Eventopedia. Chinese wedding: superstitions and traditions
ancient wedding traditions in different provinces of China differed significantly from each other. This is due to the multinationality of the Celestial Empire. But there are a few of the most common and well-established customs. Do you want to know how weddings are held in China? Wedding.ws will help you with this.
Chinese matchmaking
A Chinese wedding is not complete without matchmakers. By ancient custom The marriage ceremony includes the following steps:
- The groom's father sends matchmakers to the bride's parents. According to tradition, the groom should give the bride a goose as a gift, as a symbol of a marriage proposal. If the answer is positive, then the matchmakers again go to the girl's house with gifts, and in return receive information about the bride.
- The Chinese have always paid much attention to horoscopes, divination and numerology. Therefore, based on the information received, a favorable day for the wedding was calculated. It is believed that it is better to choose an even number, which means double happiness.
- The groom must pay a bride price. As a ransom, you need to bring money, sweets and wine to the girl's house. In return, the bride must present the clothes to the groom's relatives.
- Final stage matchmaking - coordination of the date of marriage and all related issues.
Chinese-style wedding: features of traditional preparation
Previously, in addition to traditional wedding chores, the Chinese bride had to perform several rituals. It was believed that the bride needed to cry before the wedding so that she would not have to shed tears in her married life. This ritual is combined with farewell to family and friends. Not to be confused with a bachelorette party, which is inherent in European wedding traditions. After all, this is a very sad and touching ceremony. On the eve of the celebration, it was necessary to conduct a ritual of bathing the bride. Healing herbal decoctions and grapefruit juice were added to the water. This rite symbolizes cleansing from evil spirits.
According to an old tradition, the girl removed all the hair from her face - she completely plucked her eyebrows and eyelashes. This symbolizes renewal before the start of a new life.
On the day of the wedding, at the entrance to the bride's house, a sign with a hieroglyph, which means happiness, is hung out. And at the entrance to the groom's house, a double such hieroglyph should hang, since with the advent of his wife, he will become doubly happier. By the way, this custom is still popular today.
bridal dress in china
Chinese wedding attire deserves special attention. In China, red is considered a symbol of love and happiness. According to tradition, the bride should be dressed in a red silk robe, decorated with embroidery, beads and pearls. Flowers are embroidered on the outfit, as well as images of a dragon and a phoenix. These are sacred animals that symbolize a man and a woman.
Chinese wedding traditions suggest a special headdress for a girl. This big crown with the image of a phoenix, decorated with beads, traditional medallions, bird feathers and pompoms. But all this beauty, along with the face of the bride, is hidden behind a thick red veil.
Given the characteristics of a modern wedding, such a headdress is used less and less. Today, Chinese brides can afford to wear to the wedding modern dress, but still many prefer red outfits, because White color traditionally considered a symbol of mourning.
Traditional wedding ceremony
According to tradition, the groom takes the bride from her house and takes her to his. At the same time, the wedding procession does not stop anywhere and is accompanied by explosions of firecrackers and fireworks. Loud noises are believed to ward off evil spirits.
Marriage consists of three ceremonies:
- Worship.
- Unity of bowls.
- Tea ceremony.
At the beginning, the couple performs a rite of worship. They need to kneel three times, bowing to the earth and sky, to their parents and old-timers of the family, and then to each other.
The union of the bowls is a ceremony during which the newlyweds drink special wine from bowls tied with a scarlet ribbon. The newlyweds take a few sips and then exchange bowls.
A Chinese-style wedding is not complete without a tea ceremony, during which the bride treats the groom's relatives with traditional tea. In return, they give her gifts or money in a red envelope.
Chinese style wedding: banquet and gifts
The traditional wedding in China differs significantly from the celebration we are used to. This also applies to the banquet.
The feast begins with the official part, during which guests have the opportunity to say congratulations and present gifts. The banquet does not last long. At the same time, dances and noisy competitions are not arranged at a Chinese wedding.
Today by various reasons newlyweds abandon many ancient traditions and rituals, but a wedding in China is still an unusual, bright and original celebration.
On the site site you will find a lot more interesting things about the traditions of other peoples, for example, about how a gypsy wedding takes place. You will be able to find interesting ideas for your own wedding.
- "Tea Gift"
- wedding procession.
- Wedding on the rise.
- Chinese wedding cake.
- Mourning. The Chinese wedding ceremony has interesting tradition- mourning the loss of loved ones. The bottom line is that before marriage, chinese girl must mourn the loss of loved ones.
- So in the Chinese wedding tradition, it is believed that the wedding ceremony itself should take place on the rise.
- So, a Chinese young family begins a life together "on the rise", otherwise - "on the decline."
中國傳統婚禮 (Zhōngguó chuántǒng hūnlǐ)
1) Divination by card
Before the matchmaking takes place, the groom had to send the bride's family a preliminary note-card indicating the eight hieroglyphs of life. The name of the groom was written in it, as well as the year, month, day and hour of his birth. According to these data, a fortune-telling ceremony was carried out, and in the event of a favorable outcome, the same data, only about the bride, were sent to the groom's family. If nothing bad happened during the three days when the card was in the house, they agreed to the marriage.
2) The snake and the tiger cannot be together!
Great importance was attached to the twelve-year animal cycle. Unfavorable couples were considered young, born in (the first year of the groom, the second of the bride) the year of the horse and the bull, the snake and the tiger, the rat and the sheep, the rooster and the dog. The position of the birth years of the young in the cycle of five elements was also taken into account: water, wood, earth, metal and fire. The key to a long family life was the dominant location of the groom's year of birth in at least one of these cycles. Sometimes lovers had to go to the deception, changing the date of birth of the bride, just to be together.
3) Marriage contract
In China, there was a kind of modern marriage contract. Mutual marriage guarantees should be written on red paper, for the bride with the image of a phoenix, for the groom - a dragon. The content of the contract included information about the bride and groom and their families, plus the amount of the ransom paid for the bride was prescribed.
4) Acquaintance of parents
The day of the conclusion of the marriage contract also serves as the day of the acquaintance of the parents. According to tradition, the acquaintance took place in the bride's house. Before going inside, the groom's parents would worship in front of the family altar. Usually, in front of the house, the figures of the “hare of happiness” and “fish of happiness” were always exhibited. This was followed by a joint meal and drinking a cup of wine, symbolizing long life. It was customary for the groom to give two peas. Upon returning home, he had to put them in water and then eat them. It was believed that this led in the future to the appearance of a large family.
5) Mourning
The Chinese are very sensitive to marriage and to the institution of the family in general. Therefore, before the wedding, it is believed that the bride should mourn the loss of her family and friends. To do this, they all go somewhere together, and the girl is given time to say goodbye to them. You might think that this tradition is somewhat similar to modern bachelorette parties. But, in fact, this is a more sad and touching ceremony. The bride says goodbye to her loved ones in order to now completely belong to her husband. This can not be compared with what happens at fun bachelorette parties.
6) "Tea gift"
On the day of the wedding, the groom brings gifts to the bride's house, again wrapped in red cloth. Basically, these are gold coins for the bridesmaids to let the bride out of the house. Often the gift includes a pair of earrings and four bracelets. It is called "tea" due to the fact that for the Chinese tea is a symbol marital fidelity and fertility. This tradition was adopted by many peoples of the world. Moreover, as a kind of ransom, they take both money and many other gifts. The pre-wedding ceremony includes one more rite. After the ransom, the bride and groom kneel before their parents, offering them tea. Thus, they ask them for permission to marry.
7) Wedding procession
The wedding "train" usually looked like this: it started off from the bride's house, at the head were the groom's representatives with torches on which the groom's family symbol was engraved. Then there were two representatives of the bride with red umbrellas in their hands. The bride herself was carried in a red palanquin, and her assistant in green. The middle of the way was marked by the ceremony of handing over the bride into the hands of the groom's people. At the groom's house, the bride was greeted with fireworks. After that, a fire was kindled, through which the palanquin was carried.
8) Wedding on the rise
China has a strong belief in astrology. Therefore, the date of the wedding is chosen according to astrological calendar. Another important attribute - the marriage ceremony should take place in the second half of the hour, that is, in the second thirty minutes. The fact is that the arrows at this time rise up, thus symbolizing the beginning of family life on the rise. Getting married in the first thirty minutes means starting a life together on a decline.
9) Wedding cake
The most important feature of a Chinese wedding cake is its size. Usually the cake is brought into the hall during the welcoming speech to the guests. His appearance is almost the most important and memorable part of the entire festive part of the wedding. The cake must necessarily consist of a huge number of steps. This symbolizes a kind of ladder from the beautiful today to a happy future. Therefore, the cake must be so large that the future is long and cloudless. The bride and groom must feed each other with pieces of cake, so that they seem to walk the stairs together. life together.
10) Bride's attire
Lucky Chinese brides! The fact is that during the entire ceremony they change at least three outfits. So they don't have to choose between two beautiful dresses, they can buy them as many as three, or even more. The day before the ceremony, she was instructed to try on the outfit sent by the groom, and also to pluck out all the hair on her face (renew herself). Since in China, women tend to wear a lot of makeup, whiten their faces and apply bright lipstick, then the absence of hair is not so noticeable. The outfit itself is a short red robe embroidered with flowers and colored silk pom-poms, and a dress (also preferably red, but sometimes green). On the head was a special headdress in the form of a metal frame, decorated with bird feathers and medallions. A silk veil fell over her face.
11) The richness of the ceremony
The Chinese are famous for some of the richest wedding receptions. The fact is that guests are invited to taste from eight to ten dishes per evening. There’s nothing here, it’s not clear who can eat all this! The main ritual dish is millet porridge with butter. By the way, before the wedding, the bride had to taste the meat of a pig and a rooster, sent to her by the groom's family the day before.
12) Bride
The strangest and a little rude tradition is the bride after the wedding. The fact is that at that moment the guests were allowed to enter the room of the young, where the girl was sitting, discussing her aloud and even saying any obscene things. Moreover, the bride was strictly forbidden to react to this in any way. Get rid of "obtrusive" guests young husband succeeded only with money.
13) Union of bowls
When the young people were brought into the house, they sat on the bed for some time without uttering a single word. By the way, the bride was ordered to remain silent throughout the wedding, allegedly this contributed to the appearance of offspring. After that, they were given two glasses tied with a red ribbon, in which there was wine or tea. Young people drank from them, then changed and again took a sip, and then poured each other into glasses and drank again. This ceremony was called "unity of bowls."
14) Marriage bed
The preparation of the marriage bed in the groom's house is a whole ceremony, accompanied by a large number of different traditions. Under the bed, it was necessary to stick five coins issued during the reign of five different emperors. Five canonical bundles with boiled rice were also hung there. On the bed were to be a pair of scissors, a small scale, a tiny mirror, a bow and arrows. The groom shot these arrows into different angles rooms on the wedding day, thus warding off evil spirits. In addition, one of the unmarried had to sleep in the bed of the newlyweds before their wedding. younger brothers. It was believed that the bride's bed should not be empty.
Wedding ceremonies are an important part of the cultural life of every nation. They sometimes accumulate and surprisingly intertwine the customs and traditions of dozens of previous generations.
Chinese wedding , like wedding ceremonies other peoples, has its own characteristics, about which European residents know very little.
Matchmaking
It's hard to believe, but earlier the fate of newlyweds in China depended to a large extent on fortune telling. The family of the prospective groom sent the bride a note with personal (as we would say now) data of the young man - date of birth and other information. The numbers written in the message were the subject of divination.
In case of a positive outcome, a similar note was sent from the bride to the groom's family, and his relatives were already guessing for the bride. Everything was taken into account: from zodiac signs to compatibility according to the elements. Quite often, the results of divination were rigged in order to create an ideal union.
After obtaining consent, the bride's family was presented with gifts. It could be various decorations, fabrics, jewelry. In parallel with the giving of gifts, the amount of the ransom for the bride was also negotiated, and a marriage contract was drawn up.
The date of the wedding was usually set at the end of the year, after all the chores had been completed. Often the date of the wedding was also determined with the help of fortune-telling. She was written in a note and sent to the girl's family with new gifts and festive dress for the bride.
Preparing the house for the wedding
bride according to ancient Chinese customs in a day wedding ceremony settled in the house of her young husband. In this regard, her things were transported a few days before the wedding, and a separate room was equipped for the newlyweds.
the day before wedding celebration the groom's house was carefully cleaned and repaired. Only relatives who were happily married and had children were involved in this honorary mission.
The room equipped for young spouses was not supposed to be empty, so one of the younger brothers of the bride or groom usually slept in the marriage bed.
Bridal dress and makeup
On the day before the wedding, the bride began preparations for the celebration. She completely removed the hair on her face and applied a thick layer of powder, after which it became like a mask and looked unnatural. This unnaturalness was emphasized by brightly painted lips, which stood out as a blood-red stain on an almost white face.
The wedding dress of a Chinese girl looked very unusual: a bright red robe with dragons embroidered in gold. It was believed that red color attracts money, and gold symbolizes prosperity.
Quite specific was the bride's headdress in the form of a wire frame, decorated bright feathers, silk pom-poms and colorful medallions. important detail The wedding dress of the bride had a veil, which, according to ancient legend, was supposed to hide the despair of the girl associated with her departure from her home.
The behavior of the bride during the entire wedding celebration had to be restrained, and she had to be silent. By old belief it promoted fertility. The bride was also not allowed to eat wedding dishes, so at the wedding she looked like a silent statue.
Features of a Modern Chinese Wedding
Modern weddings in China bear little resemblance to ancient wedding ceremonies. These customs now look old-fashioned and rather absurd. However, even today, many Chinese follow the traditions of their ancestors. This, above all, concerns the unchanging red color, which brings prosperity and happiness. It can be not only the color of the dress. Sometimes brides combine a white wedding dress with red shoes.
It is worth noting that many modern brides still prefer non-European style. wedding clothes, but choose a traditional red robe or a modern dress, but again red.
The main dish on the Chinese wedding table is cake. Its huge size sometimes serves as an occasion for long and heated discussions after the wedding.
Few people know how a wedding should take place in China, what customs are observed, how the ceremony itself is prepared. This country has its own unique traditions and numerous rules for holding a wedding celebration, which must be strictly observed. It is simply impossible to list them completely, but the Chinese wedding is very beautiful and unusual. Therefore, many are interested in getting to know the features and subtleties of this celebration.
Chinese traditions before marriage
If you don’t like template holidays, but want your own wedding to be unusual and memorable for all guests for a long time, not to become a boring, lifeless day that does not leave pleasant memories, you should familiarize yourself with the main traditions of a Chinese wedding in more detail. Thanks to this, you can be transported into a beautiful fairy tale, feel like a real Chinese woman.
Fortune telling by card
Before the matchmaking of the groom is carried out, the young man sends the bride's family a special preliminary note card, on which eight hieroglyphs of life should be indicated. On it is written not only the name of the groom, but also the day, month, hour, year of his birth. This data will be used during the ongoing fortune-telling. When everything goes well and the marriage promises to be successful, the same data about the bride will be sent to the young man. The card is in the house for three days, if during this time nothing bad happens, the parents agree to the marriage.
Matchmaking and the conclusion of a marriage contract
The groom's family must invite a matchmaker who is entrusted with an official visit to the bride's house. During this visit, you will learn exact date and time of birth young, her name. This data is used by an astrologer who draws up a horoscope, which simultaneously checks whether the lovers can be together, and what fate lies ahead for this couple. Certain ethnic minorities in China have interesting traditions, for example, the Blang people have a custom of sending a matchmaker to the bride's house with cigarettes and a pack of tea (this is a symbolic gift).
The Chinese wedding also includes the modern marriage contract. A red sheet of paper is taken, mutual marriage guarantees are written on it - the groom has a dragon, and the bride has a phoenix. The drawn up contract must contain information about the young, their families. Must be written in marriage contract and the amount of the ransom that the groom pays for the bride.
Choosing a wedding date
Particular attention should be paid to the choice of the date of the wedding. To this end, the groom's parents must invite a fortune teller who determines the number, and then the two families begin preparations for the wedding ceremony. The most important thing is that the chosen day be auspicious - in China, it is believed that an incorrectly chosen wedding date can disrupt the happiness of a young family. As soon as the number is chosen, it is communicated to the bride's relatives.
Mourning the loss of loved ones
The Chinese wedding has one interesting and unusual tradition- mourning the loss of loved ones. Representatives of this nation have always been sensitive not only to the process of marriage, but also to the institution of the family. Before a girl marries, she must mourn the loss of loved ones. To this end, they all go together to some cozy place, where the bride is given time so that she can say goodbye to her parents and other relatives.
At first glance, it might seem that such joint evening recalls cheerful bachelorette party. But everything is not so at all - this ceremony is very touching and sad. After all, the bride must say goodbye to her family, and after the wedding she will belong only to her husband. Therefore, the event is similar to a bachelorette party only in that people close to the bride gather in one place.
The Step by Step Process of a Chinese Wedding
A wedding in China is a very beautiful ceremony that will symbolize the birth of a new happy family. This marriage ceremony should contain several main stages:
"Tea Gift"
On the day of the wedding, the bride brings gifts wrapped in red cloth to the bride's house. Almost always, the present is gold coins, for which the girlfriends let the young woman out of the house. The gift must also contain beautiful couple earrings, four bracelets. It is not for nothing that such a present was called “tea”, because in China, tea symbolizes fertility, marital fidelity.
As a ransom, the groom gives not only money, but also other gifts that the newlyweds determine in advance. The Chinese pre-wedding ceremony is held using another old rite. As soon as the ransom is over, the groom kneels before his parents and gives them a cup of tea, asking them for permission to marry.
wedding procession
The wedding procession should advance to the groom's house, and the bride rides in a palanquin. This was done so that the young woman would not bring dust and dirt to the house of her future husband on her feet. This procession heralded the birth new family, therefore, it was accompanied by explosions of firecrackers, fireworks, which not only entertained passers-by, but also drove away evil spirits - this is an indispensable part of the Chinese wedding ceremony.
The wedding cycle continued noisily and happy meeting bride in the groom's house, was accompanied by a variety of ancient traditions. A small table was placed in the courtyard (center), which was called the altar of worship to the gods - the future spouses approached it, bowed to the gods of heaven, sun, moon, earth, after which the marriage was considered concluded. This rite informed heavenly forces about the birth of a new family.
Throughout the wedding, the bride remains silent, because according to ancient legends, this contributed to the birth of heirs. The young was forbidden to eat during the holiday and she was considered a beautiful silent statue on own wedding. So the wedding in China took place only a few centuries ago, but modern celebration carried out without strict observance of all rituals.
But the Chinese follow some wedding traditions - there is always a red color and sweet wine at the wedding, which is considered happy, able to bring fidelity to the couple. The bride can safely choose a dress in a traditional color, but you need to complement the image with red shoes. Most Chinese girls prefer not the European version, but a red dress or a robe of the same color. But there is also modern traditions- for example, a cake in China is the main dish, and its size should amaze guests.
Wedding on the rise
The Chinese believe very strongly in astrology and the wedding date should be chosen strictly according to the astrological calendar. The main thing is that the marriage ceremony itself should take place only in the second half of the hour, after the hands of the clock pass the 30-minute mark. This is because the arrows begin to rise and are a symbol of the creation of a new family on the rise. If the young people marry during the first half of the hour, they begin their life together in a recession.
Chinese wedding cake
Home hallmark cake for a wedding in China is its size. It is customary to bring the cake into the hall to the welcoming exclamations of the guests. A tiger or a snake can decorate the cake, so it is not at all surprising that the dessert is considered one of the main and brightest parts of the wedding. It is important that the cake itself consists of a large number steps and was not too narrow - this is a symbol of the stairs for the young to a happy joint future. Therefore, for a wedding in China, they simply bake huge cakes so that the future of the new family is cloudless. Young people should feed each other cake.
Features of make-up and attire of Chinese brides - photo
The bride had to start preparing the day before the wedding - on the eve of the celebration, the girl removed all the hair from her face and applied a thick layer of powder, which created a semblance of an unnatural mask. The image was complemented with bright red lipstick and black arrows. Modern Brides not always followed ancient traditions and prefer discreet makeup, slightly emphasizing the eyes and highlighting the lips.
Video: Chinese wedding process
A wedding in China is an incredibly beautiful and original ceremony that requires special preparation and a more thorough study of the traditions of this country. If you want to spend themed wedding, opted for this ceremony, then it will be interesting and useful for you to get acquainted with next video, which describes in detail all the subtleties and nuances of a wedding in China.
China is a unique country with many interesting and unusual traditions for Europeans.
A Chinese wedding is not only a complex ritual, but also simple. fun party. For all who are interested, we present a short tour of the history of wedding traditions in China.
Pre-wedding Chinese traditions
The Chinese are an Asian nation with their own culture, which is very different from the European one and, accordingly, with its own customs and traditions.
Matchmaking in China takes place in several stages:
To do this, they attract a specialist who draws up a map of the starry sky and, based on it, offers the most suitable dates for marriage.
It is believed that an incorrectly chosen date promises unlucky family life young couple. After the date is chosen, it is communicated to the guests.
The Chinese are very reverent and responsible for the institution of marriage. For this ceremony, the bride and her close relatives go to some special place, where the girl is given time to say goodbye to her relatives.
This ceremony is sad and very touching.
Stages of a traditional Chinese wedding
Conventionally, this beautiful Chinese ceremony can be divided into the following stages:
Tea gift.
It is customary for the groom to bring gifts wrapped in red cloth to his bride's house on the wedding day. The gifts are gold coins, a pair of earrings and four bracelets. 
The wedding procession is accompanied by explosions of crackers, fireworks, it is believed that this drives away evil spirits and marks the birth of a new family.
Be sure, before and now at the Chinese wedding, there is an abundance of red and sweet wine, which is believed to promote fidelity in a couple.
But often Chinese brides prefer a red wedding dress or robe.
This is due to the fact that if we look at the clock face, then the minute hand goes down in the first half of the hour, and goes up in the second half of the hour.
Wedding cake in China.
The main dish on the Chinese wedding table is the wedding cake. It must be unusually beautiful and large.
Cake in China is usually met with the enthusiastic approval of the guests. It must impress with its size.
The decoration of the wedding cake can be symbolism associated with a tiger or a snake.
A Chinese traditional wedding cake should be multi-staged and wide enough, because it symbolizes the steps that a new Chinese family will climb in a life together.
The wedding torus in China symbolizes a ladder to a prosperous and happy future.
From these beliefs and beliefs of the Chinese people, a tradition arose for such truly huge wedding cakes. The bride and groom must feed each other with a wedding cake.
wedding banquet
On the wedding Chinese table, fish must be present - this is a symbol of abundance. Dishes, like liquors and wines at a Chinese wedding, must be expensive and of high quality.
Fish testifies to the prosperity and wealth of families. A Chinese wedding can have up to 12 courses. Guests are seated in such a way that the neighbors at the table are familiar with each other.
The table at the Chinese wedding has round shape. Traditional wedding dish at a Chinese wedding, it's shark fin soup.
Before the start of the official part, the guests participate in wedding games and do commemorative photos with the bride and groom.
Of course, over time, Chinese wedding traditions have undergone strong changes, but rituals associated with fertility are also relevant on modern weddings It is not for nothing that the Chinese are probably the most prolific nation in the world.
