150 TIIE MARRIAGE MAKER 



Little loaves of white bread (white being an unlucky 

 •colour the loaves were on that account stamped with a red 

 patch) and jars of samshu, and vermicelli, and hard-boiled 

 eggs stained red with sahiower, and fruits, both fresh and. 

 preserved in honey, were distributed in lavish quantities to 

 all the relations and friends, who returned sums of money, 

 scrolls of red satin and silk, some inscribed with con- 

 gratulatory sentences, and some bearing a huge character 

 for ''happiness" in gold. 



Two days before the wedding, the bride's furniture and 

 outfit were sent to Wei Ku's residence with great pomp. 

 As Wei Ku resided quite near the Prefect's Yarnen, the 

 bearers of the articles, numbering about a hundred coolies, 

 clad in red coats and headed by a band of musicians, took 

 a roundabout route to their destination in order that a 

 grand display might be made of everything by parading them 

 through the principal streets. 



The articles consisted of household furniture, ornaments, 

 pewter candlesticks and incense-burners, wadded bed quilts, 

 trunks full of clothing, red lacquered tubs of various shapes 

 and sizes, sundry eatables, cooked and uncooked, several 

 pairs of live mandarin ducks (the emblems of conjugal 

 fidelity) which, how r ever, being white must needs have their 

 wings stained red, whole pigs roasted, two goats dressed and 

 ready for the kitchen, and a large supply of the inevitable 

 vermicelli. 1 



The procession, after attracting as much notice as 

 possible, and gathering a big retinue of followers in the 

 persons of innumerable small boys, beggars and loafers, 

 finally halted at the gate of Wei Ku's house late in the 

 afternoon, having taken nearly the whole day to get there. 

 The gate was immediately thrown open and the same old 

 messenger that we have seen before, the most important 

 personage in these proceedings, stepped forward and handed 

 to Wei Ku the Prefect's card with a detailed catalogue of 

 all the articles he had convoyed. The things were carefully 

 tallied as they were taken in and placed in the apartments 

 prepared for the occupation of the Hsin Niang, as the bride 

 is called; the said apartments having all been previously 

 fumigated with incense and disinfected of evil spirits by the 

 chanting of priests, the ringing of bells,, the firing of crackers, 

 and other Taoist rites. 



Vermicelli, being in long strings, is always regarded as a symbol 

 of "long life." For this reason it is never absent from weddings and 

 birthday festivities, and all guests are expected to partake of it to 

 intimate that they wish those in whose honour it is served a long life. 



