Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-03
MARRIAGE w CHINA
BRIDE AND GROOM HAVE LITTLE
OPTION n nATR1MoNY.
Authority of Parents--Necessity of Pro-
viding Descendants to Maintain
Ancestral Worship.
From the philadelpls4 Telegraph.

From the PhladelplH4 Telegraph
In China marriages are ever made in
heaven, as they are exclusively the product
of parental interference. The last persons
consulted are the two who are to be mar
ried. A man takes, or rather, is given,
wife not for his own benefit, but simply TO
continue the family name, to provide de-
scendants to keep up the ancestral worship,
and to give daughter-in-law to his mother
to wait on her and make herself generaiiy
useful about her new home. So important
Is this phase of the contract that snoulu
her future husband die before marriage,
custom still DEGREES that the unwedded
widow leave her own home to go to her in
tended husbands and perform the duties
which marriage would have enforced upon
her. Though it is now less sternly ehIoIc-
ed than formerly, failure to conform TO TINS
rule subjects the young woman 10 the
charge of fmpiety. In this state OF thlnSs
it Is not surprising to read of girls in varl-
Gus parts OF China committing suiclue
rather than face the ordeal of an unknown
husband or the power of a.Chinese mother
in-law. 1t is still the custom for parents
to arrange marriage between their children
before either are born. Inc man IN the
case usually has no more to say about II
than the woman, though the parents some
times permit him to see his prospective VINE
before marriage, a privilege 1t would be
presumptuous for the bride to request.
The Ceremony.
Prefminaries are often arranged by
"go-between,' the matrimonial agent be-
ing an old and highly honored function
airy. When the terms are complete and
the money agreed upon in the contract
has been handed over to the brides
father she is taken In a gorgeous sedan
chair, of cleaning red and decorated with
kingfishers feathers, from her own home
to that of the bridegroom Her trousseau
has preceded her, and as she departs her
sisters and girl friends lament over her
as for the dead. The bridegroom stands
at his house door with the inevitable fan;
aiding the thickly yelled bride to alight,
she is carried into the house on the back
of a female servant. The bridegroom
mounts on a high stool to indicate his
lofty superiority and the bride kneels be-
fore her lord in obeisance. A few brief
lamentations follow, then the husband de-
sends, removing the brides veil, and for
the first time he catches a glimpse of his
wifes face. They are then taken to the
family altar, where they pour out drink
offerings to the ancestors and gods of
the family; thence to the bridal cham
Der. where an orange tree with strings Of
cash and burning tapers represent wealth
and happiness From the bed stream long
strips of paper, bearing such good wishes
as May you have hundred sons and
thousand grandsons.' AS they sit down
get some part of the husbands dress be-
meath her, as this will insure her having
the upper hand of him, and he does the
same with her dress An amusing fea-
ture of this feast is the ordeal to which
the bride is put of answering riddles pro-
posed to her by her husbands relatives.
Importance Of Ancestors
For two days successfully the ancestors
of the family are again worshiped, after
which the youngsco pay a visit to the
brides parents, and on her return she
Until he becomes head of the family she
Is mere drudge but after that, as the
principal or legitimate wife, may repeat
the treatment to the various concubines
and minor wives who make up the house
hold. The existence of polygamy often
presents complications after the hus-
bands death, as law suits for the prop
erty he leaves may occasion chickering's
between four or Ave wives, all claiming
to be legitimate. A woman can go through
the ceremony we have described but once
put man may take it an unlimited num-
per or times. There seems TO be little
happiness to spare in the usual Chinese
marriage: The ceremony has become SO
neuged about with formal rules that the
individual is lost sight Of in the family
OF so little Importance Is the presence If
the bridegroom that when he is absenr
from home and cannot return in time for
the ceremony his place is taken by proxv
d rooster being substituted to represent
MN, and 1t is not even necessary thar II
De sent by the bridegroom, the presence
OF the fowl at the wedding feast haino
legally sufficient