Can anyone tell me about the wedding customs in Taihe County, Ji'an City?

The wedding customs in Taihe County, Ji'an City mainly include rituals, choosing auspiciousness and marrying.

Guo Li Chapter

After "looking at the bride" and "looking at it", the engagement formalities must be performed, commonly known as "Guo Li".

The third part of "Guo Li" The first step is for the matchmaker to send the man's birth date to the woman, and the woman's birth date to the man. Some superstitious parents, who think they are responsible for their children's marriage, often ask a fortune teller to calculate it after receiving the red invitation. , it depends on whether the "birthday and horoscope" of both parties are consistent. If not, the marriage must be reconsidered. Fortunately, most modern people do not believe in this, so even if the red invitations are exchanged, it is often just a formality. Even the form of exchange of posts is omitted.

After the "exchange of posts" and the "combining of eight characters", the matchmaker has to choose a good day to take the man to "ceremony" to get engaged. "Giving ceremony" is usually a big event. The initiator of the marriage (whether male or female) must give a large gift to the other party. The gift must include at least a pig knuckle, a pair of wine, a chicken and a duck, and a pair of shoes and socks for the other party's parents. Enclose a package and give it to the girl. How much money to include in the envelope (called "pocket money" in the local area) and what kind of engagement gifts to give to the girl are usually negotiated by the matchmaker in advance and cannot be decided by the man (or the other party). Of course, the man or the woman’s parents should also try to be more frugal and accept less betrothal gifts.

After the “gifts”, the man and woman can agree on a date and go to the local government. Apply for a marriage certificate and formally confirm the marriage relationship. Modern regulations require that both men and women must go to the hospital for a pre-marital examination before receiving the marriage certificate; some areas (mainly cities) require pre-marriage classes. These are all to ensure good health and quality of the population. Effective measures should be followed.

Choose Ji Chapter

After the marriage certificate is obtained, the man and woman have legally established a legal relationship as husband and wife. However, in China, this is just a marriage. The first step of the event. According to the traditional practice, the parents of the person who takes the initiative in getting married should choose a good and auspicious day for the wedding, and the matchmaker will inform the other party to prepare for the wedding.

To choose an auspicious day, you can usually consult astrologists or fortune tellers, or you can choose the date by yourself by reading the "Tongshu" (commonly known as the "Almanac", commonly known as the "Jiajia Calendar", and traditionally called the "Imperial Calendar"). You can calculate it by yourself. It is generally believed that as long as the "Liuhe" corresponds to the "Bingyin Day", etc.

After the date is selected, the wedding invitations should be sent out. Relatives and friends come to the wedding.

Invitations are usually delivered to relatives and friends in person by the person getting married or their parents. After receiving the invitation to the wedding banquet, relatives and friends usually only send gifts and do not attend, except in special circumstances. You should go to the door to congratulate. Before congratulating, you must first prepare gifts. The number of gifts depends on the relationship between you and the host, the depth of your friendship, and your financial conditions.

The gift for the woman. Most of the gifts are in kind, but they are also replaced by red envelopes, which are called "marriage assistance." Gifts for the woman are usually given by relatives and friends upon hearing the news. Go and don't wait for the invitation to come before sending it. Because the woman’s parents have to decide the scale of the “wedding wine” based on the number of gift-givers.

Wedding Chapter

The wedding day is approaching. Both men and women have to kill pigs and chickens to prepare for the wedding banquet. They also need to invite chefs, best groomsmen, bridesmaids, floats, accountants, masters and Other handymen who help their colleagues with work. After these people apply for the job, they should go to the host's house to start work the day before the wedding and make preparations for the wedding banquet.

Traditional weddings usually involve "wedding wine" at the bride's family in the morning and a wedding banquet at noon at the groom's family; if it is a son-in-law (recruiting a husband - the man comes to the bride's family), the reverse is true.

After everything is ready, the groom's family fires cannons and plays music, and sends out a sedan to welcome the bride. The matchmaker takes the lead, followed by the groom, bridesmaids, float, band, and gift box team.

The bride’s family must prepare for the wedding banquet before the float arrives. The girl's mother or sister must comb her hair, use silk thread to remove the velvet on her face, put on makeup, which is called "opening her face", then decorate her face with a phoenix crown and harem, cover her head with a red cloth, and wait for the wedding float.

As soon as the float arrived, the female family members happily fired cannons to welcome it. After the bridegroom's procession entered the main room of the bride's family, the groom bowed to his father-in-law and mother-in-law and presented a red wedding note written in his father's name. Then came the hostess's feast. During the banquet, the matchmaker and the groom should be more careful, because there are many unwritten customs among Chinese people. During the three days of the wedding, the ordinary and junior teenagers among relatives and friends can inventively stage a few small dramas on the matchmaker and groom. Comedy is called "washing the matchmaker" and "hanging the red" (commonly known as "He Xinke" in the countryside). The bride’s sister-in-law might hide half a bowl of chili noodles under the rice bowl for the groom (Xiao Y, just accept your fate! Just eat it like an authentic Sichuan dish); the bride’s sister will specially rub a handful for her brother-in-law when pouring wine. The ashes at the bottom of the pot... The matchmaker and groom should tolerate these little farces that can increase the joyful atmosphere - although they may as well "treat others in their own way" and take a small revenge, but But you must not get angry, angry, or even quarrel or fight with the host and guest.

After the breakfast banquet, the bride and groom, under the guidance of the matchmaker, salute to the bride’s ancestral tablets and elders, and then the bridesmaid can help the bride onto the float.

When getting in the car, the bride may wish to cry a few times to show her attachment to her parents and family.

After the bride gets on the car, music is played and cannons are fired, and the sedan is started to get married. When the bride leaves the car, she often gives a red envelope to the driver (bearer) in order to make the bearer drive more steadily.

When the wedding team is about to arrive at the groom’s house, the groom’s family will fire cannons to welcome them. The float stops in front of the groom's house. The bridesmaid (usually a young and beautiful woman) invited by the groom's family should step forward to open the door and help the bride out of the car. The groomsmen will step forward to praise the bride and groom, and the guests will scatter flowers to the groom and bride ( There are as many colorful ribbons as there are sprays of snow, etc.), pushing the wedding to a climax.