Undoubtedly, culture China A great fascination always awakens us. In the following article, we want to delve into Chinese marriage and the customs that come from antiquity. These old marriage customs in china They have a very long history that goes back more than 5,000 years.
Undoubtedly they have been changing over the years and adapting to new ethical and aesthetic standards of society at every moment. Some of the customs, however, have lasted over time and currently exert a clear influence on new generations.
The basic stages through which customs have passed in Chinese marriage are 5:
- Marriage stage of primitive group
- Stage of consanguineous marriage
- Stage of exogamous marriage
- Stage of antithetic marriage
- Monogamatic marriage stage
There were many taboos in the ancient customs of celebrating a Chinese marriage. They were of the most varied since they could go from the purest superstition to curious and even funny things and some others were truly amazing.
Here are some of these curious facts about Chinese marriages in antiquity
1. One of the strange customs that existed in the ancient chinese marriages was that a virgin boy should sleep with the boyfriend in the marriage bed just the night before the wedding, the reason was that it was believed that this would bring luck in the future to the new marriage.
2. All those people born under the year of the tiger, were not allowed to attend the nuptial ceremonies.
3. The aunts and sisters-in-law of the bride could not see the bride the day of her wedding .
Four. The stronger the bride cried on the day of the wedding, the better the marriage .
5. The bridal gowns could not, under any circumstances, have pockets since it was believed that if they had them, the bride would take away her father's fortune.
6 The bride could not lie in the marriage bed during her wedding day, otherwise a serious illness would confine her to spend the rest of her life in a bed.
7 The mirror used by the bride could not be used under any circumstances by anyone else.
8 The bride could not attend any funeral ceremony within four months after the wedding.
9. The bride and groom humbly greeted Heaven and Earth, their parents and greeted each other. This custom represented a symbol of respect to Heaven, to Earth, to their parents and to themselves.
10 The typical color of the suits, both of the groom and the bride, was red.
According to Confucianism, marriage was the beginning of ethics and the wedding ceremony, the essence of the labels. That had a very great influence on social stability and only those people who married formal matrimonial ceremonies were recognized by society.
The basic principles in an ancient Chinese marriage mainly took into account the social state of coincidence, the dictates of the parents and the advice of the matchmaker. The prohibition of marrying couples with the same surname and tolerance for polygamy was also taken into account.
Rituals in Chinese marriages
Traditional marriage customs have always reflected traditional culture China , which has been varying from one generation to another.
Six are the rituals of Chinese marriages in antiquity that have been maintained over time. These rituals are known as "Three letters and six labels" and are usually transmitted from one generation to another.
- The three letters: The three letters refer to the engagement letter, the gift letter and the marriage letter. Each of these letters is used in a different marriage ritual:
- The commitment letter: It was an official marriage contract between two families.
- The gift letter: It was a letter with a list that clearly defined the types and amounts of gifts offered to the couple.
- The wedding letter: It was an official letter welcoming the bride to the groom's home.
- The six labels The six labels were; propose marriage, match dates of birth, present the engagement gifts, present the wedding gifts, select a date for the wedding and celebrate it.
These labels, or steps as we would call them in the West, have been adopted in traditional Chinese marriage customs since the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-771 BC). These customs do nothing but demonstrate that the Chinese attach great importance to marriage and are quite superstitious.
It is always curious to approach other cultures and learn their traditions and customs, do not you think? What do you think of these customs of Chinese marriage in antiquity? Some are quite similar to those that have been practiced in the West since ancient times. Do not you think it's funny? Leave us your comments we will be happy to read you!