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About China
Chinese Wedding Customs
As long as history, the weddings for Chinese people are always one of the three great fortunes in life. (The other two are passing the Keju exam and to have children). Weddings were and still are exhaustive celebrated today and are revelled with interesting manners and customs around. During the age of feudalism was it for young men and girls not allowed to meet before their wedding. Hence, a marriage depended on the choice and selection of a partner by the parents or the artful arrangements of a mediator. When both parents form either side finished the background check of the other family they might have agreed to the wedding/marriage of their children and this decision was finalized with the exchange of engagement presents. To select the right day for the wedding ceremony some research was done to schedule a day which promised great fortune. The wedding ceremony was supposedly the culmination of the festivities. The bride sat higher, exposed, so that everyone of the attended crowed could watch her more or less secretly while curiously thinking: “..How might she and her new family doing after this thrilling day”? The young couple had to kneel in front of the brooms parents and asked politely for their luck, also thanked the parents for the nourishment until now and for the arrangement of the wedding ceremony. During the wedding, guests and friends played insidious games incorporating the newly wed couple. The embarrassment of the couple triggered friendly and amused laughter from the wedding crowd. Even though wedding customs are much more simplified nowadays, or even done western- hemisphere-style, certain customs are still prevalent, i. e.: the couple hands out a few coins in a red envelop to children, as well as sweets with peanuts and melon seeds; the bride has to visit with her newly wed husband her parents at the 3rd day of the wedding, etc. |