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    The Wedding Ceremony: Tears, The Bridal Sedan and Motherly Advice

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    Vellashene Vella
    The document describes various traditions and ceremonies involved in a Chinese wedding. It begins with the bridal sedan carrying the bride from her family home to her new husband's home. Along the way, her face is covered by a veil. At the groom's home, the couple bows to each other and their families before entering the bridal chamber. They are fed dumplings and take part in teasing games to ease tensions. In later days, the new wife greets her in-laws and has her first meal with her husband in the bridal chamber. She later returns home with her husband to visit her parents.

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    The Wedding Ceremony: Tears, The Bridal Sedan and Motherly Advice

    Uploaded by

    Vellashene Vella
    150 views5 pages
    The document describes various traditions and ceremonies involved in a Chinese wedding. It begins with the bridal sedan carrying the bride from her family home to her new husband's home. Along the way, her face is covered by a veil. At the groom's home, the couple bows to each other and their families before entering the bridal chamber. They are fed dumplings and take part in teasing games to ease tensions. In later days, the new wife greets her in-laws and has her first meal with her husband in the bridal chamber. She later returns home with her husband to visit her parents.

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    The Wedding Ceremony

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    The document describes various traditions and ceremonies involved in a Chinese wedding. It begins with the bridal sedan carrying the bride from her family home to her new husband's home. Along the way, her face is covered by a veil. At the groom's home, the couple bows to each other and their families before entering the bridal chamber. They are fed dumplings and take part in teasing games to ease tensions. In later days, the new wife greets her in-laws and has her first meal with her husband in the bridal chamber. She later returns home with her husband to visit her parents.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    150 views5 pages

    The Wedding Ceremony: Tears, The Bridal Sedan and Motherly Advice

    Uploaded by

    Vellashene Vella
    The document describes various traditions and ceremonies involved in a Chinese wedding. It begins with the bridal sedan carrying the bride from her family home to her new husband's home. Along the way, her face is covered by a veil. At the groom's home, the couple bows to each other and their families before entering the bridal chamber. They are fed dumplings and take part in teasing games to ease tensions. In later days, the new wife greets her in-laws and has her first meal with her husband in the bridal chamber. She later returns home with her husband to visit her parents.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    THE WEDDING CEREMONY

    Tears, the Bridal Sedan and Motherly Advice

    The Wedding Ceremony Begins with the Bridal Sedan.


    Before the bride would leave to go to the bridegrooms home,
    the good luck woman would lead her to the sedan chair.
    On her way to the chair, one of her sisters would shield
    her with a red parasol, while another sister would throw
    rice at the sedan chair. On the back of the sedan hung
    a sieve and a metallic mirror that were believed to protect
    the bride from evil.
    Before the bride got into the bridal sedan chair bound
    for her new home, it was common practice for the bride to cry
    to show that she did not want to leave her parents. She would
    cry over the love and care her parents had given her for so
    many years. At this moment, the brides mother would pass
    on to her daughter the secrets of how to be an adequate wife
    and daughter-in-law, how to handle the household with thrift
    and decency as well as make herself pleasant to every one of
    the new family.

    Going to the Groom's Home with the

    The day before the wedding, it was customary


    for the bridegroom visit the brides family and greet
    all the family members of the bride, but he could
    not see his bride. On the day of the wedding, after
    various rites were performed, the bride was carried
    to the sedan chair by her father or elder brother
    with the bridegroom standing by. When everything
    was all right, the bridegroom could leave. The
    bridegroom had still not seen his bride at this
    point in time. Her face and hair covered by a
    red silk veil.
    Now it was time to take the bride to the
    bridegrooms home. Usually a crowd of friends
    would escort the bridegroom and musicians would
    play joyful tunes during the entire trip. Dancing lions
    proceeded the troup followed by the honor guard tha
    t the bridegroom had sent to the brides home earlier
    in the day, followed by the bride in the bridal sedan.
    In ancient times, a decorated donkey was used to
    transport the bride if the family could not afford a bridal sedan.

    Chinese Wedding Ceremony - Formal Bows

    After the wedding party arrived at the bridegrooms


    home, the bridal sedan would stop in front of the
    bridegrooms bridal chamber. An elder woman who
    had many offspring would take the hand of the bride and
    help her out of the sedan chair. The old woman would
    feed boiled rice dumplings to both the bride and bridegroom
    as the round shape of the dumplings signified harmony
    and union. Then candles and incense were lighted and
    the bridegroom and the bride held the two ends of a red
    ribbon and met on the red carpet.
    The would bow to each other and then drink from
    the nuptial cups. Next, came the climax of the whole
    ceremony. The bride and bridegroom were led to the
    family altar where the couple kowtowed in succession
    to Heaven and Earth , the family ancestors and parents.
    The bride and groom once again bowed to each other and
    were then led to the bridal chamber. The ceremony
    continued under the prompts and applauses of the audience.

    Teasing Games in the Bridal

    The games began when the newly wed couple


    entered the bridal chamber after the wedding
    ceremony. Usually all the young men would
    participate except for the brides brother-in-laws.
    The funny and silly games were to help ease the
    tension, as in ancient times, the newlyweds had
    never met each other b efore the wedding.

    Greeting Family and The Bridal Chamber

    By the evening of the wedding day, or failing


    that, the next day, the bride would customarily
    greet the uncles and aunts of the grooms family.
    Then she would be led by the younger aunt to greet
    all the family elders. The next evening, the new couple
    would have their supper (known as Bridal Chamber Supper)
    together in their bridal chamber for the first time.
    On the third day, the bride and groom would salute the
    memorial tablets of ancestors, which meant to show that
    the marriage was not only for the bridegroom, but more
    importantly, for continuing ancestral life.

    Bride Returns to Parent's Home

    Traditionally, three days after the wedding,


    the newlyweds return to visit the brides parents.
    A month after the wedding, the bride would visit
    her pa rents home again accompanied by her husband
    and bringing many kind gifts. The bridegroom would
    return home the same day, but the bride would stay
    at her parents home for several days.

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