The Marriage Culture of Taiwan

In ancient China, the duck of Chou first formulated the ‘six rites ‘ of  marriage.

1. presenting marriage gifts to the girl’s family

2. checking the girl’s name and horoscope(English characters)

3. divining the destiny of the marriage at a temple

4. arranging a dowry for the girl’s family

5. setting a wedding date

6. receiving the bride

The Six Gifts Prepared by the Male

1. Western wedding cookies.

2. Traditional wedding cookies.

3. Rice cookies.

4. Incense and Firecrackers.

5. Four-colored sweets (Tangerine biscuit, winter melon lolly, crystal sugar, longan).

6. Betrothal Gift Box: Includes the betrothal payment and gold jewelry that the mother-in-law has prepared for the bride and Gifts from head to toe: New clothes, socks, watch, leather bag, leather shoes and accessories prepared for the bride.

Symbol of object for marriage -Gold

we see that there a lot of steps to finish a marriage, and people did allow the rules to finish it. And according the legend, the Old Man under the moon is the god of matchmaking who brings lovers together and then uses a red thread to bind them to each other. In traditional Chinese marriage, matchmakers are essential for communication and coordination between the families.

But nowadays, there are some different between ancient time and now, it is seen that people do not follow the wedding rules extremely. And there three main culture of marriage in Taiwan, such as Hakka and indigenous people. A pair of large turnips is often used in Hakka marriage ceremonies, since the Hakka pronunciation of the Chinese characters for ‘turnip’ is the same as for ‘good luck’. And the brides must stand on the top of a rice her can not touch the ground. This avoid evil spirits and bring prosperity to leaves.

In Taiwan, the most interesting thing is that before the brides departs from her home, she must drop a fan from the car window, bad habits behind. And after wedding procession had arrived at the groom’s home, the new couple must ‘pass under the winnowing basket’ ‘ cross the fire’ ‘break a tile with their feet’ as part of their wedding ceremony.

The marriage customs of the indigenous people are quite different from can to clan. Each tribe has its own unique wedding customs, such as in the matrilineal Ami society, a newlywed man normally moves into his wife’s parents’ home.
It so lucky to live in Taiwan, because we can see so many customs of marriage, and the customs are so interesting for us. From ancient time marriage to nowadays marriage, I see that people in china respect their parents, thought the customs change every day, but the only thing is that not to forget your parents and the priceless traditional.