The Three Rituals of Chinese Wedding

Abstract：Wedding is a kind of ceremony to make sure the relationship between husband and wife in public places. So there is a custom to hold a wedding in every kind of culture. This paper analyzed the three rituals of Chinese Wedding and compare with the western wedding in terms of wedding places， the wedding banquet， and the wedding dress.

Key words：Rituals; Wedding Banquet; Wedding Dress

Marriage is one of the common human social systems. Wedding is an important part in every kind of social culture. In traditional Chinese marriage， people believed “behest of the parents and proposal of a matchmaker”. That is why many marriages in the past were arranged by parents and matchmakers.（Bao Zonghao，2006：2）.Chinese wedding culture is also impacted by western culture. That is why there are many Chinese young people who often hold their wedding in western form. But no matter what the changes of the wedding form are， there also are some rituals that carry on as before; such as the wedding places， the wedding banquets， and the wedding dresses.

Firstly， the wedding places.

In the modern wedding， many rural area families will hold their wedding in the bridegrooms house， and treat their guests in their big yard. Many urban families will take the bride to grooms home or their own wedding room， and then hold wedding ceremony where they hold wedding banquet in a hotel or restaurant in which all the guests are getting together to congratulate them and wish them happiness. This phenomenon is also caused by the traditional Chinese culture. In past China， The mens status is higher than womens.“Three obedience and four virtues” decided that women should become an appendage to the men and be subordinated to the family interest. Marriage sometimes was a kind of way to make political allies（only with the high class）.Now， the status of Chinese women has improved much but the status of men is still higher than women. There still exist differences between males and females in marriage custom today. However， the most western wedding ceremony is held in church which is much simpler than in China.

Secondly， the wedding banquet.

In China， the wedding banquet， also known as “a wedding feast”， is a ceremonious feast held on the wedding day to thank guests. It is quite different from western countries. The wedding banquet ritual is complex and dainty. Chinas culture style is influenced by Confucianism. Confucianism emphasizes “human relations” and hopes to realize social integration through warm and harmonious personal relationship. It holds the view that appropriate interpersonal relationship is the basis of the society. The basic principle of Confucianism is “benevolence”， meaning the warm interpersonal relation.（Xi Xiao，2008）.So， a marriage is not only a bond of the couple; traditionally， it symbolizes the bond of two families. Inviting relatives and friends to the wedding symbolizes the formality and the relationships between people. In Western countries， a wedding banquet will often be held after the wedding ceremony. The type of the food depends on the taste and economic condition of the brides family， because in the Western countries it is often the brides family that pays for the wedding banquet. We can see different values between Chinese people and Western people from the wedding banquets. Chinese people pay more attention to interpersonal relationship， while Western people pay more attention to individuals.

Thirdly， the wedding dress.

In ancient China， the entire weddings main color is red; this is also the representative of the traditional Chinese festivity colors. The traditional Chinese weddings are always filled with red things to bring auspicious blessings and respects， such as double Xi characters in red， red candles， red veil for bride， including the grooms red suits and brides red wedding gown. And even wedding customs reflect traditions from Chinese philosophy. The Chinese regard the color red as the symbol of happiness， success， luck， faith and growth. They like red very much， which comes from worship of the sun. In the modern times， there are more and more Chinese young women choose to wear white wedding gown on their wedding day. But there still is a ritual that the bride must change the white wedding gown to the red dress which is so lovely and festive after the wedding ceremony. In the west， the main color of wedding is white. The bride generally wears white wedding gown representing holiness and loyalty， giving a feeling of purity and full of romance. The brides bouquet and adornment of the surrounding environment are all mostly of a white tone.

Comparing the western wedding and the Chinese wedding， the people in different culture will have different opinions and choose different wedding forms. However， with the development of society and the fusion of intercultural communication， there is a common feature in Chinese and western wedding， that marriage is noble， holy， pure and inviolable. More and more Chinese choose a western wedding form while more westerners like Chinese wedding. It is the time for blending and globalization of culture which is much better for us to communicate and share with each other. In the process of communication， we spread our culture to the foreign countries and absorb the culture from foreign countries. These customs also enrich our life. On the other hand， as people blindly pursue the western-style， we might ignore our custom little by little. That is a dangerous phenomenon. We shouldnt forget our culture， because that is the root of our country.

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【作者简介】

张阳（1985—），女，硕士研究生学历，单位：西安翻译学院基础课部英语教研室，主要研究方向：学科英语。