First, The Book of Rites:
In Shenzhou and Anping County, Hebei Province, attending wedding banquets and other formal occasions is called "Zhou Li". Zhang and Li met two old ladies:
Zhang: "Oh, his aunt, Gig is dressed like this. Why not go here?" What are you doing dressed so beautifully today? )
Li: "My mom's brothers are all married in the inner circle, so I'm going" (my mom's brothers are all married and going to the wedding)
"Zhou Li" may mean comprehensive etiquette.
Second, the box (locally called Huozi):
A box is a container, made of wood or wicker, rectangular or square, divided into two parts, a base and a cover. Painted with red paint. The inside is full of goods and the outside is wrapped in red cloth.
Be sure to bring a box when you get married or visit your elders, in-laws and other formal occasions. For example, when you get married or go back to your mother's house for the first time after marriage, you should prepare a box for your grandparents, parents and uncles. Because when you visit relatives for Zhou Li, you have to bring a box, so the box has become synonymous with gifts. Before the newlywed wife returns to her mother's house, her mother-in-law will ask, "How many boxes shall we prepare?" Prepare some presents.
Third, eat paper:
In the past, wedding banquets were mainly for newcomers and people who saw them off. Generally, there are two tables for men and women, which are called big tables. Everyone else eats big pots and paper (that is, steamed bread, locally called round steamed bread, square paper).
When food is scarce in difficult times, relatives often come to the wedding reception with steamed bread with 6, 8 or 12 flour as a gift. The main family doesn't leave all the steamed buns, and the remaining two are gifts. At that time, it was only during the Chinese New Year that you could eat white flour steamed bread and give it as a gift, which was a great event for relatives to help each other.
Probably because paper is the main food to fill the stomach when attending a wedding banquet, the local countryside calls it eating paper when getting married. Eating examination papers has become synonymous with marriage, similar to eating wedding candy and drinking wedding wine, and it is still used now. If an old man asks, "Young man, will you invite us to eat your paper from beginning to end?" .
Just ask, "When are you getting married?" .
Don't pass a steamed bun foolishly.
These are special products of difficult times. Although every family tastes terrible, there are still some manners that can only be simplified or even symbolic. At that time, in my eyes, the box was solemn and sacred, and the contents could not be touched casually. Like all children, I can only expect the "ceremony" of the adults to come back, and the delicious food left in the box can be distributed to the children.
Nowadays, marriage in rural areas is also a greenhouse, with dozens of banquets, professional weddings, mobile restaurants and friends busy for two or three days. These old things, old sayings, have become history.