The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-03-13
A Marriage In China.

\ Marriage Ill china.
s | had not been to the hotel here in
r Hong Kong five minutes before my at
e tention was distracted Gy terrific noise
Rushing to the front balcony, was just
! in time to see quite remarkable wed
! ding procession At first, from the noise
: and general style of the affair, 7 thought
, it was funeral. but soon discovered
: the difference. A funeral procession is q
| more cheerful instruction than wedding
, procession-with the possible exception,
, perhaps, of the hired mourners. Besides
this there is one other difference-th
; corpse at 4 wedding is live one instead
} of q dead one. 1 think if I had my
choice I would rather be the dead than
the live corpse.
The inferiority of the female sex is one
of the fundamental principles To which
the Chinese hold. Even CONTIGUOUS
does not seem to have had very broad
and elevated sentiment in this regard,
for he is quoted as having said: "Ofall
people, women are the most difficult to
manage. If you are familiar with them,
they become forward, and if you keep
them at distance, they become discon-
tented" Many women here are in the
habit Of praying that they may be born
men in the next world.
But this wedding procession. First
came dozen musicians, who were beat
ing gopgs and blowing fish-horns, each
apparently without any reference to the
rest. Then followed company of men
and boys, bearing flags and lanterns, after
which came series of gilded tables with
elaborately carved and painted canopies
over them. The display of fruits was
quite tempting, and l longed for slice
of the roast pig and the roast sheep.
But there were also native dishes which
BY experiment had previously found to
be far from appetizing. Thus far every
thing was arranged just as a funeral
procession would be, and was composed
of the same features.
But now there was slight departure
from the funeral order of this society.
There came a magnificent sedan chair,
the windows of which were thoroughly
curtained, but which / was told contain
the happy (?) bride. This gorgeous Sc
dan chair was followed by others, and
also by gayly decorated jinrikishas, in
which were seated the relatives of both
contracting parties. More so.called mu.
sicians followed, and the procession wound
up with load of boxes, which inferred
contained the marriage offerings, and
perhaps the trousseau of the bride.
In the north of Mongolia it is custo.
mary for the native to capture his wife
after chase, and in any part of the En-.
pire the latter becomes his property
when the twain have formerly been made
one flesh. Marriage usually takes place
at an immature age. In the great ma.
jority Of cases the bridegroom never sees
his intended wife until the wedding
night, all negotiations being conducted
tys 7gosbetweens. This intercessor lays
;scts ;nS or enscc55ee;the enc5ee;t girls father, who re-
In case of favorable bie'qqst qstta as ne pleases.
are exchanged, and, after consuP!sessRIs consu!e.esss srs
auguries, an engagement is entered into.
In case piece of chinaware shoutd-AA--
broken in either home, or an article be
lost within three days of the engagement,
this is considered good ground for the
immediate dissolution of the engagement
Astrologers determine the wedding day,
which is entirely beyond the control of
the pair. The ceremony takes place at
the home of the bridegroom, to which
the bride is escorted by the groom's chest
man." being lifted from her sedan chair
over pot of burning charcoals at the
threshold.
The bridegroom meanwhile is waiting
for his unseen Dulcina in reception
room, being seated on raised tais. APP
preaching this dais, the fair one prostrates
herself humbly before her future lord.
While she is in this attitude Of humility
he descends benignantly to her level, re-
moves her veil and gazes for the first
time upon her face. Theu, without ex-
changing word, they seat themselves
side by side, and each try to sit on part
of the others gown, in order to deter
mine who is destined to hold sway in
the household. There is no real occasion
for this, since there is a tacit understand
ing that it will be the man.
The trial OF skill over, the pair proceed
to che ancestral ball, and there worship
heaven, earth and their ancestors, after
which dinner is served. The most sin.
gular feature of the wedding repast is
enforced abstinence from all the dainties
on the part of the bride.
Later in the evening the bride will
answer conundrums as they are propoun-
ded to her by the guests. The wedding
day is the last occasion upon which the
wife can enjoy the society of her husband
in public-one of the hardest and most
ba.barous features of social life in China.
After the labor of the day no citizen of
the howery kingdom can take his wife
and family for q pleasant walk at dusk:
neither can be accompany her to picnic
or public entertainment without violat-
ing the proprieties.