What are the contents of the six rites in three ancient wedding books?
"Three Books and Six Rites" is the basis of China's traditional marriage custom, which was determined as early as the pre-Qin period. The so-called "three books" are the documents (including appointment letter, betrothal letter and welcoming letter) that should be possessed to implement the "Six Rites", and are the written records to ensure the validity of marriage in ancient times. The so-called "six rites" are the six procedures that must be completed to marry a wife. Every marriage must complete these six steps before it can be officially recognized.
Three books refer to:
Letter of engagement: A letter given by the man to the woman at the time of engagement to confirm the engagement.
[Gift Book]: A letter from the family when the man gives a gift, detailing the items and quantity when giving a gift.
[Welcome Book]: On the wedding day, the man gives the woman a book list.
These three books are notes for men and women to pay tribute to each other in the whole wedding procedure.
Six rites
Nacai was the first wedding in ancient times. The man will find a matchmaker to make a marriage proposal, if it is convenient for the woman. The gift of [proposal] is [goose], which means that women will never lose time, festivals and spans, and will never die.
[Question Name] After the bride's parents accept the proposal, they will give the date of birth (that is, the eight characters of that year) to the matchmaker. The matchmaker will write the information of the eight characters, name, place of origin and three generations of the bride-to-be on red paper (called "Geng Tie") and give it to the man's family to predict good or bad, in order to prevent close relatives from getting married and predict whether their marriage is suitable, that is, * with eight characters *.
Najib, also known as Guo. The man's family will ask the fortune teller to calculate whether the two sides cooperate according to their ages, so as to decide whether the marriage is auspicious or not. When I learned that there was no sign of confrontation between the two sides, I initially agreed to the marriage.
Levi: Also known as gifts. That is, the man's house sends the letter of appointment and the gift book to the woman's house. One month to two weeks before the wedding, the man's family will ask two or four female relatives (must be Quanfu) to make an appointment with the matchmaker and bring the bride price, gift money and dowry to the woman's family; At this point, the woman needs to return the gift.
Invitation period: also known as begging for the sun. That is, the man chooses a good day to get married with the consent of the woman.
Kiss: Or kiss. On the auspicious wedding day, the groom in full dress will go to the bride's house with the matchmaker, relatives and friends. Before the groom goes to the woman's house, he needs to go to the ancestral temple of the woman's house and then send the bride to the man's house in a sedan chair. After the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, land and ancestors, the male family was sent to the bridal chamber.