ISALC, Lewis and Clark College

Fortune Tellers and the Traditional Chinese Wedding by Yu-Shan Liu

It is incredible that two people finally find each other, and they decide to get married. The wedding may only happen once in their life, so of of course, it is very important. Also, there are a lot of wedding styles for them to choose from. However, I strongly suggest the traditional Chinese wedding because every detail means something deeper than what people think, and it makes the wedding ceremony more meaningful. However, not only Chinese can make a traditional Chinese wedding; everyone can make the traditional Chinese wedding because the meaning is far more important than the style.

The traditional Chinese wedding process is very interesting; however, there are very many small details we have to double check. First of all, after the man proposes, the new couple will go to see a fortuneteller; the fortuneteller will use a special technique to measure if they fit each other. The fortuneteller will read the new couple's birthday, and make the conclusion if they fit each other with that technique. Also, the fortuneteller will tell them the specific date and time for the couple to get married. They can only get married at that time; otherwise, they will miss their best wedding time. When the date is set, the bride's family will go reserve the restaurant and the hotel. The reason why only the bride's family reserves and pays the expenses of the hotel and restaurant is because the groom pays money which the bride's parents ask for when they get engaged. In the old period, people thought that marrying a daughter to someone was like selling some product, so they could ask for money. It is a custom that the new couple will go to choose the wedding clothes they want to wear; most of the time the will also take the wedding pictures at the same time. Usually, the bride will have at least three different dresses to wear and take seventy wedding pictures, choosing at least two of them to make into poster size, and then they will put them on the wall of their bedroom.

On the wedding day, the groom will go with the groom's maid to the bride's house in order to pick up the bride. However, it is not that easy; the bride's best friends will try as hard as they can to to stop the groom and the groomsmen. They will ask some personal questions like, "What size bra does the bride wear?, "Does she snore?", or "What was her first boyfriend's name?", etc. If the groom cannot answer them, or if the answers are wrong, he has to give them a red envelope containing money, and only then the bride's friends will let him in.

While the couple and the family are waiting for the time to go to the groom's house, they will eat "eight treasures soup," which can bring them happiness. When they get into the car to go to the groom's house, the family will put a basket or a black umbrella over the bride's head because she is not allowed to see the sky. Also they will have a red cape on the floor because she cannot touch the ground. The bride will throw a traditional Chinese fan out of the car, which means that she says goodbye to her parents. The new couple will pray to the ancestors, the gods, and their parents. Then they have finished the formal wedding process.

At night, in the restaurant, every guest who goes to the dinner will give the new couple red envelopes containing money. Chinese don't give gifts; they give money to the new couple. Some respectful people will come up to the stage and wish the couple well, that they would live happily ever after. While the new couple goes around and celebrates with everyone, they drink a lot and the bride will be wearing her second dress. At the end, standing outside, the new bride will wear her third dress and will give candy or cigarettes to every guest.

The Chinese wedding is so interesting because every detail has its own story, and I like to listen to the stories a lot. It is also my own culture; it is different from every other, and I am very proud of it. Hopefully, the tradition can be kept forever.

Created by: krauss@lclark.edu
Updated: 10/31/99