2)6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



and looks into the corners of the wedding chair, lest demons be hiding 

 there. Then the bride enters the chair, and the doors and windows 

 are closed. All this time and during the first part of the procession 

 to the groom's home the bride continues to weep, but stops crying 

 before reaching her new home, lest she seem to be unwilling to come. 



The deep-red wedding chair, called a hua-chiao or flowery sedan 

 chair, with some other paraphernalia used in the procession, is rented 

 from a chair shop and carried by poles on the shoulders of men. On 

 the back of the chair are one or two lighted lanterns to keep away 

 demons, and often for the same purpose a bronze or brass mirror, or 

 an almanac, is hung behind or in front. 



On the way to her new home the bride is accompanied by her 

 brothers and a few other relatives. Firecrackers are set off as the 

 procession starts, and there is music all the way. On arrival at the 

 door of the groom's home, a chicken is killed and the blood is 

 sprinkled around the bridal chair as an additional precaution against 

 demons. Firecrackers are set off, and the chair is carried inside the 

 house (ibid., p. 13). 



The door of the bridal chair is opened, and the bride is led into the 

 hall to the side of the groom, who is waiting for her. First the bride 

 and the groom face the front door and bow in reverence to Heaven 

 and Earth, then to the household gods and the deceased ancestors, 

 then to friends and relatives, and finally to each other (ibid.). 



According to one old custom the bride and the groom are then led 

 to the bridal chamber, where they sit on the edge of the bed a short 

 time and are given two cups of tea and two cups of soup. The groom 

 sips a little from both cups, but the bride abstains. Then the wedding 

 curtains are hung up, some jujubes and dragons' eyes are scattered 

 around the room, and the bridegroom and the male relatives leave 

 the room while the bride is attired in her wedding clothes. Then the 

 bride and the groom come forth, respectfully bow to the ancestors 

 and to the parents, and receive the congratulations of relatives and 

 friends (ibid., p. 14). The father of the groom congratulates them, 

 reminds them of the many benefits received from their parents in the 

 past, and urges them to live in harmony and to continue to be filial to 

 their parents (ibid.). Then comes the wedding feast, after which 

 the guests begin to depart. Later, young people are likely to enter 

 the bridal chamber and engage in banter and horseplay. 



A few days after this the bride and the groom pay a visit to the 

 bride's home, where they are feasted, but they return to their home 

 on the same day. Later they pay another visit and the groom leaves 



