on her back should be bent backwards and raised as high as possible, and must not reach the big threshold. Otherwise, the bride's family will think that the bride has taken away her good luck, and she will be unlucky from now on. This will give people a bad feeling. Auspicious.

Then the bride is carried out of the gate and put on a pair of embroidered shoes brought by her husband's family. At this time, the bride can put her feet on the ground.

When the bride goes on her way, no matter it is sunny or rainy, the groom must prepare a floral umbrella, called a "dew umbrella."

Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind.

At this time, Mr. Steward lit a bunch of firecrackers, and then said in a loud voice: "The mountains are green and the water is long, and the friendship between relatives will never be forgotten; the mountain roads are curved, the grass is evergreen, and distinguished guests from far away Going to leave." It means starting to see off guests. Mr. Dai Bin also lit a bunch of firecrackers in response: "The sky is wide and the land is very wide. The future of my relatives will be long; the mountains are evergreen and the water flows forever. If you disturb me, please leave immediately." The first is to express gratitude, and the second is to set off. Signal.

At this moment, the suonas, gongs and drums, and firecrackers were all blasting. As soon as the firecrackers exploded, the wedding bearers immediately picked up the wedding bride and ran away. At first, they obeyed the rules and let the big wardrobe go at the front. After passing the bride's house, it's "the eight immortals crossing the sea to show their magical powers". Everyone will rush to get in front of the ex-mother, otherwise they will be ridiculed as "seeing off relatives and guests". The excitement is simply indescribable.

The purpose of the bride going there is to ask the bride to give cigarettes and sunflowers, glutinous rice cakes, and red envelopes. After the bride fills the cigarettes for everyone and lights them, everyone runs forward like a swarm. When the next target is reached, everyone follows the same pattern and continues the quarrel. This goes on and on, and it often takes a long time before they can get home.

As we approached the groom’s house, a more lively and colorful show began. Those unmarried young people or children try their best to tease the bride and groom, which often makes the bride and groom dumbfounded. On festive days, they cannot get angry, so they have to look at the bride and groom with a smiling face. Whether it's grinding, slapping faces, carrying sedans, hanging signs, biting apples, coning buttocks, standing on a bench, riding a wheelbarrow, carrying a manure board, wearing a high hat, etc., as long as they can groom the bride and groom in good faith and make everyone happy, they can do any tricks. come out.

The person who consummates the marriage is an elderly person who is a close relative of the groom and both the original spouse of the couple are still alive. They are responsible for making beds for the bride and groom, lighting flowers and candles, changing shoes, etc. When the bride was approaching the door, the people consummating the wedding hurriedly took out a pair of red candles and lit them, then took out two pairs of thousand-layer cloth shoes for the newlyweds to put on, and came back carrying their old shoes. Moreover, such shoes can only be worn once, and then they will be pressed under their own pig trough until they rot.

When the bunch of young people had enough fussing, the people consummating the marriage quickly went to put on the wedding shoes for the newlyweds. After the wedding shoes are put on, a treasure cover (betrothal gift given by the groom’s close relatives and friends to congratulate the groom on his happy wedding) is placed, including long hanging firecrackers, lanterns, blankets, etc. The blanket is pasted with words spelled out in RMB or written in Chinese characters. Amidst the popping sound of the bombing (the amount of RMB written on red paper), the newlyweds, led by a pair of golden boys and girls, slowly entered the main room amid the fireworks thrown by another pair of golden boys and girls, and the bride stepped into the door of her husband's house. Before entering the house, you should step on the large threshold with your feet to show that you have arrived at your husband's house. A worship ceremony is held in front of the ancestral shrine of the groom's family.

Get ready to worship (at this time, the ceremony table in the main room will be suspended for a while as usual, because the woman has sent a red envelope for giving way, and there is no reason not to give up.) According to the order of men on the left and women on the right, men and women Both of them stand in front of the tablet in the main room. After the couple worships heaven and earth, ancestors, parents, and husband and wife, the bride and groom immediately rush into the bridal chamber first.

Enthronement

When entering the bridal chamber, the newlyweds will scramble to grab the bed. It is said that whoever sits on the bed first means who will be in charge in the future. The rule of "enthronement" is that men are on the left and women are on the right, with the center as the boundary. The scheming girl often sits on the boundary line, but the groom is not to be outdone and tries his best to squeeze the bride out of the boundary line. If the groom suddenly lifts the bride's hijab, the bride can't help but smile, and then the ceremony ends, which is very interesting.

At this time, the visitors can only stand and watch from a distance. According to the rules, they are not allowed to talk or move casually. After the bride and groom sat down on the bed, the guest housekeeper blew up a bunch of firecrackers to welcome the guests into the house. At this time, the time has come for a group of children to show their courtesy and ask for red envelopes. Those who pour water to wash their faces, those who pour tea, and those who make fire. As long as you do the same thing, the bride will seal a red envelope. Some children even shamelessly ask the bride for red envelopes without doing anything, and the bride will give them to them.

Sitting at the table

As the saying goes: "Thousands of soldiers have leaders, and thousands of armies have masters." When we started to sit down at the table, the guest manager shouted at the door: "Anyone who wants to help, please Everyone is at your seats, the banquet will begin soon." The helper immediately stopped entertaining and acted vigorously. Men, women and children who came from all over to have a drink rushed to sit on the Eight Immortals table, and those who didn't get a seat had to wait for the next round. As long as you know the rules when sitting, you will not sit in the eighth seat (the side next to the main room). Then those who serve the wine serve the wine, those who serve the cigarettes, those who serve the dishes, those who serve the rice, those who serve the tea, those who wash the dishes. Each table has seven bowls, eight plates and one bowl of soup, with a total of sixteen dishes. The first round of eight or ten tables were quickly opened. The aroma of wine and meat mixed with the charming aroma of women was everywhere in the yard. .

After one round of eating, the next round of guests rush to sit on each table of eight people. This is called a flowing seat. Exceeding the scope will cause countless troubles to the boss. Generally, an even number of tables are arranged in a round, eight or ten tables, depending on the number of guests. Never arrange an odd number of tables, as that would be unlucky.

During the banquet, cigarettes, sugar, sunflower seeds, dada, etc. will be brought to see off relatives and distributed to the guests one by one. The guests must not only receive the dishes, but also pack the dada and sunflower seed candies. The host There were also cigarette packers arranged, and there were also cigarette packers for sending off relatives and guests. It was really busy, but my face was warm, my ears were full, and I was extremely happy.

The whole courtyard could only hear the joyous sounds of people drinking wine and playing guessing games. The ground was littered with wine bottles, fish bones, bones and cigarette butts. When it comes to the third round, the stewards will put a small red note on the tables on the right, which means to give the seats to the relatives and guests. Other guests will not sit there after seeing the red note. How many tables are there.

Everyone who sits at the table and has experience will be able to judge some situations. For example, when the dishes are served, the cold dishes must be served first, and the quality of the dishes depends on the difference first and then the best. When the soup bowl appears, it means that the dishes have been finished; whenever you hear a small string of firecrackers, it must be the kitchen. The food is out; if you want to eat early when there are many people, you must first get a pair of chopsticks and so on.

Now people in the mountains are gradually opening their eyes and following the example outside the mountains, convenience service teams have appeared in many places. All the tableware is provided. It is no longer like before when there is a happy event, and the host has to be busy for three or four days to borrow things. With the development of society and changes in history, Tujia running water mats are constantly being updated and replaced.

Having a bridal chamber

The Tujia people have the custom of having a bridal chamber party on the night of their wedding. There is no limit to the size of the three days in the newlyweds' room, and both older and younger generations can participate in this event. First, the bride and groom are in the bridal chamber. It is just dark and they are too embarrassed to sleep. They must be accompanied by someone to talk. Second, there is an allusion from the ancients that "a thousand pieces of gold buys laughter." In this world, it may be a common problem for men to like to mess with women. It is also a kind of fun to tease the new girl in the wedding room, say some interesting words, make the beauty smile, and feast your eyes. Third, the new girl brought some delicious food, such as peanuts, walnuts, sunflowers, chestnuts, etc. You can have a full meal by eating some.

Usually the groom’s cousin, old classmates, and the girls and boys in the village all want to be busy in the bridal chamber. The support department understands the mood of the young people and will agree to their requests. However, there are a few points to pay attention to when making trouble. First, you must be polite and polite in your words to make people laugh. Now is a civilized society. Don't be too obscene, the wording must be appropriate, and it must be interesting. Second, a gentleman should talk but not do anything. When entering the bride's room, don't rummage around. If you want to get food from a new girl, you must rely on your eloquence, speak in a sensual way, and the host is willing to take out the food to eat.

During the bridal chamber, the leader will say while walking: "Being happy, being happy, walking into the bride's room with both feet, first to pay a visit to the groom, and second to see the new girl." "Busily walking, busy." Busy, step over the threshold and enter the bridal chamber, with your left foot you will give birth to a noble son, and with your right foot you will give birth to a disciple." "The emperor of heaven and the emperor of earth, pay homage to the bride and groom, and the family is prosperous, and they grow old together like mandarin ducks." The surging water is vast, looking at the spring moon and the rising sun. The Yangtze and Yellow rivers have a vast basin, and the friendship between brothers is long." After saying this, a large group of girls and boys who were watching the excitement entered the bridal chamber. Except for the newlyweds, who were too embarrassed to sit on the bed, everyone who could sit was full, and most people stood. The bride and groom sit quietly on the bed of the newlyweds with smiles on their faces.

The Tujia people’s custom of making love is that after the person making trouble enters the bridal chamber, if he wants to drink cigarettes, drink tea, or wants to knock off the new noble’s food, he must rely on his eloquence to eat. If you want to eat tea, you have to say tea. If you want to eat sunflowers, walnuts, peanuts, chestnuts, etc., you have to say "Zi", "Chou", "Yin" and "Maolai".

There are many tricks and types of wedding ceremonies, and the specific process will not be described one by one.

Towards the end, the leader will say: "Brothers and sisters, don't make trouble for too long. It's hard to spend all night long. It's auspicious days and good times to have sex. You and I should not be light bulbs." "We have been making trouble for most of the night, best wishes. The bride will be in confinement early, and her friends won't say thank you, and they will be her guests again during the three dynasties.

"The leader said and took the lead to get up and walk out of the bridal chamber. When the leader moved, everyone followed the leader out of the bridal chamber one after another amid laughter as if they were wearing overalls.

Drinking tea and putting on shoes

On the morning of the second day of worship, the "outgoing worship" was held. In the hall, the elders of the clan sat around a rectangular table made of several tables, with a teapot in front of each person. The bride visits the elders of her relatives one by one. The elders say some blessings and auspicious words. The bride will pour tea for the elders one by one. After drinking the tea, they will put the red envelopes for drinking tea in the tea jar. After drinking tea, the bride begins to put on her shoes. The bride distributes the cloth shoes made by her mother-in-law to the elders one by one, and the elders once again give money to the bride.

While eating breakfast, the bride and groom will be there. At the banquet, guests pack cigarettes and catch melon seeds, meet with all relatives and friends, and exchange blessings.

Send off relatives and guests

After breakfast, it is time for the groom to leave. Amidst the sound of a bunch of farewell firecrackers, the farewell guests went out, and the groom followed behind, carrying the luggage of the farewell guests. There is a very interesting rule here. When the farewell guests take back the bamboo basket from the groom, they can only take it back with their backhand. When picking up the bridegroom from behind, you cannot look back at the groom, otherwise you will be laughed at by all the guests of the groom's family. After receiving the greeting, the guests will continue to move forward, and the groom will continue to follow. After sending a red envelope to the guests, the groom will turn around and return. If the groom wants to get more red envelopes, he will continue to send them forward.

The third day after the wedding. If the journey is too far, it will take seven days), the bride and her husband will return to her parents' home, which is called "returning to the home". "Returning to the home" is the etiquette for the bride to visit her parents and the groom to visit his parents-in-law. Rich gifts, such as sugar, cigarettes, wine, non-staple food, etc., among which a pig leg weighing more than 20 kilograms is essential. When "returning to the door", the bride should walk in front and the groom behind; On the contrary, when returning home, you cannot look back.

You must return on the same day, and you must not stay at your natal home even if you have been married for many years. Living in the same room with your husband is a taboo of the Tujia people.

The return of "returning to the door" is regarded as the most important ceremony of life in the minds of the Tujia people - the wedding etiquette. This ended successfully, and the couple started a new life.