Zhuang family "Ougui": The woman marries a man, and the bride carries her husband into the bridal chamber
The Zhuang family custom of marrying a man creates a unique family relationship. information picture
Recently, the author went to Zhuang Township, Guangxi to attend the wedding of a Zhuang friend, and also experienced the unique "Ougui" wedding customs of Zhuang Township people.
"Ougui" means "marrying son-in-law" in Zhuang. In the Tuoniang River Basin on the border of Guangxi and Yunnan, among a population of about 300,000 Zhuang people, the "Ougui" custom of marrying a woman to a man is still popular. In remote villages, the proportion of "Ougui" marriages is as high as 60%, and among urban residents, it also accounts for about 20%. In the "Ougui" marriage, the marriage is handled by the woman, the man follows the woman, and there are no mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, etc. in the family structure, thus creating a more free and harmonious family relationship.
When I arrived at the woman's house, the author felt a happy and lively atmosphere. Relatives and neighbors at home came to help. Some helped decorate the new house, while some helped in the kitchen, and everyone showed happy smiles on their faces.
Inside the house, several women are making red envelopes. Here, the small red envelope also contains two layers of meaning, one is to celebrate, and the other is to "separate money". It turned out that after the young man became a door-to-door son-in-law, he rarely had time to return to his parents 'home. When getting married, giving a man a red envelope means he has to say goodbye to his childhood friends and his former life.
The bride is dressed up and sits in the bridal chamber waiting for the groom to arrive, while the bridesmaid and matchmaker are mainly responsible for welcoming the bride. Amid the lively sound of blowing and beating, the welcoming team walked along the mountain road to the man's house. Living conditions are now better, and many places can be taken by car. However, people in Zhuang Township still follow the rules left by their ancestors when getting married, and they can walk to greet them no matter how far they are.
The welcoming team took more than an hour to arrive at the man's house. What surprised the author was that the man's family used a long bamboo pole to prevent him from entering. Why is this? Only after asking did I realize that marrying a son-in-law had to go through "three hurdles" and went through some tests. The first level is to "drink", and of course, to let the matchmaker drink it. Therefore, to be a good matchmaker, in addition to being able to speak well, you must also have some alcohol tolerance. The second level is "duet", singing and answering to relatives and stopping people from getting married. The singing makes this unique wedding custom extremely interesting. This last level is "guessing riddles". Only by answering the riddles correctly can you pass the test smoothly.
When we arrived at the man's house, the author found that compared with the lively atmosphere on the woman's side, the man's side seemed much deserted. It turned out that this was deliberately done by the man to express the man's difficulties that he was unwilling to marry his son but had to. At this time, the bridesmaid went to the house to pick up the groom, and the groom's parents said some exhortations to their son, just like parents whispering to their married daughter.
When the groom is ready to go on the road, the man will come out to stop him again to show his family's reluctance. At this time, the red envelopes prepared by the woman in advance came in handy, and when everyone snatched the red envelopes, they naturally made way. Of course, the groom will not be idle. He will pick two buckets filled with water on the road, and his walking posture must meet the requirements. He must not find anyone to change the bucket. He will carry it all the way to the woman's house. This is a test of the groom's physical strength. To the woman's house, the groom will pour the water in the bucket into the jar, such as water spilled out of less, indicating that the groom physical rod.
After the bride and groom complete the traditional ceremonies such as "toasting" and "three bows", an important ceremony begins, that is,"grabbing the bridal chamber". Whoever runs into the bridal chamber first means who will be in charge later. Of course, the final result was always the bride's victory. Otherwise, how could it be called "marrying a son-in-law"! Just as the groom standing outside looked very embarrassed, the bride ran out of the bridal chamber again and did something unexpected to the author: she bent down, carried the groom on her back and walked into the bridal chamber step by step!
Don't think that being a "door-to-door son-in-law" means you become a doormat. In fact, being a son-in-law has a high status in Zhuang Township. The woman's family treats the son-in-law as a son, and a man can also be in charge. At the same time, in the "Ougui" marriage, women have autonomy and can give full play to their talents. Therefore, the Zhuang men and women in the Tuoniang River Basin not only have lived a warm and harmonious life for generations, but even their production, labor and economic development are half better than those in the surrounding areas!