中国婚俗文化 (2)

Chinese Marriage Customs

中国婚俗文化

中国幅员辽阔，历史悠久，曾经出现很多不同的婚俗。在现代的中国．许多传统婚礼的习俗已经不再盛行了。不过近几年传统婚礼习俗在中国很多地方再次兴起，并且越来越吸引人们的视线。

China has a long history with various marriage customs in the vast land.In modem China，various traditional wedding customs and ceremonies were out of date. However,in recent years they have become more and more popular and attractive.

Wedding ceremonies have been considered an important life matter both home and abroad throughout human history．“Three Letters and Six Etiquettes”were the basic principles of traditional Chinese marriage customs in ancient times．

Three Letters include a Betrothal Letter，a Gift Letter and a Wedding Letter.The Betrothal Letter is the formal document of the engagement,a must for marriage when the bridegroom presents the betrothal gifts(engagement).The Gift Letter is delivered to the bride's family and is a document necessary before the wedding，in which will be enclosed lists of the types and quantifies of gifts for the wedding. The Wedding Letter refers to the document, which will be prepared and presented to the bride's family on the day of the wedding,to confirm and commemorate the formal acceptance of the bride into the bridegroom’s family.

The Six Etiquettes are namely: Proposing( A matchmaker discusses marriage with the potential bridegroom and bride), Birthday matching( the matchmaker will ask for the girl's birthday and birth—hour record to assure the compatibility of the potential bride and bridegroom)，presenting betrothal gifts (Once birthdays match，the bridegroom's family will then arrange the matchmaker to present the betrothal letter,to the bride's family)，the defining of an auspicious wedding day(the groom's family delivers appointment letter bride's side family) presenting wedding gifts(after the betrothal letter an betrothal gifts are accepted，the bridegroom's family will later formally send wedding gifts to the bride's family enclosing the Gift Letter)，picking a wedding date(an astrologist or astrology book will be consulted to select an auspicious date to hold the wedding ceremony)，and the wedding ceremony (The bridegroom departures with a troop of escorts and musicians to escort the bride)．

The modern wedding ceremony generally refers to the activities which are held on the wedding day,but in ancient times “Three Letters and Six Etiquettes” included the marriage etiquette with a series of activities of matchmaking, engagement and the wedding ceremony．If the men and women did not follow the process，the marriage was then not acknowledged．In of these activities,wedding ceremony is the most over elaborate. It refers to the activity in which the bridegroom departures and escorts the bride to the bridegroom's home,the wedding ceremony begins．

The historical books record the earliest traditional Chinese wedding ceremony：On the early morning of the wedding day,the bride puts on the new outfit in a pair of red shoes after a bath in grapefruit water,waiting for a lucky woman to comb her hair．The bride will put on Feng Guan(phoenix coronet) in red silk bridal veil and listen to a married woman who tells her how to