How Marriage Customs Evolved in

[NZBC]

How Marriage Customs Evolved in GD in 20th century (¢ò)
Traditional Marriage Customs in Guangdong

www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_232/2007/04/18/117687898118304.shtml

Crying songs ¿Þ¼Þ¸è " for the wedding day

Among the marriage customs in the old days, it was common in Guangdong for the bride to sing "crying songs" at night before the wedding day, or on the wedding day when she left home. The singers "sigh" for their destiny, "blame" the matchmakers, and stressed on their emotional link to their family. The singing became one of the standards to consider whether the bridge was good or not.

The "second" wedding ceremony ÖØÐл¨Öò

In Guangzhou, couples celebrated the 60th anniversary of their marriage by holding the wedding ceremony again. On the "wedding day", the wife was dressed exactly as the bride and set off from her own family to her husband's. The old couple would worship the Heaven, the Earth and their ancestors, after which their children and grand-children would pay courtesy to them. At the end of the ceremony, they would be lead by their grand-children into the "bridal chamber".

[NZBC]

How Marriage Customs Evolved in GD in 20th Century (¢ñ)
Updated Apr 12 2007 16:44:52 Beijing Time

1. 1900 ¨C 1912 (during the late period of the Qing dynasty): three letters and six steps, without the fianc¨¦ and fianc¨¦e meeting each other.

At the beginning of the 20th century, people across Guangdong still followed the traditional customs in getting their children married. They wrote three letters and went through six steps that covered matchmaking, engagement, and preparation for the wedding ceremony, in which everything was arranged by the parents rather than the fianc¨¦ and the fianc¨¦e, who did not even meet each other until the day they married.

At that time, young men and women could fix their marital ties. Those older than 16 in Guangdong could be married. It was legal for a man to marry more than one woman.