Hui marriage custom: A Yi reads "Nikaha" to the bride and groom

Wedding is a great gift in the lives of the Hui people. Hui elderly people often call holding and completing their son's marriage "unloading the burden" and believe that this is a "lifelong event" and the responsibility of the elderly. The Hui people attach great importance to weddings, but since the Hui people are distributed all over the country, there are many forms of Hui weddings.

According to historical records, most of the marriage customs of the Hui people are conducted in accordance with canons. If you want to marry a wife, you have to go through procedures such as asking a matchmaker to propose marriage, giving gifts, writing a marriage certificate, and choosing an auspicious day to get married.

The Hui people in Linxia first invite a matchmaker, second order tea, third accept betrothal gifts, and fourth marry. Whether it is from historical records or actual surveys, the wedding customs of the Hui people are similar in various places. They go through the following main procedures: asking a matchmaker to propose marriage, watching the person take care of the house, talking about seliamu (also called tea fixing), arranging flowers (also called engagement), marrying, reading Nikaha, saxi, making a wedding ceremony, setting up needlework, returning to the door, etc.

When the bride enters the bridal chamber and the guests entering the house, the host arranges for the reception of the guests, and on the other hand asks Aisu to read "Nikaha" to the bride and groom: a square table is set up in the center of the main room, with Aisu sitting on the top, and the witnesses and parents sitting on the left and right. A blanket is spread on the ground. The groom and bride kneel or stand on it to listen to Aisu's teachings. Aisu read out relevant fragments of the Koran, and then explains it in Chinese. The effect is: Marriage is a sign of adulthood and the beginning of a couple's life. From then on, people should fulfill all kinds of responsibilities; they must strictly abide by the teachings, be filial to their parents, be humble to others, take charge of housework, abide by the law, and advance in their studies.

Then Ah Xie faced the witness and asked the groom,"Will you take her as your wife?" The groom should make a statement immediately if he wants to. Ask the bride again: "Will you marry him?" If the bride expresses her willingness, the imam will announce that from today on, the two of you are officially married and tell the groom and bride to respect and love each other and live forever.

The groom should send the bride a small red envelope containing 20 yuan or 50 yuan, and the bride should send the groom a red cloth egg or a "needle needle" to express her love for the couple, share weal and woe, and never part. The groom will also ask the bride if she understands the most basic teachings of Islam. If she answers, she can spend her honeymoon. If she fails, the groom will teach again, and the bride must be willing to accept it.

Needlework was held on the afternoon of the wedding day or the morning of the next day. In the past, the purpose was to see how well the bride was doing with her needlework. She would display the shoes she made for her parents-in-law, her husband's clothes, embroidered pillowcases, purses, etc. before going through the door. Let everyone appreciate it. At the same time, select a quick and eloquent person to improvise the speech, boast, praise and exaggerate, and introduce to everyone that the bride is a skillful, capable person. The main reason for setting up needlework now is to see what her family has given her new daughter-in-law to her dowry, and what furniture, electrical appliances and daily necessities the husband's family has bought for the newlyweds.

When the needlework ceremony was ready, the man's family selected a lobbyist and praised the woman's family for buying many and good things and being courteous. For example, Yang Sihu, a Hui nationality in Yuwang Township, Tongxin County, Ningxia, said when he looked at the needle and thread: Gold and silver ropes are hung in the air, and all kinds of items are arranged in the same manner.

Red handkerchiefs and peony flowers, silk scarves and corridors.

Pillows with flowers are embroidered and painted, and beauty products are not bad.

The felt quilt won't fit, and the glass mirror will shine tomorrow.

The moon is as big as the washbasin, and a clock has a great effect.

The sewing machine is placed on the stand, and the flying pigeon cart matches it.

Sweater wool is worn in spring and autumn, and a wind and snow coat can keep out the cold.

Polyester, polyester, and Dacron have a complete range of costumes in all four seasons.

After finishing his praise, he said that the woman's family had sent a family like a mountain of gold and accompanied so many things. We couldn't afford it, so we said to the woman's relatives that they had "sex".

The woman's family generally also asks for lobbyists to repay the man, praising the man's family for being rich and generous, and providing a happy and good family for future generations. For example, Ma Fenglan, a Hui woman in Pingluo County, once said a "Song of Needles and Needles": Black cylinders and white edges, and cars deliver eggs for life.

Red silk, green satin, the girl found a good man.

The sofa bed, TV, boxes and cabinets are divided into high and low levels.

The young couple smiled and the two old people relaxed.

Some even said a paragraph on behalf of the matchmaker and cook after finishing their needlework song, praising their contributions.