Traditional marriage customs of Han nationality

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: traditional marriage customs of Han nationality

Applicant: Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 1005

Project No.: Ⅹ - 98

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Shili red makeup Museum of Ninghai County

A brief introduction to the traditional marriage customs of the Han nationality (red makeup marriage customs in Shili of Ninghai)

Applicant: Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province

The traditional marriage custom of the Han nationality has a long history. In the book of rites, Hunyi, it is said that "husband's ceremony begins with the crown, originates from Hun, is more important than funeral, respects chaopin, and shoots at the hometown. This ceremony is generally the same." For thousands of years, Han wedding has been regarded as an important part of Confucian "ceremony". Since the Zhou Dynasty, "six rites" (lottery, name asking, auspiciousness, levy, invitation and greeting) have become a kind of normative custom, and played an important role in the marriage life of the whole feudal society. After entering modern times, with the change of society, the traditional "six rites" fundamentally disappeared, but in some areas there are still "six rites" customs and other traditional marriage customs, which provide extremely valuable information for the study of folklore and sociology.

Ninghai Shili red makeup wedding custom is a unique folk custom in Zhejiang Province, which has been popular in Ninghai and eastern Zhejiang for a long time. In Ninghai, every wedding, there are often spectacular scenes of dowry team stretching for several miles, which is called "Ten Mile red dowry" in folk exaggeration. Later, it gradually evolved into a pronoun of marriage and a symbol of fair marriage.

The wedding customs of red dowry in Ninghai Shili mainly include making love, matchmaking, blind date, preparing dowry, welcoming dowry, bridal sedan chair, worshiping heaven and earth, making bridal chamber and returning home, etc. and the unique production technology of red dowry utensils. "Qiangong bed, Wangong sedan chair, shilihong dowry" is a well-known marriage phenomenon in eastern Zhejiang, which also provides a platform for the exchange of folk cultural activities in four townships and eight villages.

Ninghai Shili red makeup wedding custom is an important part of Jiangnan marriage folk custom. It embodies the characteristics of Jiangnan handicrafts, expresses happy and auspicious wishes, and reflects the positive and optimistic attitude of Jiangnan people. With the change of modern life style and the impact of foreign culture, although the marriage custom of Shili red makeup is still inherited in Ninghai rural areas, it has been generally weakened. This marriage custom with important folklore value is facing the danger of extinction, and it is in urgent need of strengthening protection.