Golden Color Xiangjiang: A Young Man's Dream in a Siheyuan

Therefore, if Qin Huairu wants to get these two houses, she must plan carefully. This is related to the future of the entire Jia family, so she must be careful.

Even if it is really impossible to do something, we cannot sacrifice the entire Jia family for it.

Although Zhou Jin knew that Qin Huairu would definitely set her sights on these two houses, she didn't know that just one look from her would make Qin Huairu imagine so many scenes.

Now Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady have both been executed, Liu Haizhong and Jia Zhangshi have also been imprisoned. Zhou Jin can finally rest assured that Lou Xiaoe will be married home next month.

At this time, Zhou Jin suddenly thought of something important.

Although both parties have discussed the wedding and decided to keep everything simple, without ceremony or grand celebration.

But when it comes to wedding etiquette, Zhou Jin doesn't want to put Lou Xiao'e in a difficult position anymore, and plans to follow the wedding customs and etiquette of the old city.

However, Zhou Jin had never even had friends in his previous life, let alone understand the wedding customs and etiquette of the old city.

Moreover, he was not a native of Sijiu City and knew nothing about the traditional customs here.

Even after he traveled to this era, no one mentioned these things to him.

In fact, even if he has attended other people's weddings, he will find that few people follow the cumbersome wedding customs and etiquette nowadays.

Since the founding of the Dragon Kingdom, many old customs and habits have been banned or simplified.

At the same time, due to limited living conditions, people pay more attention to basic food and clothing issues rather than cumbersome etiquette.

Nowadays, when ordinary people get married, the most they do is borrow a few bicycles from the street office, pick up the bride, and then have a happy meal.

It wasn't even as formal as the weddings in later generations, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Everyone was poor then, and being able to hold a banquet to entertain guests was already very good.

However, Zhou Jin was not very worried about this. As his grandparents were remnants of the Qing Dynasty, they were well-read and naturally familiar with the customs and habits of the old city.

I can just go ask them in the afternoon. As long as it's not too outrageous, Zhou Jin decided to prepare it for Xiao'e.

Do it as you think. After lunch, Zhou Jin asked He Yushui and the others if they wanted to go to their grandfather's house with him in the afternoon.

He Yushui and Zhou Xin both said that they had to do homework in the afternoon and didn't want to go out.

So Zhou Jin had to go find his grandparents by himself.

When they arrived at grandpa's house, grandma was basking in the sun in the yard. When she saw Zhou Jin coming, she quickly stood up and greeted him: "My dear grandson, why are you here?"

Zhou Jin smiled and said, "Grandma, I just miss you and grandpa." Grandma felt happy to hear that, even though they had just separated in the morning.

But it didn't matter, as long as it sounded comfortable, so the old lady took Zhou Jin's hand and walked into the house.

After entering the house, Zhou Jin found his grandfather sitting on a chair reading a newspaper. He walked over and called out, "Grandpa!"

Grandpa looked up and saw that it was Zhou Jin. A smile appeared on his face: "Xiao Jin, why are you here at this time? Is there something wrong?"

Zhou Jin nodded, and then said to his grandparents: "Grandpa and grandma, I do have something I want to ask you."

Grandpa and grandma asked in unison: "What's the matter?"

Zhou Jin scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "It's not a big deal, Xiao'e and I have already been married, but I always feel like I owe her something.

I just wanted to ask you if there are any customs and etiquette for getting married in this city. Since the wedding can't be held, I still hope to try my best to follow these customs and etiquette, if possible.

At least it will give Xiao'e a little more ceremony when she marries me, and let her feel how much I value her."

Grandpa and grandma smiled at each other, and grandpa said, "Xiaojin, you are right. Getting married is a big event in life. Although for practical reasons, you and Xiao'e can't have a big wedding, but we can't be careless about the rules."

Grandma also agreed, "Yes, you are thoughtful. It seems that Xiao'e did not choose the wrong person. You found the right person for this matter. We will stay in Sijiu City for the rest of our lives.

I am also very familiar with the wedding customs and etiquette of the old Sijiu City, but the traditional wedding customs and etiquette here are very complicated. Under the current circumstances, it is impossible to do all of them. We can only choose a few of them to prepare for. "

Next, grandpa and grandma began to tell Zhou Jin about some wedding customs and precautions in the old city.

Half an hour later, Zhou Jin finally listened to his grandparents finish talking about the traditional wedding customs and etiquette of the old city.

To be honest, Zhou Jin was completely shocked at this point. He never expected that getting married in the old city of Sijiu would be so complicated. There were thirteen procedures involved in the whole process.

This first step is the custom of marriage compatibility.

When people are choosing spouses for their children, they must ask a "matchmaker" to go back and forth between the two families to "propose marriage". Both parties ask a "fortune teller" to tell their fortunes. If there is no conflict between the man and the woman and there is a possibility of marriage, then they will discuss the marriage. Otherwise, even if the couple is "equally matched", the marriage will be abandoned. This is commonly known as "matching marriage".

The second step is blind dating.

If the result of the marriage compatibility is that the zodiac signs of both parties do not conflict, the second step is a blind date. The parents of both parties will meet with the matchmaker to agree on a place, or the couple will meet at the home of either party, which is commonly known as a "blind date."

If both parties are satisfied with the result of the blind date, they will check the "three halls" of the two based on the man and woman's horoscopes.

The so-called "three halls" are to check whether there is any conflict between the parents of both parties.

If the jury is auspicious, a marriage certificate will be written, and the time and direction of getting in and out of the sedan chair, worshipping heaven and earth, as well as the date of offering the bride price and welcoming the bride will be detailed in the certificate.

The third step is to make a small decision.

When both the man and woman agree that they can get married, the next step is to pay the "small betrothal gift". There is no fixed standard for the "small betrothal gift", and most families usually pay four boxes of gifts.

Various jewelry such as gold bracelets, rings, ruyi, hairpins, diamonds and earrings were packed into two boxes; clothing materials and embroidered skirts were also packed into two boxes.

Jewelry is mainly made of pure gold, followed by gold-plated, and then there are silver bracelets. Of course, it depends on the social class and economic situation of both parties.

The fourth step is to choose a date.

In the old city, marriages are rarely held in the first month of the lunar calendar, and engagements are rarely held in the twelfth month, because marrying a daughter-in-law in the first month will bring trouble to the parents-in-law, and getting engaged in the twelfth month will bring bad luck to the husband's family, so there is a proverb: "Don't marry in the first month, don't get engaged in the twelfth month." But no matter when to get married, you must choose a good day.

The fifth step is to magnify the concentration.

After the wedding date is decided, the next step is to "promote the wedding ceremony", also known as "communication and gift exchange".

This etiquette is very important in the marriage process, so the ceremony is also very grand.

Except for the "Dragon and Phoenix Invitation" which has special meaning, other gifts are similar to the "small engagement gift".

Although there is no fixed standard for the quantity and quality of gifts, in principle, they are divided into "four colors" of gifts.

The sixth step is to give the dowry.

Sending the dowry is the bride's family's responsibility, and it usually takes place one or two days before the auspicious day.

All the dowry was packed into boxes and food boxes and hired to carry them, two people at a time, and escorted to the man's home by the groom's brothers.

According to the Beiping Customs compiled by Li Jiarui, "The day before, the bride's family invites four, six or eight male guests to deliver the dowry, and the groom's family also invites people to welcome the dowry. The items are counted by the number of bearers. For middle-class families, most of them have 24, 32 or 48 bearers. For the rich, the bearers range from dozens to more than a hundred. For the poor, they have 16 or 12 bearers. For the poorer families, they only prepare some items that the woman usually needs and hire shoulder porters to deliver them. If there are more bearers, drums and music will lead the dowry, and the groom's family will welcome it with drums and music. However, recently, some people also send the dowry on the wedding day."

The seventh step is to welcome the bride in person.

When the auspicious date arrives, the groom must personally lead the ceremonial procession to pick up the bride, and must set out at the time specified in the "Tongshu".

The eighth step is to worship heaven and earth.

When the bridal sedan chair is carried into the courtyard, it must first pass over the fire basin. Then the bride straddles the saddle and walks over the fire basin. After these steps are passed, the wedding ceremony is held in front of the altar, which is commonly known as "worshiping heaven and earth."

After worshipping heaven and earth, the bride is led into the bridal chamber. Two "blessed people" are invited to prepare the kang (or new bed) beforehand, and the bride sits cross-legged in the tent, commonly known as "sitting in the tent" or "sitting in blessing".

The ninth step is to eat the descendants’ cake.

After the "sitting in the tent", the next program is to eat the descendants' cakes. The descendants' cakes are brought by the bride's family by the three bridegrooms, and each of them takes a bowl and gives it to the newlyweds for exchange.

After eating the descendants' cake, people eat longevity noodles. The longevity noodles are prepared by the man's family, which means "descendants for generations and eternal life."

The next step is to drink "jiaobei" wine. A red string is used with a wine glass tied at each end. The bride-to-be's wife gives the wine glass to the groom, and the bride-to-be's wife gives the wine glass to the bride. They each drink half a cup and then exchange cups again, so it is called "jiaobei" wine.

The tenth step is to make trouble in the bridal chamber.

"Noisy bridal chamber" represents happiness, so every household, as long as they get married, will have a noisy bridal chamber, and the more noisy it is, the better. It is neither time-bound nor space-bound, and has been practiced since ancient times!

The eleventh step is to sort by size.

Paying respect to the ancestral temple and the clan temple is collectively called ancestor worship, which is the most important program after worshipping heaven and earth. After the bride "marries", she becomes a member of the husband's family, and it does not count if she does not worship the ancestors, so ancestor worship is very important.

After paying respect to the ancestors, the couple must "determine their names and ranks", which is commonly known as "dividing into big and small". This means knowing the seniority and seniority of the members of the husband's family.

In a small family with a simple population, the bride will kowtow to her parents-in-law and get to know the seniority of her family members on the wedding night. However, in a large family with a large population, it is not possible to kowtow to each one on the wedding night, so she must be accompanied by her sisters-in-law to pay respects to each one the next morning.

The twelfth step is to get to know each other.

On the day after the wedding, after the bride has paid homage to her ancestors, family, relatives and friends, the groom’s family has an important ritual, which is meeting the in-laws, or “meeting the relatives” for short.

According to Li Jiarui's Beiping Customs, "At that time, the bride's aunt, uncle, maternal grandfather, and maternal mother gathered at the groom's side. They said some polite words to the groom's parents to avoid disaster for the bride.

When drinking, one person sits at one table, or at most two people sit at one table, but two people must accompany each other.

Thus, when the bride's side brings ten guests, the groom's side must have twenty people to accompany them.

At this time, the groom bows to the bride's guests, and the guests give him a belt (to represent the birth of a child), a fan (to represent the birth of a good child) and a purse.

If there is one tael of money in the bag, it means the first rank of the dynasty; if there is two taels of money in the bag, it means the second immortal of harmony; if there is three taels of money in the bag, it means the three nobles; if there is four taels of money in the bag, it means peace in all seasons; if there is five taels of money in the bag, it means the five sons will pass the imperial examinations. Even if there are seven, eight, nine, and ten taels of

The thirteenth step is to return home.

The custom of "returning to the parents' home" is similar in the north and the south. It means that for the first time after marriage, the bride's family will pick up the bride and the groom will also go with her. It is commonly known as "returning to the parents' home" or "returning to the parents' home three days later".