{"id":6649,"date":"2011-11-07T11:17:29","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T15:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=6649"},"modified":"2011-11-07T11:21:19","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T15:21:19","slug":"chinese-love-part-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-love-part-five\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Love – Part Five"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The "barrel of descendants."<\/p><\/div>\n

In the last post, we looked at some of the ancient wedding customs of China. For Part Five, we’ll take a look at a few more pre-wedding customs, as well as the big day in Chinese culture – the wedding day. A lot of these customs are very traditional, but many are still practiced today (to some extent). Before the wedding, the bride’s family will prepare her dowry<\/strong> (\u5ac1\u5986 – ji\u00e0 zhu\u0101ng). The dowry is composed mostly of daily necessities such as linen, dining sets (with two bowls, two cups, and two pairs of chopsticks), new clothes, gold jewelry, tea sets, and a barrel of descendants<\/strong> (\u5b50\u5b59\u6876 – z\u01d0 s\u016bn t\u01d2ng), which is a set of baby bathtubs, pails, and a face washbasin, all in red.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Children and fruit - OK to be on the wedding bed.<\/p><\/div>\n

Next up in the series of wedding day preparations is the installation of the bridal bed<\/strong> (\u5b89\u5e8a – \u0100n chu\u00e1ng). This process is known as “setting the bed<\/strong>” (\u538b\u5e8a – y\u0101 chu\u00e1ng), and it is performed by either a “good luck man” or a “good luck woman” – someone with many living children\/grandchildren and a living mate. This process simply involves moving the bed slightly, along with adding the new wedding sheets. Traditionally, these would be red sheets with symbols of dragons and phoenixes. These days, however, with Western influence, many Chinese couples prefer pink sheets with flowers or hearts. Red packets with “Faith Coins<\/strong>” (\u7f18\u94b1 – yu\u00e1n qi\u00e1n) will also be placed at each corner of the bed to symbolize blessings of wealth and prosperity for the couple. After making the bed, a bowl of fruit will be left as symbols of fertility and good fortune. The bed remains untouched until the wedding day, aside from children, who are free to roll around in the bed as they are also symbols of fertility. They will also add two bedside lamps. In Chinese, lamp<\/strong> (\u706f – d\u0113ng) has the similar sound as son<\/strong> (\u4e01 –\u00a0 d\u012bng). As such, lighting the lamps<\/strong> (\u6dfb\u706f- ti\u0101n d\u0113ng) is symbolic of adding sons<\/strong> (\u6dfb\u4e01 – ti\u0101n d\u012bng) to the family.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Double Happiness.<\/p><\/div>\n

As for the wedding day decorations, there’s a whole lot of red, as well as the double happiness<\/strong> (\u53cc\u559c – shu\u0101ng x\u01d0) image – that is, the character \u559c twice, compressed to look as if it’s only one Chinese character. When it comes to the wedding day rituals, there are plenty, including the hair combing<\/strong> (\u4e0a\u5934 – sh\u00e0ng t\u00f3u). The night before, the bride bathes in pomelo infused water, which is believed to cleanse her of of evil. At the dawn of the wedding ceremony, both families begin the ceremony with offerings to their ancestors and\/or deities. Either the parents or another “good luck person” performs the ritual. Both the bride’s and the groom’s hair (not so much the groom these days) should be combed four times, with each stroke holding a blessing:<\/p>\n