Wedding of yesterday and today

During previous hundreds of years wedding ceremonies in China changed dramatically and, take into account China’s turbulent history, it does not come as a surprise.

Six rituals Ancient wedding ceremony consisted about six rituals: 1、shuōméi méi rén 说媒match-making （媒人） 2、pìn lǐ 聘礼gifts-giving 3、dìng qīn 订亲engagement 4、yíng qǔ 迎 娶welcoming of the bride 5、bài táng 拜堂 perform the formal wedding ceremony（Three bows ） 6、nào dòng fáng 闹 洞 房 disturbing the nupitial chamber

说媒 match-making Usually the parents of a boy reaching marrying age would invite a matchmaker. The matchmaker possessed many tablets-similar to nowadays name cards-with names and ages of the bride-to-be on them. Then the matchmaker would approach an eligible girl’s parents and give them an introduction about the groom-to-be. If the two sides agreed, a meeting would be arranged.

订亲 engagement A woman holding the highest position in the boy’s family would choose an auspicious date for the first encounter with the girl’s family. The main purpose of such meeting was to appreciate the future daughter-in-law’s appearance and character as well as financial position of her family. It was strictly prohibited for the girl to see her husband before the wedding.

Betrothal and engagement were the main ceremonies Betrothal and engagement were the main ceremonies. According to popular traditions, it was next to impossible to change anything after the couple was engaged. Cancellation of the engagement was an ultimate disgrace to the family.

迎娶 welcoming of the bride One of the most magnificent parts of the wedding ceremony is welcoming of the bride. She was dressed up in red as it is the color of happiness and prosperity.

After the bride took her seat in a wedding sedan-chair, the wedding ceremony started. During the whole ceremony, the bride’s face was covered with a red scarf with an image of a dragon on it to drive away evil spirits.

The bride was expected to cry all her way to the groom’s house The bride was expected to cry all her way to the groom’s house. It was demonstration of her love and attachment of her love to the parental home.

The main part of the ceremony started when the bride arrived at the groom’s house. In some regions she has to step over a basin with fire purposely placed in front of the house. It was a sign that everything bad and evil is burnt.

In other regions the bride had to step over a saddle with a vase holding in her hands. In Chinese language the last characters of the words for “vase” (瓶) and “saddle”(鞍) taking together mean peace and prosperity.

拜堂 perform the formal wedding ceremony Then the newlyweds step into the sitting-room and kowtowed to Heaven and Earth, parents and—at last—to each other.

喝交杯酒 bride and groom to drink "cross-cupped wine" Then they exchange bowls filled with wine and drank it.

Then they cut a little bit of each other’s hair for keeping them as a symbol of unity. The wedding banquet was a culmination of the ceremony as the bride went around the guests offering wine and various foods.

The final ritual took place in the newlyweds’ room, they sit on a bed on which the dates, peanuts, long an fruit and nuts have been purposefully scattered. Meaning of the characters representing these presents was to “give birth to a son as soon as possible.” it was the first time the groom saw the face of his now wife by taking away the red scarf covering her face.

闹洞房Disturbing nuptial chamber The most interesting part of the marriage ceremony is the Disturbing nuptial chamber

In ancient times, matchmaker is important and children can not against parents’ decisions and no freedom to choose their lovers

Butterfly lovers The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo (梁山伯) and Zhu Yingtai (祝英台), whose names form the title of the story. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu (梁祝). The story is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the Legend of the White  (Baishezhuan),Lady Meng Jiang and The Coeherd and the Weaving Maid (Niulang Zhinü).

What about the wedding today? Fortunately nowadays , we have the freedom to choose our lovers. Nowadays Chinese people prefer the Western-style wedding custom and added their own elements. Many traditional rituals still exist today

Wedding of today New epoch brought new prices—it is impossible to hold a wedding ceremony with less then 10000 yuan and before, chickens、cows、darks can be gifts but not these days. Red sedan chair is replaced by cars with the first one decorated by flowers and characters ”double happiness.”

The wedding ceremony itself lasts for merely 30 minutes as a master of ceremonies reads the marriage certificate and tells how the couple met for the first time.

Usually the ceremony is lively and cheerful accompanied with jokes and laughs. Often the bride receives an envelope with 10001 yuan in it symbolizing that she was chosen out of thousands. Guests arrive at the dinner-time and newlyweds and their parents walk around all tables and toast for happiness of the new family.

Grandiose weddings have renewed ancient tradition of red envelops Grandiose weddings have renewed ancient tradition of red envelops. They are used for money gift; Giving much means showing closed relationship and prosperity. Thus most of expenses for the wedding banquets usually are repaid.

Traditional set of wedding photos costs no less than 3000 yuan Traditional set of wedding photos costs no less than 3000 yuan. Wedding ceremonies nowadays is a big and profitable industry with professional staff, special websites, magazines, cars, masters of ceremonies and companies arranging “unforgettable honey-moon”

生词 hūn lǐ 婚礼 (wedding ceremony) dòng fáng 洞 房 （bridal chamber） xīn niáng Jià xīn láng qǔ 新 娘 （嫁）、 新 郎 (娶) bái tóu xié lǎo bǎi nián hǎo hé 白 头 偕 老 百 年 好 合 zǎo shēng guì zǐ 早 生 贵 子

生词

Presentations This week’s topics(10 munites ) 1、The similarities and differences between Zimbabwe and China’s wedding. 2、The similarities and differences of the wedding between ancient and nowadays (Zimbabwe) 3、The similarities and differences of the wedding between ancient and nowadays (China)