NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 35 



was not asked by the parents, nor were they consulted. They were 

 not permitted to meet or to get acquainted until they came together at 

 the marriage ceremony. Here they often met and saw each other for 

 the first time. 



When the parents of the groom have decided that the time when 

 the young couple should get married is approaching, generally be- 

 tween the ages of i6 and 20, they informally consult the parents of 

 the bride, and a day for the ceremony is chosen. It must be a lucky 

 day and at a lucky hour. The date of the wedding is then formally 

 announced (Grainger, 1921, p. 10). The go-between, taking with 

 him edibles and clothing and other presents for the bride, calls on the 

 bride's parents and breaks the news. Relatives of the bride also as- 

 semble in her home, and bring presents for her. Then her parents 

 provide a feast for all the guests, including the go-between (ibid.). 



A few days before the wedding the family of the groom sends 

 red invitation cards in red envelopes to all the friends and rela- 

 tives, inviting them to be present and informing them of the date of 

 the wedding ceremony. Some of the invited guests arrive at the 

 groom's home on the afternoon or evening before the wedding and 

 stay all night. Others arrive on the wedding day. Virtually all the 

 guests send or bring presents — food, clothing, money, real or tinsel 

 flowers, pairs of scrolls, and other things. They amuse themselves by 

 chatting, playing cards, gambling, and drinking tea and wine. 



For two or three days before the wedding, the bride is expected to 

 be very sad, weeping occasionally to show sorrow at leaving her 

 parents. Her parents prepare for her gifts of bedding, furniture, 

 bed curtains, and other things (ibid., p. 11). 



On the day of the wedding, the go-between leads a procession to 

 the home of the bride. In the procession are banners, umbrellas or 

 canopies, trays full of presents, musicians playing horns, beating brass 

 timbrels and drums, and playing flutes, and men carrying the bridal 

 chair. Friends of the groom's parents accompany the go-between, 

 and the musicians play wedding music both on the way to and from 

 the home of the bride (ibid., p. 11). 



The bride comes into the guest room of her parents. Facing the 

 outer door, she throws a pair of chopsticks over her shoulder to 

 signify that she will no longer eat the food of her parents. Then she 

 bows to the tablets of her ancestors, to the house gods, then to her 

 parents. She is then dressed in a special gown, and a red veil is put 

 on. Then she is either led to the wedding chair by a sister-in-law, or 

 is carried there on the back of a brother. Her mother takes a light 



