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Rough Horseplay at Weddings |
Teasing the bride |
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origin From files we can get some information about the folk legend. A long time ago, a god of twelve stars in heaven came to this mortal world. His name is Ziwei star. There he met a woman who was dressing in funeral clothing chasing a group of bridal party team. He had known the woman’s evil plot, so he decided to follow the team and see what would happen. When he arrived there, the woman was already hidden in bridal chamber. So Ziwei star stayed outside the room and stopped the new couple entering it when they finished the worship of heaven and earth. He told people there was a devil in the room. He suggested that a devil would not do evil when a lot of people gathered there because the more people were there the more frightened a devil felt. In this way, the bridegroom invented many guests to enjoy amusement in the bridal chamber, so the laughter drove the devil away. That is the origin of the custom of rough horseplay at weddings. |
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News Stories We went to a teammate brother's wedding and found most people who attended in rough horseplay were friends of the new couple. They constructed many tricks and hoaxes. What fun there was!
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Happy laughter |
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According to expert We contacted Mr. Zhu Shikui, a folkways expert of Qinghai province, by telephone. Mr. Zhu Shikui said, among the folk society, “Everyone doesn’t need to treat others with respect, no matter whom or what he is during the first three wedding days.” The folk people consider that rough horseplay at weddings can drive away devils and bad fortune, and bring peace and good luck. Folk people in Qinghai are not barbarians. They have nice culture of rough horseplay at weddings. The book A Dream of Red Mansions (also named The Story of the Stone) mentioned that, if the bride drinks a cup of tea provided by bridegroom’s family, she agrees to marry him. The tea is a matchmaker. And some others like making bride and bridegroom walk on a single-plank bridge, eat one apple at the same time can all bring laughers and pleasure. They are nice tricks in rough horseplay at weddings. |
Telephone interview |
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