Unique Uyghur wedding customs
The Uyghur people practice monogamy. Before young men and women get married, they must go through a marriage proposal and engagement ceremony, which reflects the Uyghur people's caution about marriage. Moreover, before marriage, the man must also pay a betrothal gift to the woman. After receiving the marriage certificate, both men and women will hold a wedding banquet to entertain their relatives, friends and colleagues. Some will ask the imam to recite 'Nika'. Weddings include welcoming ceremony for the bride, uncovering ceremony, celebration ceremony held by the groom and bride for their own wedding, etc. After the banquet, there will be a "Masilef" held. Below, let's take a look at the processes and customs of Uyghur marriage proposals, engagement and weddings!
Whose girl the young man has taken a fancy to, or the man's parents are planning to find a girl as his daughter-in-law, they must go through the "marriage proposal" procedures in advance.
Before a man proposes a marriage to the woman's family, he has to go through some investigation and understand the age, family, appearance, character, etc. of the woman's family, and will propose only when he deems it appropriate. There are also young men and women who have long been in love. After the two parties privately agree on a marriage, they then ask their families to "propose marriage" to achieve openness and legalization of the relationship between the two parties.
Generally speaking, the husband's parents cannot go alone to propose marriage, but should invite a highly respected elderly person to accompany them or invite relatives to go together. In this way, the woman's family will receive her and think that someone will come to propose marriage seriously, feel honored and be very happy. When proposing marriage, the man should prepare to give the girl a set of high-quality clothing, some salt, sugar cubes and five naans (in some areas, 7 or 9 naans) as a meeting gift. The salt and naan in the gift both contain profound significance.
a man makes a request to marry the woman's family, the woman generally does not reply immediately. She must discuss with her family and daughter, and investigate and understand the situation of the man's family. If she agrees, she will reply to the man, and if she does not agree, she must also notify the man. If the marriage is agreed, the marriage must be made public so that young men and women can interact, engage in "legal" love, and enhance mutual understanding. Uyghurs call this process of marriage proposal "Baixi Nang Taxi Lasi", which means testing).
After the marriage proposal was agreed, it was followed by the preparation of the betrothal gift and the holding of the engagement ceremony. The betrothal gift is an important part of Uyghur marriage. The quantity and quality of the betrothal gift are closely related to the economic conditions of both parties. Generally speaking, the list of betrothal gifts provided by the wife's family is finally determined after consultation with the parents of both men and women. In order to resolve conflicts and differences in the betrothal price, a middleman trusted by both parties should be invited, and the middleman should mediate and finally reach a consensus.
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is as usual. The betrothal gifts prepared by the man's family must include: one or two sets of the girl's four-season costumes; headscarves, coats, sweaters, shoes, socks and earrings, rings, bracelets, watches and other decorations. In addition, a coat should be made for the girl's father and a dress for her mother to prepare material for the girl's brothers and sisters, brother-in-law, sister-in-law or sister-in-law. The man also has to bear the responsibility of the furniture furnished in the family.
The main things that the woman's dowry include: washing machines, carpets, bedding, pillows, sheets, tablecloths, curtains, luggage, wooden boxes, etc.
Due to the different economic conditions of both parties, the betrothal gifts and dowry gifts are also different. As living standards improve, some electrical equipment and other high-end goods have been added to the betrothal gifts.
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determines the marriage, which is called "Qiongqiayi" in Uyghur. After the betrothal gift is prepared, you must choose an auspicious day to hold the engagement ceremony. On this day, men and women each invite about 50 guests, of which more than 80% are female guests. Some of the male guests are relatives or friends, as well as highly respected male guests. Therefore, the engagement is mainly an event for women.
The engagement ceremony was held at the woman's home. On this day, the man will bring one or two sheep to the wife's family (some with good economic conditions and a cow). The sheep or cow are brought by a special person. The sheep's head should be tied with a red silk ribbon, and the woman's family should present a shirt or other gift to the sheep leader to show her gratitude. This sheep was slaughtered that day for hospitality. At the same time, you should also bring naan, tea leaves, rock sugar, fruit candy, sugar cubes, biscuits, snacks, rice, clear oil, flour, onions, radishes and cosmetics for girls.
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shows that during the engagement ceremony, the woman will cook pilaf or Kurdak will entertain the guests. The man announces the list of dowries to the woman's family in front of the guests. The person who announced the list was specially hired. He introduced the origin, quality, performance, specifications, etc. of each bride price to everyone in the form of rap. At the same time, when introducing each betrothal gift, we must also raise the betrothal gift for everyone to see. Generally speaking, the person who introduces the betrothal gift is more eloquent. He can talk about ordinary things to please the woman's family and satisfy the man's family. Because the quantity and quality of the betrothal gift are related to the girl's worth and the sincerity of the man's family, the people who announced the list also worked very hard. Afterwards, the man's family also gave him a certain number of gifts.
The dowry items from the wife's family will also be displayed on the same day, and a "three-inch tongue" will also be invited to show everyone and introduce each dowry. At the same time, the woman's family will also make a suit for her future son-in-law and "arm them from head to toe. In addition, I have to prepare a set of clothes for my in-laws and my mother-in-law.
At the city's engagement ceremony, in addition to inviting everyone to a delicious meal, entertainment such as dancing and singing will also be held to celebrate. Rural engagement ceremonies generally do not engage in entertainment activities, but some Uyghur wedding customs areas also engage in some traditional entertainment activities.
After the engagement ceremony, a wedding ceremony was agreed upon, which is called "Qiongtuoyi" in Uyghur. The two sides agreed to formally hold the wedding after an auspicious day.
After the engagement, both parties are not allowed to breach the contract. However, sometimes there are cases of breach of contract when it comes to betrothal gifts or when young men and women disagree with the marriage decided by their parents. However, the violator must refund the betrothal gift and bear economic losses. At this time, parents of both parties still have to find an intermediary to mediate until both parties agree and accept it. Due to different regions, marriage customs in northern and southern Xinjiang also differ.
Wedding The wedding of Uyghurs is grand and lively, full of joy. Because the Uyghurs believe in Islam, the wedding is held in two days in accordance with traditional customs. The first day of the wedding was held at the woman's home. Early in the morning, the bride, accompanied by the best man and relatives and friends, personally went to the woman's house to welcome the bride. When they arrived at the woman's house, the male and female guests stood on both sides, and the imam and the Imam religious profession presided over the wedding. They recited the Koran to bless the couple and encourage them to respect each other and love each other, and respect the elderly and love the young.
At the same time, the imam took out two roasted naan dipped in salt water and gave it to the bride and groom. Each person had one for them to eat it in public. Although this naan was salty and bitter, it symbolizes the newlyweds 'willingness to share weal and woe and carry old age with each other. Relatives and friends present all congratulated the bride and groom and danced happily. After the dance, the host and guest sat down for dinner. At noon, all the people in the man's family went back, leaving only the relatives and friends of the woman's family to sing and dance together. The atmosphere was very lively.
In the evening, the groom should dress handsome and elegant, and the bride should also dress like a jade flower, with a veil on her head waiting at home for the arrival of the wedding team. The groom is surrounded by relatives and friends to the bride's house. Those who have a short journey can walk, and those who have a long journey can ride or ride. Along the way, the groom played tambourine, played "Rewafu" with the welcoming young men, played and sang happy songs, and came to the bride's house happily. When the bride's girlfriends learned that the welcoming team was arriving, they immediately blocked the door and asked for gifts before allowing the welcoming person to enter. After the groom and the welcoming person entered the house, the bride was already waiting there with a veil covered. At this time, the bride's girlfriend would entertain the welcoming guests and present handkerchiefs and other gifts to each guest.
When the bride leaves home, she has to say goodbye to her family and shed tears of joy and excitement. At this time, the woman's singer imitated the tone of the bride's mother and sang a farewell song. The song was to the same effect as please take care of my daughter more and wish the young couple could live in harmony. After singing the song, the young men who came with the groom to welcome the bride played various national musical instruments and walked forward and forth singing happy songs. The groom and bride followed behind in floats.
After the wedding team arrived at the man's house, a fire had already been lit at the door, which was used to ward off evil spirits. The guests each raised a light, circled the bride's head three times, and the bride distributed gifts to the guests, and then circled the fire once before they could enter the house and enter the bridal chamber.
The next day was the climax of the wedding, and a head-lifting ceremony was held at the man's house. This day was also spent in a festive banquet. Relatives of the woman's family go to the man's house, and the man's family will entertain him warmly. At the beginning of the wedding banquet, loved relatives and friends of both men and women must wash their hands with a kettle. Then sit around on the carpet or felt in turn. In front of the guests, the white cloth sheet was filled with wedding candies, raisins, apricots, dates, peanuts and cakes. The owner used roasted naan, pilaf and mutton with national characteristics to entertain the guests. The guests were very excited while eating and talking, and the young men couldn't help but play "Dutar" and sing a happy Uyghur dance. After the meal, the elderly guests all bid farewell and left, except for the young men and women who stayed behind, waiting to unveil the bride's head.
When theis lifted, the main guests of both men and women must be present. The woman's guest is on the left and the man's guest is on the right, and they both pray "Duwa"). At this time, the man's guest is usually a young girl). Suddenly he ran out of the crowd and gently and nimbly removed the veil from the bride's head. The bride's true appearance was revealed, and the entire new house burst into jubilation. At this time, the joyful singing and dancing began. Couples of young men and women, accompanied by tambourine and Rewapu, stepped on the beat of drums and followed the music to perform the traditional Daolang dance. At the invitation of everyone, the bride and groom entered the venue, lifted the dance steps lightly and rotated their waists skillfully. All the people present also participated. He sang and danced until late into the night before returning home happily. The two-day wedding ended.
Conclusion: Uyghur weddings are full of strong romantic feelings. Anyone who has attended a Uyghur wedding in Kashgar will leave good memories.