Zhuang wedding customs

Men and women play and play ball separately. In Zhuang Township, Guangxi, in some places young men and women fall in love. There is still a popular activity of throwing embroidery balls, which is called "Feituo" in Zhuang language. This custom of throwing hydrangeas to each other to choose a mate has been very common in the Tang Dynasty. Liu Zongyuan once wrote a poem that "men and women play and play ball separately." In the singing field, Zhuang boys and girls naturally divided into groups. They first sang folk songs to each other, and then kept a proper distance away from each other. The girls then threw the hydrangeas carefully made from flower cloth to their beloved young man. The young man had quick eyes and quick hands. He grabbed the ribbon of the hydrangea thrown towards him with one hand and threw it back to the other girl. If the young man thinks it is suitable, he will tie a gift on the hydrangea and throw it to the girl he is attracted to. The more gifts, the more eager the young man is to pursue the girl. If the girl accepts the gift that the young man throws back to the hydrangea, she will be lucky. A pair of young men and women got to know each other through many singing duets, deepened their understanding, and even made a private decision for life. In this way, the love and marriage of young men and women of the Zhuang ethnic group are more poetic and picturesque.

When a man gets married, a woman recruits a groom

The Zhuang area of ??Guangxi still preserves an ancient custom of "bringing in a bride". It is especially popular in counties in remote mountainous areas, such as Tianlin, Longlin Xilin, Lingyun, Leye, Donglan, Fengshan, and Bama counties.

Young men who voluntarily "come into the family" often have too many brothers in the family, or they feel that the area where the family is located is not ideal, and they have the desire to leave their hometown. So they tried their best to get out of the house and ask around for relatives who wanted to recruit a son-in-law. When he is a good match and feels satisfied, he boldly reveals his feelings to the woman and asks to marry her. With the consent of both parties, he can "get married". As for the young women, out of a desire to honor their parents and determined to stay at home to support their parents, they went from village to village, first near and then far, in search of a satisfactory "doorman". However, their way of finding a partner is not as straightforward as men's. They often go to villages to help workers during the busy farming season and sing folk songs at night. Through labor and interaction, observe men's wishes and performance. Once they fall in love with a man, they will do everything possible to find an opportunity to chat and intercede. Once the man agrees, after a year and a half, he will be married to his wife. The other type is that in some families with only girls but no boys, the parents ask for a son-in-law to come to their home, so they come forward to find a suitable match for their daughter and send a matchmaker to the boy's family to arrange marriage. With the consent of both men and women, the "brother-in-law" is recruited.

The bride crosses the river on her "sailor's" back

Longsheng Autonomous County of all ethnic groups in northern Guangxi is an alpine mountainous area. Here there are high mountains, dense forests, long roads, and ninety-eight bends of rivers. There are only 40 to 50 miles of mountain roads, but we have to wade across five or six rivers and cross three or four bridges. Therefore, when getting married, in order to ensure the safety of the bride, someone must be hired to carry her when crossing rivers and bridges. The person who carries the bride is called a "sailor" and is usually a sturdy, unmarried young man. When the bride crosses the river, a cannon is fired three times and a trumpet is blown. The "sailor" immediately pressed his knees with his two palms, bent down, and asked the veiled bride to put her knees on her back, clasp her shoulders firmly behind her back, and lean forward. The "sailor" immediately reached back to hold the bride's feet at the waist. Once they were in place, he stepped into the water to cross the river (or cross the bridge). It's like the taboo position of an adult carrying a child when he spreads his legs. Carrying a bride requires special attention to civility and politeness. There should be no rudeness in behavior, let alone teasing. Therefore, the "sailors" who carry the bride are mostly those with the best moral character. When crossing the river, the "yingniang" (played by an unmarried young woman) will hold an umbrella next to the bride to provide shade (the umbrella must be opened regardless of good or bad weather) to protect the bride's happiness and prevent her from being separated. After the entire team crossed the river and landed ashore, the obedient "bridal bride" lowered her umbrella to block others from "peeping" at the veiled bride. At this time, the artillery roared, firecrackers blasted, the band played happy music, and the shore was crowded with people watching the excitement.

It’s hard to get a wife if you don’t know how to sing in antiphony

The Song Fair is a traditional large-scale singing festival among the Zhuang people in Guangxi. Every autumn and spring festival, young people wear festive costumes, choose singing opponents, and find their beloved couples at traditional local song fairs. As usual, the young man has to sing an invitation to the girl first, and he has to sing until the girl is satisfied, and then she responds. Young men with stupid mouths and tight cheeks, and even girls who sang for three or four hours without responding, fled in disgrace and gave way to young people with more talent. After the woman answers, the two parties, surrounded by their respective companions, sing first intercourse songs, hymns, interrogation songs, pan songs, and love songs according to the procedures of the song fair. When the love is lingering, they sing songs of deep friendship, gift songs, and give gifts to each other. At this time, the lovers leave their companions and walk into the forest among the flowers. When they were about to break up, the two sang a farewell song again and made an appointment to meet next time, and then reluctantly parted. Many couples make a lifelong commitment like this. However, there are also many "dangers" in this antiphonal program, especially the pangee, in which women ask questions and men answer questions. The content includes as far away as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, as close as the current world; from the sun, moon and stars, to mountains, rivers and beasts; from all aspects of farming, Seasonal flowers and fruits, etc., composed and sung as you go, everything is included. The breadth of its content and the agility of its singing talent often make the knowledgeable experts who come here to admire it be stunned and fascinated by it.

Sing a pailou song before getting married

In the Zhuang and Yao areas near the source of the Jiujia River in Lianhua Township, Gongcheng County, Guangxi, every time a girl gets married, she has the habit of singing a pailou song. A few days before a girl gets married, the host family invites girls from the village and her cousins ??to spend three to five days in a boudoir with the girl.

During the party, in addition to helping the bride with some needlework, the more important task is to sing the "Pailou Song". On the one hand, it celebrates a happy marriage for the bride and sings about a happy future; on the other hand, it can be a great lively event, and the host family feels particularly honored. Whenever the news of singing "Pai Lou Song" spreads, young people from nearby villages work hard to finish one day's work in half a day, or finish the next day's work overnight, wash their feet, put on new clothes, and wear Wearing a white hat and a white tripe handkerchief, we climbed mountains and waded from all directions to the village where our daughter was to be married. As soon as everyone arrived at the edge of the village, they gathered in small groups around the boudoir, singing the most beautiful folk songs at the top of their lungs. Sometimes there are as many as twenty or thirty people, one or two hundred people, and the noise is like the sound of frogs on a summer night, and everyone is vying to sing antiphonally with the accompanying girl.