A Collection of China Folk Customs III

Qizimahura: mainly refers to people who want children and pray for children through various means. This group of people may be temporarily unable to have children due to fertility problems; or they may be able to have children and are implementing a pregnancy plan; there is also a group of people who have lost their fertility ability but still long for a miracle and fantasize about having a baby.

Guanyin's Birthday: Guanyin Bodhisattva has three birthdays. They are February 19th, June 19th and September 19th of the lunar calendar. The 19th day of the second lunar month is her birthday, and on this day she becomes the third princess. The 19th day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar is the day when you achieve a fruit status, and the 19th day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar is the day when you become a monk. Therefore, at the Guanyin Fair on February 19th, young women went to pray for children.

Touching autumn and praying for children: A folk custom popular in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Huaihe River Basin, Yangtze River Basin and other places is a symbolic activity of wishing for a child.

Birth ceremony: When her daughter is about to give birth, the mother's family will give gifts to her son-in-law's family, which is called the "birth ceremony."

Full moon bath: Three days after the baby is born or a full moon, relatives and friends gather to celebrate and wash the baby.

Grab the week and test children: Also known as swabs, test children, twist the week, and test week, it is a ceremony held when a child is one of the first year to predict his future and temperament. It is also a way to celebrate the first birthday; its core is the continuation, smoothness and prosperity of life.

Naming gods and ghosts: Worried about the premature death of their children, parents will "name" their children to gods and ghosts, such as Guanyin Bodhisattva, Emperor Wenchang, City God, Earth, etc., and even impermanent ghosts. Some worship monks and nuns as their teachers, and also call them "god-in-laws."

Finger belly marriage: Also known as foetal marriage, a form of arranged marriage in old times in China. When two housewives are pregnant at the same time, the parents use their fingers to make a matchmaker. If the children are born to a man and a woman, they will become husband and wife.

Marriage: Also known as "adoption" and "inheritance". It refers to turning a brother's son or another person's son into his own descendants if he has no son. There are strict regulations on adopting sons. Men who have no children are allowed to inherit, and only nephews with similar seniority are allowed to inherit. An only son is not allowed to inherit. After adoption, a parent-child relationship was established between the heir and his successor parents, and the heir enjoyed the right to sacrifice to the ancestral temple and inherit property.

Baby marriage: A marriage arranged by a man and a woman by their parents when they were young.

Warm house: refers to the day before marriage, relatives and friends come to the new house to congratulate them; prepare gifts to congratulate them on moving to the new house.

Tea is a gift: Tea ceremony, a traditional marriage custom of the ancient Han nationality, is also called "betrothal gift" and "betrothal gift". In ancient times, when a man asked a matchmaker to send a dowry gift to the woman's home, tea must be included in the dowry gift. Therefore, in Han folk customs, a woman's employment was called "receiving tea" and the dowry gift was called "tea gift".

Beating gifts: also known as betrothal gifts, etc.

The bride's head is covered: also known as the "head cover". When getting married, cover the bride's head and face with a red handkerchief, scarf or phoenix crown.

Passing the bag and begging for a child: One of the Han wedding customs and etiquette is that the bride comes to the door. The man's family covers the floor with a bag so that the bride walks on top of the door. The bag that the bride passed by quickly passed by was spread on the ground in front of her. It was called Chuanbao. Bag and "generation" are homophonic, taking on the auspicious omen of inheriting the family line.

The ceremony of worship, the opening of the tent, the closing of the bun and the drinking of wine are traditional steps in marriage etiquette.

Breaking up a new house: Also known as "teasing daughter-in-law" or "disturbing the house", it is carried out on the night of the wedding. Regardless of their elders, peers, or younger generation, they gather in the new house to congratulate the new couple. The drama is unusual and there are no taboos. There are saying that "there is no big or small for three days" and that "the more noisy it is, the happier it is."

Huimen: Huimen is also known as Guining, a traditional marriage custom of the Han nationality. It refers to the first time a woman returns to her mother's family to visit relatives after marriage.

Throw colored balls: This is a custom among ethnic minorities. It is not common in the Central Plains to choose a man to marry into his family.