The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-16

90 ~ NA% 18t $3.50
There may be an interval of a few days
only, or of several years. between the
betrothal and the wedding day. AS soon
as the date for the wedding is fixed. the
girls mother will set to work to prepare
the trousseau, which will be sent TO the
bridegroom's house in red boxes. on the
third day after the wedding. the number
of boxes varying according to the circum-
stances of the families. The trousseau
will consist of silk and fur dresses. and
gold. silver and pearl ornaments for the
head, hands and feet. The girls mother
also furnishes the bridal chamber. with
its richly embroidered bed ~hangings, pill
lows and coverlid. A few days before the
wedding the bridegroom's father must
again send a number of presents, together
with from $50 to a $1,000 always an even
number) TO the brides father. This GUS
tom has given rise to the statement made
by Europeans that a Chinaman buys his
wife. He Indignantly repudiates the sug-
gestion, though he acknowledges that there
is in the present" some recognition of
the trouble and expense to which the
girls father has been put in bringing her
up. The writer has heard, too, of parents,
who have met the expense of marrying a
son, by marrying a daughter. as the pres
ent' received by a father who has fed and
clothed his daughter for sixteen years, will
more than cover the cost of her trousseau.
DRESSING THE BRIDE.
AT length the suspicious day has arrived.
Would you like to come and see the bride
dressed?" was the form of invitation 1
received TO witness this interesting cere-
mony. There she sits, on a stool in the
middle of the room, perfectly stolid, yet
looking the picture of misery. while a
number Of women busy themselves over
the performance OF her toilet. One, with
twisted cotton, plucks all the hair from
her face, others bring rouge for the lips
and cheeks. and white powder for the face.
But the hairdressing is the browning sight.
1t is carefully brushed with a kind of gum
to heighten its glossy appearance, and
then row after row OF ornaments are ar
ranged in geometrical designs all over the
head. Her own new and pretty garments
are donned and Immediately eclipsed by
the hired conventional wedding garment of
orange embroidered In blue with symbolical
characters. Lastly comes the all i'm
portant and most uncomfortable heavy
metal wedding bonnet, decorated with
artificial flowers. and destined to be worn
for a longer or shorter period, according
to the custom of the district in which she
llves-in the case in question, three days.
The toilet is now completed, and not a
moment too soon, for the sound of music
announces the APPROACH of the bride
groom in his green cloth bridal chair. He
does not enter the house, but his younger
brother goes in, and is received by the
younger brother of the bride Cor a boy of
about ten years of age who acts in this
capacity.
The acknowledgements red cloth chair
is borne by four men into the room where
the bride stands ready to depart, maintain
ing the same stolid mien while the good
byes are said and she is lifted into the chair
and carried away, accompanied by the
bridegroom, the band of musicians who
came with him, the ''go-between" and the
we younger brothers.
Louder and louder the din wakes as she
approaches her future home, where the
bridegroom's relatives are letting off crack
ers, beating drums and cymbals, to inform
the general public Of the happy event which
is taking place.
The guest hall is deliberately decorated
with red silk scrolls. the gifts of relatives
anu AACAidS z GIL liz DICuOIUlldliDR
color on all joyful occasions.
The first duty of the bride and bride
groom on entering the house is to worship
the bridegroom's ancestors, his father anu
mother, uncles and aunts, and heaven and
earth. The services of a professional wom-
an must be engaged to instruct the bride
how to perform these arduous duties Alright.
Hereafter the brides ancestors will have
1 No fnrthar n1afrn ,.nA hom. Co.. 49, -.
forth she will worship only her husbands
ancestors. Herein lies one of the reasons
of a Chinaman's preference for sons, who
will care for him in his old age, and in
hades.
When the young couple have spent some
hours in prostrating themselves before their
superiors, the marriage ceremony proper is
performed by the "go-between," who takes
from before the ancestral shrine two pre-
viously prepared red cups of spirit, tied to-
gether by a red string, which she offers 10
the bride and bridegroom. Together they
drink the cup, and receive her marriage
blessing, and then retire to the bridal cham
Der to rest, and take their first meal to-
gether.
THE WEDDING FEAST.
The wedding feast or feasts may take
BidCC at liz tlilG INN a ulOillH dlltT the
wedding, each city having its own custom
as TO when the feast is spread, and who
are invited to partake of it. No white
tablecloths cover the square tables, which
are set for eight guests. The tables are
decorated with a plentiful supply of fruits,
sweetmeats and nuts-ivory chopsticks, a
spoon, a tiny bow or saucer, and a wine
glass for each guest.
The courses, numbering from twenty to
thirty, or even more, are brought In hot.
At each table is one who undertakes to at
tend to the comfort of the guests. He
pours the hot, though scarcely intoxicat-
ing, wine from the pewter wine decanter
into the tiny glasses, and presses the guests
TO drink. He also takes up his chopsticks
and invites the guests 20 partake of the
bowl which has just been placed in the
center of the table, assisting them TO dainty
morsels, which he even carries to their
months with his own chopsticks. BY a del
icate and courteous consideration for the
peculiarities of foreigners. when these are
present, special chopsticks may be provided