Most of the marriage customs in the Tang Dynasty were inherited from the Northern Dynasties. In the Northern Dynasties, when the bride was married, her husband's family, led by the groom, came to the bride's door and shouted in unison: "Bride!" At this time, the bride's house is often closed, which means giving the groom some color to see. This daughter-in-law is not easy to marry, so dozens or even hundreds of people in her husband's family form a circle and call outside the gate until the door is pushed open to welcome the bride on the bus. It was called "promoting makeup" in the Tang Dynasty. Wedding ceremonies in the Tang dynasty were often held at dusk, and it was not until after the middle Tang dynasty that someone changed the time to early morning. Pick up the bride, it's not over yet. The woman often gathers a large number of people and gets in the way. She refused to let the groom's car pass. She can go if she wants and stay to buy road goods. This is called "stopping a car".

New marriage customs in the Tang Dynasty are recorded in Youyang Miscellaneous Notes:

In modern weddings, when marrying a woman, three liters of millet are used to fill the mortar, one seat is used to cover the well, three pounds are used to plug the window, and three arrows are placed on the door. The woman got on the bus, and her husband rode around the car three times. A woman will get married tomorrow, and the family will be a millet. The woman will get on the bus and cover her knees and face. When a woman is introduced, Uncle menstruation knows that she went out through a side door, or even went in through the door, which is a sign of the bride. Another woman's introduction, first thanks to pigs and stoves. Marry a woman. Couples and worship, or * * * knot mirror buckle. He also married a husband's family, got a bride, and married a woman in the twelfth lunar month, but didn't see menstruation.

That is, before marriage, the man must fill the stone mortar with three liters of corn, cover the wellhead with a mat, plug the window with three kilograms of hemp, and put three arrows at the door of the new house. After receiving the bride, when the bride gets on the bus, she should block her knees and put on a hijab. After the bride gets on the bus, the groom needs to ride around the car three times. When the bride first enters her husband's house, she worships the kitchen first to show that she will become a good housekeeper in the future. The man's parents and other relatives go out from the side door and then enter from the main door, in order to step on the bride's footprints and get lucky.

Weddings in the Tang Dynasty are very interesting and contain a strong folk culture:

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a custom of welcoming the bride in spring and summer, while in the twelfth lunar month, there was a rule that the bride could not see her aunt, that is, her mother-in-law (Tang Dynasty called her in-laws her aunt). On the wedding day, the couple can't live in the house, but must live in a tent built with green curtains outside the house. This tent is called "Lu Qing". The newlyweds completed the worship ceremony and spent their wedding night here. In "Lu Qing", couples pay tribute to each other. Everyone cuts off a strand of hair and puts it in a toolkit, symbolizing a married couple.

After the wedding, the son-in-law came back to visit her parents-in-law, and all her relatives and friends came. At this time, a fun game appeared, in which the girls enjoyed beating their son-in-law with wooden sticks and bamboo poles until they knocked him out. This can be understood as the woman's demonstration: it's up to you if our daughter can get married! In addition, there is a new joke in the Tang Dynasty wedding, that is, "lay down the mother and son", that is, the day before the wedding, the woman sent a senior woman to the man's house to "lay down a room" to show her dowry. This is not unnecessary. The Tang Dynasty followed the tradition of Wei and Jin Dynasties and emphasized the nobility of family status. Xue, a scholar in the Tang Dynasty, once said: "It is too much to be incompetent and rich, but I have three hates in my life: I didn't respect scholars at first, I didn't marry women with five surnames, and I didn't study national history!" Here I mentioned "five female surnames", that is, five wealthy families with a long and glorious history: Wang of Taiyuan, Boling, Cui Shi of Qinghe, Lu of Fanyang, Zheng and Longxi of Xingyang, and Li of Zhaojun. All the above five surnames rely on famous families, and even the royal family (they questioned that the royal family named Li was not Li of Longxi and Zhaojun) did not take the initiative to marry them. Scholars in the Tang Dynasty were proud to marry these five surnames. If you are not a woman with five surnames, you should pay attention when you get married. In order to live comfortably after marriage and not be angry with her husband's family, she can only show her parents' strength when shopping.

Accept etiquette. The most important link is to release the geese. In the six-ceremony marriage, except for the recruitment, the other five ceremonies require the man's envoy to give the goose as a gift to the woman's home. Because geese are migratory birds, they migrate from the north to the south every once in a while with the change of climate, and their spouses are fixed. One dies, and the other no longer chooses a spouse. The ancients believed that the flying geese from south to north conformed to yin and yang, the fixed spouse conformed to benevolence, righteousness and propriety, the marriage was based on geese, symbolizing the harmony between yin and yang, and the bride was faithful and single-minded. Remember, it must be a live goose and be released afterwards, otherwise it is unlucky. Of course, even in ancient times, geese were not easy to attack, and they could be replaced by geese or pheasants. I won't say much about other gifts.

After accepting the talent, the next step is to ask the name. The man sent a matchmaker to the woman's house to ask her name and birthday.

The two sides have passed the eight characters and think it is ok, so let's move on to the next link: Najib. When the man asks his name, he will tell the woman the good omen of marriage and give gifts to show the etiquette of engagement. You should also give a goose ceremony. It is also a formal marriage certificate. There is a complete set of signatures and other formalities. Now is probably a fair procedure for registration and premarital property.

Then there is the fourth step, conscription. Also known as Nami. In layman's terms, it is to send a bride price. The cost codes are different. Silk was used in the early days, and then gold and silver were used. Send a bride price, and the invitation will come down. When you have a good day, you are going to marry a new wife.

Then comes the most important step: welcoming guests. In short, it is etiquette for the groom to marry the bride himself and go home. In ancient times, the groom should ride to the bride's house, and the best man should praise his parents-in-law and relatives. There is a set of etiquette in it, and then the bride comes out and gets on the bus. The groom goes around for three weeks and comes back first. When the bride took the last bus, several relatives at home accompanied her and called it "farewell". Pay attention to the carriage that the bride rides, which is usually provided by the woman and returned by the man in March afterwards.

In ancient times, there were makeup poems, car crashes, deaths and so on. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Princess Yunyang got married and the best man was Lu Chang. His makeup poem is: "Princess Yun 'an is expensive, marry five princes. Tianmu mixes powder, and Brother Ri pities flowers. Rush to lay a hundred accounts and wait for the seven fragrant cars. Excuse me, the makeup is not finished, and the East wants Xiao Xia. " The ladies-in-waiting think that Lu Chang is witty, because he plays Silent, and they are all willing to make fun of him. Song Ruozhao and Song Ruozhao, the talented women in the palace, wrote a poem: "The twelfth floor leans against the blue sky, and phoenix bears phoenix trees. The twin cities went to the jailer, so that Wu Biao (the song of Emperor Wu) could not enter the Han Palace. " Lu Chou said, "Pink Fairy Lang chooses the Holy Court, and occasionally Qin women learn to play the flute. You must teach Jade to smell the Queen Mother, and don't be afraid of trouble on the Magpie Bridge. "

Pay attention to misunderstanding:

Myth 1, going to church in disorder, now it is said that husband and wife go to church and meet at both ends. This is not the bride and groom in the Water Margin. It's an ancient gift. The woman worships first and the man returns the gift. If so, this is the king, the husband and the right way. In addition, talk about misunderstandings about places of worship. The so-called worship of Lu Qing is actually a custom in the Northern Dynasties. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that it was changed to a class. According to Shi Shuo Xin Yu, during the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao robbed other people's green houses and stirred up weddings. In fact, they rob foreigners' weddings, similar to today's China people rushing into the church to rob a foreign girl.

Myth # 2: A glass of wine in a new house is also called marriage. As the old saying goes, "Marry and tie the knot", the original intention is to divide a gourd into two spoonfuls: "Divide a gourd into two spoonfuls and call it a gourd, and the husband and wife each hold one. The man should remember that after drinking the wine, he should turn the glass upside down and take the meaning of yin and yang. Otherwise, I will be bullied by my wife all my life. There are shoes to put, and you can't be trampled by your wife's shoes. Clothes can't be crushed or anything.

There are several points for attention in wedding etiquette:

First, fans. The ancient bride covered her face with a fan and left after the memorial ceremony. It's called "fan", and like the makeup poem mentioned above, the man has to make a fan poem.

Secondly, knot is also called "knot hair", which symbolizes the harmony between husband and wife and the unity of mind forever. The specific operation mode of "knot hair" has been different in past dynasties. The "knot" in the Qin and Han Dynasties means that the groom untied the bride's wedding vows when she was at home, that is, tied the ribbon of her hair, and then tied it after combing her hair. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, both men and women cut off a little hair and tied it into a "bun", which was usually kept for the bride immediately. There is a cloud in the poem "Midnight Song" written by a female poet in the Tang Dynasty: "As long as the cloud is cut, Lang will also make hair. No one asks, tie a knot. " The world often uses "knot hair" and "knot bun" as synonymous with the combination of husband and wife, and even refers to "original match" (also known as "yuan match") husband and wife.