Introduction
Marriage is the top priority in our lives. From ancient times to the present, everyone has attached great importance to it. Regarding marriage, every country and every nation in the world has its own unique style, and China, as a country of etiquette for 5000 years, naturally has a unique style of marriage. Among them, the etiquette of marriage is our Chinese. The most important part. I believe you all have heard of the term
"Three Books and Six Ceremonies". It is the most traditional marriage customs and etiquette of our Chinese nation. In ancient times, every marriage had to go through the Three Books and Six Ceremonies. But to this day, the traditional Chinese etiquette of the Three Books and Six Ceremonies has gradually been forgotten by people, and some people even don't know what the Three Books and Six Ceremonies refer to.
Three Books and Six Ceremonies Interpretation
Three Books and Six Ceremonies are divided into two parts: "Three Books" and "Six Ceremonies". The three books refer to the three documents issued during the marriage process, the letter of appointment, the letter of gift and the welcome letter. In the book, the six rituals refer to the six rituals that need to be completed in the process of marriage, such as Nacai, Asking for Name, Najib, Najib, Najib, Petition and Greeting. In layman's terms, the three books are the written records of effective marriages in ancient China. The six rituals are the six procedures that the husband and wife need to go through. Only marriages that have passed through the three books and six rituals are marriages recognized by the society. The combination of three books and six together refers to the whole process of ancient marriage from marriage to marriage.
Six Ceremonies
In ancient China, the marriage of young men and women was the order of their parents and the words of matchmakers. The entire process was strictly followed by the order of the six gifts.
1, Nacai
Nacai is the first step in the six rituals, referring to the man's invitation to the matchmaker to go to the woman's home to propose marriage. In ancient times, men who fell in love with a girl could not come to propose marriage by themselves. The matchmaker had to go to the woman’s house to discuss marriage with a special gift from Natse, explain the situation of the man to the woman, and ask the woman’s opinion, if the woman If you agree, you will accept the gift from the man. There are differences in various periods of the
collection of gifts. In the early days, people generally used geese, and later they added sheep, deer, mandarin ducks, fish, wine, rice and so on. Among them, the most important gift in the gift is the wild goose. The wild goose only finds one companion in its lifetime, which means loyalty. In the process of migration, the middle-aged will guide the goose first, and the old and the weak will follow behind. Bei is the Confucian etiquette that everyone believes most. Because the meaning of geese is very good, so everyone will choose to use geese as gifts. After
2, ask for the name
, it is the question for name. The man once again entrusted a matchmaker to go to the woman’s home to ask for her surname, first name and birth date. In this process, only the woman was asked, not the man, because the man’s situation had already been reflected once at the time of Natse. There are two names in the
questioning name, one is the name of the married woman, and the other is the name of the parents' surname. By asking the woman’s name and birth date, the man can predict the bad luck and decide whether to get married. With the parents’ surnames, the man can judge the woman’s concubine, thereby avoiding close marriage.
3, Najib
Najib is the third step in the six rituals. After the man gets the woman's name and birth date, he goes to the ancestral temple for divination. After the divination, he tells the woman the news. If there is no conflict in the birth date of both parties, this marriage is basically set.
4, acquaintance
accompaniment is also known as a big gift, which means engagement, the sixth ceremony has reached the fourth step, it is already very formal. At this time, the man will bring the bride price and send it to the woman's home with the matchmaker.
Acceptance is an important sign of the establishment of a marriage. The successful completion of the acquisition means that the marriage has basically been completed. During the
recruitment process, the man has to send the bride price and the woman has to return it. This process is very formal. Strictly speaking, the recruitment has already had a certain legal effect in ancient times.
5, please period
request period is also called send the sun, as the name implies, the man chooses the day of marriage and then tells the woman. Usually, the matchmaker brings the written date to the woman’s home and negotiates the date of marriage with the woman.
The date and various matters will be clearly written in the paper. If the woman agrees, the man willPresents candles and salutes, while the woman gives gifts to relatives and friends and informs them of their wedding date.
6, welcoming a kiss
welcoming a kiss is the bridegroom taking the bride home. On the day of greeting, the groom will personally lead the team to the bride's home to pick up the bride. Usually two days before the wedding, the woman will send the dowry to the man's home, and the woman will also ask someone to make the new bed.
The wedding is the final chapter of the ancient wedding. After the wedding, the bride will always belong to the groom's family. In ancient times, if the husband died unexpectedly before the wedding, the woman could remarry. If the husband died unexpectedly after the wedding, the woman could only accept her fate as a widow. After the six ceremonies of
, it means that the new legal couple was officially born. The three books of
and the six rituals are the six steps of ancient weddings. Then when will the three books be issued as paper voucher?
1, letter of appointment
letter of appointment refers to the letter of appointment, which is used by Najib, and when the letter of appointment is made, it means that both the man and the woman formally sign the marriage contract.
2, gift book
The gift book is a list of items for the dowry. It is used for the recruitment. The name and quantity of the items in the dowry are stated in the gift book. You can write as many as you want, and you can't be vague.
3, welcome book
welcome book is a book to marry the bride, it is used when welcoming the bride, on the day of the wedding, the bridegroom accepts the bride before the door, the welcome book must be handed over to the bride.
Conclusion
The three books and six rituals are the general term for the entire wedding process in ancient China. Although the customs are inherited today, although they have long been simplified, the shadow of the three books and six rituals can still be clearly seen in the wedding customs in many regions.
However, in recent years, with the opening of people’s minds, this kind of marriage custom with the shadow of three books and six rituals is gradually being forgotten by people. After the generation of 90s, many people even began to marry their children. Marriage etiquette actually exists in name only, and most people do it symbolically.
