Photo Essay: A Traditional Chinese Wedding - Very Red in Red China
Photo Essay: A Traditional Chinese Wedding - Very Red in Red China
The fact is that the colour red is used considerably in China because it represents good fortune. Lots of red is used here. This is my recording of the wedding of my Australian teaching colleague Peter to a Chinese woman. (I think he realized how smart I was to marry one.) In China, one legally marries at a Government Marriage and Adoption Bureau. That is an office where a couple executes an application, and then signs a legal document with both signature and thumb print, then a short ceremony takes place and photos are taken to insert into a marriage booklet. No guests attend this ceremony, as it is a legal exercise similar to westerners obtaining a licence or permit to get married. Undertaking that is all that is necessary to be legally married in China.
However, traditions still rule, and that legal exercise is often followed a little later, usually on an auspicious holiday, with a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, usually insisted upon by the elder generations. What you will see here is a traditional wedding ceremony that was more elaborate than the one my wife and I celebrated, although those of you who have seen the photo of my wife and me in traditional dress might wonder, but we didn't wear such garb for our traditional ceremony.
Many Chinese are foregoing the traditional wedding ceremony and emulating a western style ceremony where the bride wears the usual white wedding dress and the groom wears a tuxedo. The procedure is also more akin to a western wedding, but it doesn't matter because they will have already completed their legal wedding. I was once called upon to administer such a wedding, and what I did was read the usual "We are gathered here together..." bit but at the end I said (and since it was in English almost nobody understood anyway) "WITHOUT powers vested in me I hereby pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride."
1. Peter arrives for the ceremony dressed in a tuxedo (but he will change into traditional dress). On the left is his younger brother.
2. Now Peter walks his bride into the hotel where they will both change into traditional attire. You will note that on the ground there are spent firecrackers. It is traditional to light strings of firecrackers before the ceremony to ward off the evil spirts.
3. Both of them, now changed into traditional garb, enter the reception room.
4. The guests stand to welcome them into the room. Most people do not dress formally to attend a wedding.
5. With his brother at his side, and I assume a friend or relative at her side, they are introduced to the guests by the man who will carry out the ceremony.
6. They first kow-tow to the image of a Buddhist Deity.
7. Their respective parents enter the stage and sit in the seats behind them, and the couple now start to kow-tow to them.
8. They then start to kow-tow to each other.
9. And prostrate themselves, facing each other. At some point they will share a cup of wine, hooking their drinking arms together.
10. They serve a cup of tea to their respective parents, at which time they tell them their appreciation for bringing them up to this point in their lives - I have seen lots of tears shed at this point. Here the bride is serving her parents.
11. The bride's friend or relative holds the tea tray so Peter can serve tea to his parents.
12. Peter's father reads a toast to the bride, which he has learned to say in Chinese. You might note with interest that Peter's father has worn a traditional Chinese embroidered jacket (similar to what I wore at my wedding ceremony) while the Chinese father of the bride is wearing a western suit and tie.
13. Here, they all stand and accept the applause of the guests.
14. Then everyone enjoys the very special banquet lunch - no expense is spared on this meal, and I can still recall how delicious it was. The guests provide monetary wedding gifts in little red envelopes - each one is expected to give at least enough to cover their equal share of the expensive banquet.
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I just noted that I reversed the order of photo numbers 12 and 13. In number 12 the bride and groom have removed their outer traditional garments.
Great series once again Buzz.
Good thing that red is my favorite color...LOL...
Your wife would punish you if it wasn't. LOL
Yeah, pretty cool Buzz. Thanks. It is cool to see how other cultures do things.
Don't see a lot of "kowtowing" going on in Western weddings.
In Western cultures, the "kow-towing" sometimes happens AFTER the marriage. LOL
I'm guessing forms of it exist in every marriage across the globe, Buzz.
Looks like a very nice gathering. As a chauffeur in the D.C. and Virginia area, I did a lot of wedding jobs and the most interesting were the traditonal weddings from other countries, Greek, Vietnamese (that had some of the best food), Italian, and various others.
Wonderful photo essay, Buzz. I really like how the couple pays tribute to their elders and that there's so much color in the clothing. IMO, it was a really special gesture of family unity for Peter's father to wear a Chinese jacket and give his toast in Chinese.
Yes, it was an appreciated gesture. When it's Chinese New Year, I wish everyone, storekeepers, security staff here, etc, "xīn nián kuài lè" (Pinyin for Happy New Year) and always earn big smiles.
Thanks for posting this, Buzz. Like Kavika, I'm crazy about the color red. I would like to attend a ceremony like this some time.
(When I got married by Elvis for my 25th anniversary, I wore a red shirt and red Converse)
Married by Elvis?
Not the real Elvis, of course, but a very good impersonator at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas, NV. It was a lot of fun
I lived in Vegas for 9 years and I know exactly where that is Trout...Right on Las Vegas Blvd.
''Love me tender, love me true.''
That's the one! Did you know the Pawn Stars shop is just right around the corner from there? We went in there after we did the deed. The TV guys weren't there and it was really just your basic pawn shop with some cool stuff, but not a lot
I've been in that pawn shop a couple of times. It's become a real tourist trap...
This photo is just for you and Mr. Giggles.
Word is the family doesn't even work there except during filming of the episodes.
Love the car! I don't know if that's "my" Elvis or not
I heard that, too
That is basically true. You rarely see them except when they are filming.
Thank you, Buzz … thank you very much …
Thank you for those words Elvis....LOL.
These are wonderful pictures Buzz.
As I get older the the traditional wedding seems more appealing.
I am also married to a younger "woman" (black hair, green eyes in my avatar). Don't ever tell her I called her a woman. In her culture until she is bed ridden she is a girl and don't ever forget it.
We had a secular wedding but want to return to Ukraine for a traditional wedding then sail the Black Sea.
These photos stoke the fire.
She's a doppelganger for Gal Gadot, the actress who plays Wonder Woman.
You know, there is some resemblance there Buzz.
Thank you.
Having been a competitive and performing dancer, she has made some Wonder Woman like jumps. I've got a good leaping picture of her, unfortunately, bikini pictures are not allowed to be shared.
...
Traditional Ojibwe wedding regalia.
You are reading my mind.
Love it!!!
Very cool Buzz. I've noticed that, at least in your photos, the entire country seems to be in love with bright colors. The practice, exercised in much of the world, of making large buildings look like nothing but dull concrete and steel monoliths might make them look strong but does nothing to make them look beautiful. Same with weddings and other joyous festivals, bright colors make them happier occasions and doesn't take away at all from the necessary solemnity.
The use of firecrackers to ward off evil spirits reminded me of something that happened about 50 years ago. Chinese sailors believe that evil spirits gather on the stern of a vessel. When a boat meets another on a perpendicular course to it, whichever one passes in front of the other sets off firecrackers on the stern to frighten off the evil spirits, which then transfer themselves to the vessel passing behind. One of the sailors on a US Navy boat in a Chinese harbor was a Filipino who could speak Chinese and knew about this practice. He had the Coxswain pass behind a large number of other boats, thus collecting all of their evil spirits. Then the Coxswain arranged to pass in front of a larger Chinese vessel and transferred the entire load to it. Needless to say, the crew of the larger boat was not happy and the Filipino said that he expanded his language skills with a lot of Chinese curse words that he hadn't ever encountered before.
Yes, TTGA, buildings here are lit up in fantastic colours at night. However, for funerals, the colour is white (not black - and no bright colours).
One of my former supervisors is an engineer. He is all about the utility and couldn't care less about aesthetics. Maybe it's because he's a former combat engineer where aesthetics don't matter but I wouldn't want to come to work in a gray cement block house every day
Super.
E.
More to come - I'm encouraged.
Is this article about the chinese culture in general?
Great photo essay on a traditional Chinese wedding. I am sure most people don't know about it.
My sister in law is Chinese and she wore a red wedding dress at her wedding. My brother in law wore a tux.