..

by wenhousecrafts.com

The Eastern Weddings of the Westerners

13 Feb 2008

During the Chinese New Year festival, an traditional Chinese wedding parade led by three horses appeared on a street in Fujian Province, but the groom and two of his Best Man were not Chinese; a woman walking behind the horses, in a traditional Chinese matchmaker’s appeal, was not Chinese either. In the middle of the rapade, there was a red sadden, and sitting in the sadden was a Chinese bride, but her face was covered in a red scarf.

The proud groom and two of his Best Man on horses wearing red silk flowers, leading the parade.

This is a tradtional Chinese wedding for a Westerner. The groom was a Frenchman working in Nanjing. When his Chinese bride was ready for a white wedding of the West, the groom somehow decided to go China red.

The gloom uses a measurement rod of a Chinese style scale to lift the head cover of his bride. In an authentic ancient Chinese way, this would be the first time when groom set his eyes on the woman with whom he was about to spend his whole life.

The wide sleeves red gown and the red hat with two trange wings at the both side were originally designed for the first price award recipient of the national scholarship exam hosted by emperor, and worn on the day of his proud winning parade along the main streets of the Chinese capital (be it Xian, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Nanjing or Beijing). Later, particularly during the highly scholarship-oriented Song and Ming dynasties, they also became the standard wedding dress that allowed everyman to feel he was at the top of his life achievement, even just for one day.

Pre: Chinese Dialects
Next: A Bridge Is Emerging