The Progressive West Virginian. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1911-1913, 1912-07-18
mo LOVE MAKING
IS SEEN IN CHINA
BetrOthals Are Arranged by Mid
dIemen When Principals
Are Young.
Chief Feature Of Wedding is Red
and Gold Sedan Chair.

NO iove-making is to be seen in
China, for marriages are there ar
ranged by the middleman or middle-
woman. and the young people do not
see each other until after the we'd
ding ceremony, although they may
have been betrothed from early
childhood.
Marriage is regarded as a neces-
sary duty in China, and the man
who does not marry is called a
crooked stick, and no parents are
considered to have done their duty
by their sons or daughters until
they have found them wives or hus-
bands.
The chief feature Of a Chinese
wedding is the magnificent red and
gold sedan chair, which Is to be
found in every village, and can be
hired for small price. This chair
is sent ia the brides house to bring
liner to the home OF the bridegroom
and inside it the poor little bride.
swathed from head to foot in bril-
liant red, with veil of beads or
peals over her face, sits and cries.
for It Is customary for the Chinese
bride to weep not only on the day
OF her marriage, but for several DAYS
/ before.
The Chinese bride must not speak
on her wedding day, no matter how
hard her friends and the curious
crowd try to make her, and they
usna ly do tease her by doing all In
their power to make her break her
silence. At the house of the BRIDE
groom she is lifted out of the chair
and carried across the threshold, on
which charcoal fire Is burning to
purify her from all evil influences
The bridegroom meets her, and
together they PROSTATE themselves
four times before his ancestral tab
let: then They change places and re-
peat this, then go around the room
rrostrating themselves not only pc
fore the father and mother OF the
man, but before all the more dis
ltinguished guests. Rice, wine and
cake are then served to the guests by
the bride and bridegroom and more
lprostrating Is done. The bride eats
nothing and remains yelled during
the whole time.
There Is no marriage service OF
any religious sort, nor are any par
ticular VOWS exchanged, the marri-
age being evidently made regular by
the fact of the sedan chair and the
bride being fetched to the home of
| the husband
The loving cup, however, is a spe-
cial feature of the wedding. and
both the bride and bridegroom drink
together and then they change the
cups and each drinks where the 9TH
err has drunk
IT is not until the couple retire to
the nuptial chamber that the young
man really sees the face OF his wife.
and apropos of the bridal chamber.
La queer. superstition is always OBJ
served. The young couple sit down
together on the bridal bed, and each
tries to sit on the other dress, as
the one who does so Is supposed to
rule.
Presents are being brought by ev-
cry one attending the wedding, the
gifts consisting of fowls, pigs feet,
pigs legs, goats legs, smali loayes,
torches candles, vermicelli and fire.
crackers, and often the presents take
the form Of money The brides
rousseau Is supposed to include all
the furnishings of the bridal cham
Der
Lately, since the European people
have invaded the country, one occa-
sionally finds young Chinese man
or maiden who refuses to accept the
wife or the husband offered to them
by the parents, but as yet this is so
rare as to be a subeject OF much In
terest.
A Chinese wife is supposed to be
absolutely submissive to her hus-
band, who never mentions her in
public, save as the woman at home,''
or my dull thorn" etc.; and yet
Chinese husbands depend on the
services Of their wives, and, accord
ing to many, are really very con-
tented and like being with their
wives quite as much as do American
men
The Chinese husband, even II he
is really in love with his wife, pre-
tends Indifference to her, for to
own his love for her would be to
bring unkindnesses on the poor lit
tie bride from his own mother. The
young Chinese wife is merely the
slave of her mother-in-law -Phila-
delphia Bulletin.
No fortune teller can tell the flu