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Traditional Chinese wedding dress. Chinese wedding: traditions and customs. Matchmakers in China

Chinese wedding

In ancient China, marriage took a very long time, since it was accompanied by a very complex complex rituals.

Traditional Chinese weddings are currently undergoing significant changes. But, however, the ceremonies and rituals around the marriage proposal, engagement, gifts to the bride's parents, the wedding ceremony - everything is deeply symbolic.

As a rule, in China, the attitude to the wedding was and is very serious.

First of all, the Chinese check the compatibility of the young according to the horoscope. So many girls are still looking for husbands. If the horoscope readings are suitable for the family, then from the groom's family to the bride's family are sent with gifts. This is followed by the exchange of marriage guarantees and, finally, the conclusion marriage contract... And in Ancient China prenuptial agreements were quite common. The wedding is appointed at the end of the year, and in order to determine the date more precisely, they again turn to the horoscope. And there is always the answer. Moreover, they choose not only a specific day, but also a specific time - it is desirable that the wedding begins in the second half of the hour, when the clock hands are pointing up, that is, in the direction of prosperity, wealth and good luck.

On the eve of the wedding, feasts are held in the houses of the bride and groom, in which invited relatives and friends take part.

On the wedding day, the bride dresses up in the morning for the ceremony of moving to the house of her future husband. She says goodbye to her parents and other relatives.

According to Chinese tradition, a bride should have three dresses: White dress worn with a veil during wedding ceremony, the second is traditional Chinese Wedding Dress for the banquet, and the last - the dress of the leaving bride - is put on before leaving the banquet.

Now in Chinese weddings one, the most main tradition- use of red.

Even if today a Chinese bride decides to flaunt in a European white dress, she will still wear red shoes on her feet and take a red umbrella in her hands. In addition, the hall for the celebration will be decorated in red. The cortege is also decorated with red flowers. For the Chinese, red is a symbol of love, prosperity and happiness. Wedding accessories such as invitations, gifts, envelopes and even the bride's wedding dress are decorated in a red palette.

Photos for a wedding album are not taken on the wedding day, but in advance, sometimes even a month or two in advance. On the day of the celebration, guests can already see the finished album of the bride and groom.

The wedding procession from the groom's house goes to the bride's house to pick her up. But the bride is not given away so easily.

Girlfriends and relatives of the bride can only give it away for a certain fee. And the groom has to ransom the bride by giving them red envelopes (hong bao) with money.

On the wedding day, a tea ceremony takes place, at which the bride officially introduces herself to the family members of the future husband.

Banquet plays an important role in Chinese weddings. Holiday menu, usually a 12-course meal, includes delicacies such as roast suckling pig and shark fin soup, fish, chicken in red oil, lotus seed crisps, pigeons and lobsters. This food brings prosperity, harmony and success.

In a Chinese family, parents are treated with great reverence. At the wedding, they are the most important persons. Usually, parents sit behind separate table, and the groom and the bride address them several times with words of gratitude.

By the way, in a restaurant in China they do not walk long - after the wedding, it is not customary to stay up late.

The couple's parents usually give a new bed with a kit bed linen... Before the wedding, the young nephew should jump on the bed for good luck to the newlyweds in the birth of offspring.

Relatives and friends give envelopes with money. How much - everyone decides for himself, but the main thing is that there is a number 8 - a favorable sign.

The Chinese are great originals in coming up with wedding scenarios.

Wedding celebrations can take place in a store, outdoors, on the river, or on a bus. Such spectacular events are remembered for a lifetime.

China has established a "Marriage Law", according to which men who have reached the age of 22 and women who are at least 20 years old have the right to marry and obtain a marriage certificate from the appropriate competent authority. This is how their legal matrimonial relationship is established.

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China is a unique country with many interesting and unusual traditions for Europeans.

Chinese wedding is not only a complex ritual, but also simple fun party... For all who are interested, we present a small tour of the history of wedding traditions in China.

Pre-wedding Chinese traditions

The Chinese are an Asian nation with its 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 involve a specialist who makes a map of the starry sky and, based on it, suggests the most suitable dates for a wedding.

It is believed that an incorrectly chosen date promises an unhappy family life for a young couple. After the date is selected, it is communicated to the guests.

  • Mourning. In a Chinese wedding ceremony, there is interesting tradition- mourning the loss of relatives. The bottom line is that before getting married, a Chinese girl must mourn the loss of her family.

The Chinese are very sensitive and responsible to 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 gift is gold coins, a pair of earrings and four bracelets.

The wedding procession is accompanied by explosions of firecrackers, fireworks, it is believed that this drives away evil spirits and marks the birth of a new family.

Mandatory before and now at a Chinese wedding is red in abundance 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 watch dial, then the minute hand goes down in the first half of the hour, and goes up in the second half of the hour.

  • So in the Chinese wedding tradition, it is believed that the wedding ceremony itself should take place on the rise.
  • Thus, a young Chinese family begins life together“On the rise”, otherwise - “on the decline”.

Wedding cake in China.

Main course in chinese wedding table is a wedding cake. It should be extraordinarily beautiful and large.

It is customary to greet cake in China with enthusiastic approval of guests. It should impress with its size.

The decoration of a wedding cake can be symbolism associated with a tiger or a snake.

Chinese traditional wedding cake should be multi-stage and wide enough, because it symbolizes the steps along which a new Chinese family will rise in life together.

The wedding torus in China symbolizes a staircase to a prosperous and happy future.

From these beliefs and convictions of the Chinese people, a tradition arose for such truly enormous wedding cakes... The bride and groom should definitely feed each other with a wedding cake.

Wedding banquet

On the Chinese wedding 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 indicates the prosperity and wealth of families. A Chinese wedding can have up to 12 meal changes. Guests are seated in such a way that the neighbors at the table are familiar with each other.

The table at a Chinese wedding has round shape... A traditional Chinese wedding dish is shark fin soup.

Before the start of the solemn part, the guests participate in wedding games and make memorable photos with the bride and groom.

Of course, over time, Chinese wedding traditions have undergone significant changes, but fertility rituals are also relevant for modern weddings, it is not for nothing that the Chinese are probably the most prolific nation in the world.

中國 傳統 婚禮 (Zhōngguó chuántǒng hūnlǐ)

1) Fortune telling by card

Before the matchmaking took place, the groom had to send the bride's family a preliminary note-card indicating the eight hieroglyphs of life. The surname of the groom, as well as the year, month, day and hour of his birth, were registered in it. According to these data, a fortune-telling rite was carried out, and in case 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 gave consent to the marriage.

2) The snake and the tiger cannot be together!

Great importance was attached to the twelve-year animal cycle. Dysfunctional couples were considered young, born in (the first year of the groom, the second year 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 was also taken into account in the cycle of five elements: water, wood, earth, metal and fire. The pledge of a long family life there was a dominant position of the groom's year of birth in at least one of these cycles. Sometimes lovers had to cheat by 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 agreement included information about the bride and groom and their families, plus the amount of the ransom paid for the bride.

4) Introducing parents

The day of the conclusion of the marriage contract also serves as the day of meeting the parents. By tradition, the acquaintance took place at the bride's house. Before going inside, the groom's parents worshiped in front of the family altar. Usually in front of the house there were always figures of the "happiness hare" and the "happiness fish". 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 emergence 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 sadder and more touching ceremony. The bride says goodbye to her loved ones in order to now belong entirely to her husband. This cannot be compared to what happens at gay bachelorette parties.

6) "Tea gift"

On the wedding day, the groom brings gifts to the bride's house, again wrapped in red cloth. Basically, these are gold coins for bridesmaids to let the bride out of the house. Often, the gift includes a pair of earrings and four bracelets. It is called "tea house" due to the fact that for the Chinese tea is a symbol marital fidelity and fertility. This tradition has been adopted by many peoples of the world. Moreover, both money and many other gifts are taken as a kind of ransom. The pre-wedding ceremony also includes one more ceremony. After the ransom, the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents, inviting them to drink tea. Thus, they ask them for permission to marry.

7) Wedding procession

The wedding "train" usually looked like this: it was moving away from the bride's house, the representatives of the groom were at the head with torches, on which family symbol groom. Then two representatives of the bride walked with red umbrellas in their hands. The bride herself was carried in a red palanquin, and her assistant in a green one. The middle of the way was marked by the ceremony of handing over the bride to 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

There is a strong belief in astrology in China. Therefore, the date of the wedding is chosen according to astrological calendar... One more important attribute- the wedding 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, thereby symbolizing the beginning of family life precisely on the rise. Getting married in the first thirty minutes means starting a life together in a downturn.

9) Wedding cake

The most important distinctive feature cake at a Chinese wedding is its size. Usually the cake is brought into the hall during welcome speech 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 huge amount steps. This symbolizes a certain staircase from the beautiful today to a happy future. Therefore, the cake should be so big that the future is long and cloudless. The bride and groom must feed each other with pieces of cake, so they seem to go through the steps of life together.

10) Decorating the bride

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 the two beautiful dresses, they can buy three of them, or even more. The day before the ceremony, she was ordered to try on the decoration sent by the groom, as well as pluck out all the hair on her face (to renew herself). Since in China, women tend to paint a lot, whiten their face and apply bright lipstick then the lack of hair is not so noticeable. The outfit itself is a short red robe embroidered with flowers and pompoms made of colored silk, and a dress (also, preferably, red, but sometimes green). On his 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) Wealth of 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. What is there just not, it is not clear only 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 pig and rooster meat sent to her by the groom's family the day before.

12) The bride

The strangest and a bit rough tradition is the bridegroom after the wedding. The fact is that at this moment the guests were allowed to enter the young room where the girl was sitting, discuss her aloud and even say any obscene things. Moreover, the bride was strictly forbidden to react to this in any way. Get rid of "intrusive" guests young husband it was possible only with money.

13) Uniting of bowls

When the young people were brought into the house, they sat on the bed for a while without uttering a single word. By the way, the bride was ordered to remain silent during the entire 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. The young drank from them, then changed and again took a sip, and then poured each other into glasses and drank again. This rite was called "the union of the bowls."

14) marriage bed

The preparation of the wedding bed in the groom's house is a whole ceremony, accompanied by many different traditions. Five coins issued during the reign of five different emperors had to be glued under the bed. Five canonical bundles of boiled rice were also hung there. On the bed were 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 wonderfully intertwine the customs and traditions of dozens of previous generations.

Chinese wedding like wedding ceremonies other nations, has its own characteristics, which European residents know very little about.

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 alleged groom sent the bride a note with personal (as we would put it now) data of the young man - date of birth and other information. The numbers written in the letter were the subject of fortune telling.

In case of a positive outcome, a similar note was sent from the bride to the groom's family, and his relatives wondered about the bride. Everything was taken into account: from the zodiac signs to compatibility by the elements. Quite often, the results of fortune-telling were manipulated in order to create an ideal union.

After obtaining consent, the bride's family was presented with gifts. It could have been various decorations, fabrics, jewelry. In parallel with the giving of gifts, the amount of the ransom for the bride was negotiated, and the marriage contract was drawn up.

The wedding date was usually set at the end of the year, after all chores were completed. Often, the date of the wedding was also determined by 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 home for the wedding

Bride by the ancients Chinese customs on the day of the wedding ceremony, she settled in her house young spouse... In this regard, her things were transported a few days before the wedding, and a separate room was set up for the newlyweds.

The day before wedding celebration the groom's house was carefully tidied up and renovated. Only relatives who were in a successful marriage and had children were involved in this honorable mission.

The room equipped for young spouses was not supposed to be empty, so one of the younger brothers of the groom or the bride usually slept in the marriage bed.

Bride's outfit and makeup

On the day preceding 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 with a blood-red spot on an almost white face.

Wedding outfit chinese girl looked very unusual: a bright red robe with dragons embroidered in gold. It was believed that red attracts money, and gold symbolizes wealth.

The bride's headdress in the form of a wire frame, decorated with bright feathers, silk pom-poms and colorful medallions, was quite specific. An important detail The bride's wedding dress was a veil, which, according to ancient legend, was supposed to hide the girl's despair associated with her departure from her home.

The bride's behavior during the entire wedding ceremony had to be restrained, and she had to be silent. According to the old belief, this contributed to fertility. Eat wedding dishes the bride was not allowed either, 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 ridiculous. However, even today, many Chinese people follow the traditions of their ancestors. This, above all, concerns the unchanging red color that brings prosperity and happiness. It can be more than just the color of the dress. Sometimes brides are white wedding dress combined with red shoes.

It is worth noting that many modern brides still prefer not European style wedding clothes, but choose a traditional red robe or modern dress, but again in red.

The main dish on the Chinese wedding table is cake. Its enormous size sometimes leads to long and heated discussions after the wedding.

Chinese wedding traditions are among the most unusual among Asian countries. In this country, respect for the customs of ancestors and trends are skillfully combined modern fashion... Therefore, the www.site portal decided to tell you how weddings are held in China today.

Traditional wedding in China

Previously, all marriages between young people were concluded exclusively by agreement between the parents of the future bride and groom. The preparation for the wedding and the celebration itself included six rituals:

  1. The first visit of someone from the groom's family to the bride's house with a gift and an engagement proposal.
  2. The second visit is again with a gift to find out the name, surname of the bride, her parents, the date of birth of the young woman and her place of seniority in the family.
  3. A message to the bride's family that the groom's parents agree to the marriage.
  4. Sending a young gift to the house as a sign of the engagement.
  5. Third visit to negotiate auspicious day weddings.
  6. Wedding celebration.

The second visit was one of the most important, without which the Chinese wedding would never have taken place. Many wedding traditions of the peoples of the world provide for the obligatory consent of higher powers to marriage, and the Celestial Empire is no exception. The bride's data was recognized in order to compare the horoscopes of the young and find out whether such a union would be successful, and to appoint favorable date for the wedding.


wedding ceremony

On the appointed day, the groom went to the bride with his retinue and gifts (ransom). After their presentation to the music and explosions of firecrackers, bowing to his parents, he and his betrothed went to his house, where the main celebration took place. All guests were given wedding flowers or images of the hieroglyph "Si", which means "happiness". They could be pinned to clothes or used as a decoration for a hairdo.


  • heaven and earth,
  • family elders,
  • ancestors (family tablet),
  • parents,
  • guests,
  • each other.

After that, the young people had to cross their arms, drink a cup of wine and tie each other's hands with a red ribbon. Such a custom, by the way, is also in the Bengali wedding, only there the hands are tied with a red thread. Now the bride and groom became a family and were considered one whole. And everything ended with a plentiful treat.

Modern wedding in China

Today, Chinese weddings have become more democratic and less ceremonial than traditional ones. Young people have more freedom in choosing a future spouse and can marry for love. But the family still plays important role... When the lovers decide to get married, they must first visit the bride's house, and then the groom's house on an official visit. Families, in turn, give gifts for the other half of their child, thus blessing the couple.


date

The choice of the day on which wedding will take place remains important event and is also consistent with higher powers... Therefore, lovers often have to wait for a favorable date for the wedding for several years. But there is a loophole. Registration and traditional wedding in China is different concepts... Therefore, the bride and groom can officially register the marriage on any day. But it is possible to celebrate the celebration according to all relying traditions only on a certain date.


Farewell to family

This Chinese tradition there is something in common with the Russian, when the bride mourns the loss of her family. After all, after the wedding, she becomes part of her husband's family. Nowadays, this means that a girl spends some time at home before the wedding, communicating with her family and remembering the happy moments associated with family and childhood.


This item can be safely included in the list of features of a wedding in China. The fact is that the photo session is held long before the wedding itself. The bride and groom are photographed in different outfits, usually rented, in different places. And at the wedding, they show the guests a ready-made wedding photo album. It is not customary for them to invite a photographer to the wedding itself.


Bride's outfit

According to ancient Chinese traditions, the bride's head was to be decorated with a crown in the form of a phoenix, which symbolizes a woman in Chinese mythology. His image was also supposed to be on a wedding dress. Traditionally, the bride's attire should be red, which is a symbol of happiness in the culture of many eastern countries... Moreover, he had to be richly decorated with embroidery and various precious stones and for the most part, like at a Buddhist wedding, it was made of silk.


Modern Chinese wedding dress can be traditional for Europe white but be sure to have elements of red. The bride can change three outfits for the wedding, so one dress can be completely white, the second - red, and the third - combine two colors. It all depends on the wishes of the young.