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| Folk Customs-
Hakka Village > A Hakka Wedding |
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The
elaborate ceremony called "passing over the rice sifter"
is part of the wedding rites of the Hakka in Shibi.
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A large rice sifter is put in front of the
crowd, and the bride's new clothes are the first things that
are passed over the sifter. The bride takes a bath in the side
room, while the clothes that have just been passed over the
sifter are sent into the room for her to put on. Then every
article in the dowry is passed over the sifter before it is
put into a new wooden suitcase. Afterwards, the bride's sisters-in-law
take the rice sifter and walk three times around the red candles,
which implies that all bad luck will be sieved off and the bride
will bring good luck to her husband's home.
After the bath, the bride puts on a new red dress and her feet
are no longer allowed to touch the ground. She is carried on
the back of a family member and brought to sit in the ancestral
hall, when the master of ceremony combs the bride's hair three
times, washes her face three times and feeds her three mouthfuls
of rice. This rite signifies an end to her girlhood and life
in her parents' home. Then the same old lady helps the bride
put on a bronze mirror to keep away evil and a small pouch full
of rice and other grains.
Suddenly, mournful music comes from outside the ancestral hall,
immediately bringing tears to the bride's eyes. The weeping
girl is again carried on the back of a relative and out of the
ancestral hall. As soon as she crosses the threshold, a member
of her family splashes a whole basin of clear water in front
of the door, an act symbolizing the wish that the new couple
will have a happy life together. |
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