The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-08-12
A wedding in Chinese High Life.


Among the pure Chinese, and especially
among the higher classes, a wedding is
long and serious affair From the almost
Turkish strietness with which females are
secluded, it is comparatively rare that
a couple see each other previous to betroth-
al and still more so that there should be any
acquaintance between them. This has
given rise to the necessary employment of
character equivalent to the bazcalda or
marriage broker of ancient Brittany, to
Mr.. Foy's Partisan Matrimonial Agency
Office. or the daily marriage advertisements
of our own papers. IF your wish is for
marriage in the abstract, the broker will
find you fitting partner first, and negoti-
ate the transfer after. If you are less
purely philosophical, and wish to consult
your own tastes as well as the interests
and increase of the nation, you are only
to name the party, and the broker becomes
your accredited ambassador. There is,
however, one preliminary point to be ascer-
tanned. Has your intended the same
surname as yourself? IF so, it is fatal
difficulty, as the laws of China would not
permit the marriage. If, however, she is
Chum and you are lie, or she is Kwan or
Yu, and you rejoice in any other patronymic
monosyllable, the next step is for the broker
to obtain from each tablet containing
the name, age, date, and hour of birth, etc.
These are then taken to a diviner and COM
pared, to see if the union promises hapFi
ness: if the answer is favorable (and cross
ing the palm with silver is found to be as
effectual with fortune-tellers in China as
| it is elsewhere), and the gates are equal,
that is if the station and wealth of the two
families are similar, the proposal is made
in due form. The wedding presents are
then sent, and if accerted the young couple
is considered as legally betrothed.
A lucky day must next be fixed for the
wedding, and here cur friend the diviner
is again called upon. Previous to the
great day the bridegroom gets a new hat
and takes new name, while the lady,
whose hair has hitherto hung down to her
heels in single heavy plait, at the same
time becomes initiated into the style of hair
dressing prevalent among Chinese married
ladies. which consists in twisting the hair
into the form of an exaggerated teapot and
supporting it in that shape with a narrow
plate Of gold or jade over the forehead, and
whole system Of bodkins behind it. On
the wedding morning presents and congrat-
ulations are sent to the bridegroom, and
among the rest pair of geese; not sent as
We might imagine BY some wicked wag or
irreclaimabIe bachelor, as personal rehec-
ton ON the intellectual state Of his friend,
but rs an emblem Of domestic unity and
affection. The ladies, too, in China, as
well as elsewhere, indulge in a little FASH
ionable crying on the occasion, and 50 the
relatives Of the bride spend the morning with
her. weeping over her impending departure,
or. more probably, their own spinsterhood.
They do not. howeves forget TO bring some
contributions for her trousseau.. In the
evening comes the bridegroom with a whole
army Of his friends, procession of lanterns,
long red cloth or silk tapestry embroider-
ed with a figure of the dragon borne on
pole between two men, and large red sedan
covered with carving and gliding, and per
/ fectly close. In this the bride is packed up
securely out Of sight, and the whole process
sion, preceded by a band of music and the
dragon, and closing with the brides band
boxes, starts for home On arriving, she
/ Is lifted over the threshold, ON which
pan of charcoal is burning, probably IN
order to prevent her bringing any evil infu-
ence in with her. She then performs the
kotou to her husbands father and mother,
worships the ancestral tablets of her new
I family, and offers prepared betel-nut to the
assembled guests.
Tn 10 this time she has been veiled, but
she now retires 10 her chamber, where she
Is unveiled by her husband; she then re-
turns, again performs obeisance TO Che assem-
bled guests, or partakes Of food in company
with her husband; at this meal two cups Of
wine, one sweetened, the other with bitter
herbs infused in it, are drunk together by
the newly married pair. to symboiize that
/ henceforth they must share together life's
sweets and bitters. The bride then retires
escorted BY the matrons present, some one
of whome recites charm over her, and
arranges the marriage couch. The next
morning the gods ofthe household aud the
hearth are worshipped. and the six follow
/ ing DAYS are devoted to formal receptions
at home Of different members Of the two
families or equally formal visits paid to
/ the family of the bride. During the whole
of this period she still. travels in her red
and-gold sedan, and is still escorted BY her
band If music and dragon. Temple Bar.