Top: The groom and the bride wear red outfits in a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony. Left: People carry brides in sedan chairs to the grooms' houses amid a fanfare of horns and drums. Photos Provided to China Daily

 

Growing interest in ancient culture has led to a surge in traditional Chinese weddings

As China has modernized rapidly in recent decades there has been a growing desire to preserve ancient culture. This has spurred a surge of interest in activities and objects associated with the past. Among this renaissance of ancient culture has been a rising demand for traditional Chinese weddings, which mostly disappeared since the 1960s.

Twenty-nine-year-old Fu Yu chose a traditional ceremony when she married her Spanish husband.

The couple originally considered a combined Western-traditional Chinese ceremony, something which is common in China today. In this type of ceremony the bride wears a white wedding dress and the couple take religious vows similar to those given in a Western wedding, but later change into red outfits to toast their guests.

"We were really touched. Every step and every detail of the wedding had rich cultural implications that reminded us how serious and beautiful this marriage could be," Fu says. "It was also fun for us to wear traditional costumes and feel like we were in the ancient world."

According to Hai Feng, CEO of Beijing Flowers Court Wedding Planning Ltd, his company has seen a surge in demand for traditional weddings, from just a few dozen in 2011, to hundreds this year.

"Traditional culture has been promoted across China in recent years and people's confidence in our own culture has grown as a result," he says.

"Young people want a special wedding and a traditional ceremony looks mysterious and fun to them."

Gao Wei, secretary general of Beijing Folklore Society, is a traditional wedding host. Most couples that chose a traditional ceremony are lovers of ancient Chinese culture, he says.

"The original process of getting married is sincere and solemn," he says. "I have always been impressed every time I instruct and explain the whole process."

Traditional Chinese wedding customs were established in the Rites of Zhou during the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC), and include six customs. Although marriages of different dynasties and nationalities may differ in detail, the essence of the six etiquettes has been maintained and passed down. Some remain popular in parts of the country, Gao says.

Usually, a family that had a son of marriageable age would ask a matchmaker to look for a woman whose family was of equal standing. The matchmaker would introduce the man's family background and propose to the woman on his behalf.

"Marriages in the old times were about two families, rather than two individuals," Gao says. "Its function was to carry on the ancestral line, while personal feelings were ignored."

Today people marry for love, but in ancient times the new couple probably wouldn't meet each other until their wedding ceremony was finished.

"Looks and personality were not important in selecting a spouse, but family background and reputation mattered a lot," Gao says.

If the proposal was accepted the man's family would ask for the woman's time of birth. This would be taken to a fortune-teller who would match it against her husband's birth time to establish whether they would make a good match. If they were found to match, proof of this would then be presented to the woman's family.

"Modern marriages usually become legal by a wedding vow or registration, but in ancient times it was settled when the woman's family accepted the wedding gifts sent by the man's family," Gao says. "So, selecting wedding gifts was a critical part of the process."

Wedding gifts should cover the cost of the wedding and the dowry to the woman's family. They could be anything of value, including gold rings, necklaces, cotton, silk and livestock.

A dinner for both families in the woman's family home would coincide with the giving of the wedding gifts, symbolizing recognition of the marriage by both sets of relatives. After this dinner, they would set a date for the wedding.

"Chinese people tend to want their weddings to be lively, so almost everything was decorated with red, which symbolized luck and happiness," Gao says.

They would also decorate the wedding room with red silk, candles and red lanterns and paste two of the Chinese character xi on the gates of the house, which means "happiness".

One day before the wedding, people would walk around the wedding room beating a gong to drive out evil spirits. They would also scatter dates, peanuts, longans and lotus seeds on the bed, because the sound of the four words together sounds like "have a lovely baby soon" in Chinese.

When the big day arrived, the groom, wearing a red cloth flower, would lead a group of people to collect the bride.

The bride would wear a chaplet, a type of Chinese wedding crown made of silk, jade and jewelry, as well as robes and a red veil. She would be carried to the ceremony in a sedan chair held by eight people amid a fanfare of horns and drums to announce her coming.

She was not supposed to touch the ground before arriving at the main hall of the groom's house, where formal bows would be made.

Once at the house, an elder member of the family would carry her past a saddle and a fire pan, to symbolize driving out bad luck.

"They had to abide by each process and be cautious about every detail. Otherwise it was believed that the wedding would be unhappy," Gao says.

The bride and groom would kowtow three times in the main hall, first to heaven, then to their parents and finally to each other.

"This was a kind of manifesto, which meant they should thank heaven and earth for providing a livelihood, their parents for giving them life and should live a harmonious life as husband and wife," Gao says.

Finally, the couple would retire to the wedding room, where the groom could unveil his bride. Then they would cross arms to drink a cup of wine, and eat raw dumplings and longevity noodles, which symbolize a long harmonious and happy married life.

The wedding feast usually lasted for three days, although for wealthy families it could continue for weeks or even months, Hai Feng with the wedding planning company says.

While a two-month wedding feast seems unlikely even for wealthy families today, the continuing interest in Chinese culture means brides in sedan chairs heading to get married could become an increasingly common sight across China in the coming years.

chenyingqun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/09/2012 page26)