题目The Differences of Traditional Wedding.docx

题目The Differences of Traditional Wedding.docx

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题目TheDifferencesofTraditionalWedding

题目TheDifferencesofTraditionalWedding

AmongChinaAndWesternCountries

作者姓名

指导教师

二级学院外国语学院

专业英语

学号

2012年3月19日

Abstract

Sincetheancienttimes,Marriageisthemostimportantthinginourlife.Bythemulticolouredpavonineandwonderfulweddingcustoms,peoplecanalsoacquaintthemselveswithoursocialhistoryclearly,andexplorethefundamentallawofDevelopmentofhumansociety.WithChina’saccessiontotheWTO,theeconomicandculturalcommunicationbetweenChinaandotherwesterncountriesincreasinglyfrequent,theCooperationrelationsbetweenpeopleincreasinglysurge,therequirementsrefersmoreandmoreindispensable.Theunderstandingoftheculture,mannersandcustomsofwesterncountriesisfarfromenough,sowewillstarttostudythecultureandcustomofwesterncountries.

Keywords:

Marriage;cultureandcustom

摘要

自古以来，婚姻是人伦之首，人们可以通过纷繁绚丽的婚俗，更加清晰地认识人类社会，探索人类社会发展的基本规律以及其文明程度的发展。

婚姻习俗的不同以及文化间的差异，影响了人伦文化的发展以及民族风俗习惯的交流。

随着中国加入WTO，中国和西方国家间的经济，文化交流日益频繁，中国和西方国家人民之间的合作和往来与日俱增，这种要求更显迫切，同时也在婚俗文化方面呈现出不同程度的影响与借鉴。

简单对于中西方国家文化，风俗习惯的了解是远远不够的，因此我们需要开展对西方国家文化，风俗习惯的研究，以及联系中国不同婚俗习惯，结合国情背景，探索出一个汇集中西方文明的切入点。

关键词：

婚姻；文化与习俗

Contents

AbstractI

ContentsIII

Introduction1

1.Preparation1

1.1Choosingthedateofmarriage1

1.1.1China1

1.1.2Westerncountries2

1.2Traditionsofmarriage5

1.2.1Changingsurnames4

1.2.2Experiencesofbrides5

1.2.3Flowers5

1.2.4Nuts6

1.2.5Doublehappiness7

1.2.6Happinesscandies8

1.2.7Lotusroot9

1.2.8Redenvelope9

1.3Thenightbeforethewedding10

1.3.1Inwesterncountries10

1.3.2InChinese10

2.Dressing10

2.1Westerndressing11

2.1.1Veil11

2.1.2Gloves11

2.2Chinesetraditionaldressing12

2.2.1Phoenixcoronet12

2.2.2XiaPi12

2.2.3Redveil13

3Weddingdayceremony13

3.1Themaincolor ofwedding13

3.1.1Chinesered13

3.1.2Western’swhite14

3.2Theprocessofwedding14

3.3Activities16

3.3.1Shoes16

3.2Theweddingcake17

3.3.3Bouquet17

3.3.4Crossingthethreshold17

3.3.5Thehoneymoon18

3.3.6Noisywedding18

3.3.7Cross-cuppedwine19

3.3.8Preparingthebridalbed19

3.3.9Dowry20

3.3.10Bride’sReturn20

4Causes21

4.1Culturalorigins21

4.2Marriageconcepts22

4.3Geographies22

Conclusion23

Bibliography25

Acknowledgment26

Introduction

Marriageisformedinalonghistoricalevolutionofthemarriagecustominanation.Asaunionofamanandawomanandafamilyformationstage,marriageincludesnotonlymarriage,butalsothepreparationphaseforthemarriageandtheperformancestageafterthefestivities.Itrunsthroughthewholeprocessoflife.Thesecustoms,asanationalsymbolandculturaldevelopment,playsaveryimportantroleinethnicstudiesandthehistoryofmankind.Chinaisacountrywithanancientcivilizationandalonghistory,andmanycustoms.Amongsomanycustoms,thereisaparticularmarriagecustom.Thiscustomgoesthroughvariousandlongstagesofdevelopmentfromancientsimpleweddingceremonytolatercomplexceremony.Bycontrast,inwesternmarriage,thepriestfunctionsandtheyouthshavelegalrighttochoosewhomtheywanttomarryandmenandwomenareequal.Becauseofthedifferentculturalorigins,marriageconceptsandgeographies,therearemanydifferencesexistinginthetwokindsofmarriagecustoms.

1.Preparation

1.1Choosingthedateofmarriage

1.1.1China

InChina,whenpeopledecidetogetmarried,thefirstimportantthingistochooseanauspicioustime.ItsaysWellbegan,halfdone.Buttherearemanytaboosforawedding.Forexample,theweddingcannotbeheldinMarchastheTomb-sweepingDaywhichrelatestoghost.What’smore,Chinesepeoplebelieveastoryaboutawomancalled“sanliang”whoalsodroveothersapartinancient,sothedaysabouthermentioned:

3,7,18,22,27inamontharenotsuitableforawedding.Itisanimportanteventtochoosealuckydayformarriage,andpeoplepaymuchattentiontothemarriagetime.Theywenttoconsultafortune-tellerandaskedforfortune,whatisonthebasisofthebrideandgroom’sbirthdayandEight-characters.Theylikedhavingmarriageinspringorautumn,becausespringwasthetimethateverythingcomesbacktolifeandallthethingsarefullofvigor.Autumnwastheseasonofripeandharvest,anditmeansagoodbeginning.

1.1.2Westerncountries

Inwestern,althoughmostweddingsnowtakeplaceonaSaturdayitwasconsideredunluckyinthepast.FridayswerealsoconsideredunluckyparticularlyFridaythe13th.Thefamousoldrhymeadvisesaweddinginthefirsthalfoftheweek:

Mondayforwealth

Tuesdayforhealth

Wednesdaythebestdayofall

Thursdayforlosses

Fridayforcrosses

Saturdayfornoluckatall

Adviceonwhichmonthtomarryinisgivenbythefollowingrhyme:

Marriedwhentheyearisnew,he’lllove,kindandtrue.

WhenFebruarybirdsdomate,youwednordreadyourfate.

IfyouwedwhenMarchwindsblowjoyandsorrowbothyou’llknow.

MarryinAprilwhenyoucan,JoyforMaidenandforMan.

MarryinthemonthofMay,andyou’llsurelyruetheday.

MarrywhenJunerosesgrow,overlandandseayou’llgo.

ThosewhoinJulydowedmustlaborfortheirdailybred.

WhoeverwedinAugustbe,manyachangeissuretosee

MarryinSeptember’sshrine,yourlivingwillberichandfine.

IfinOctoberyoudomarry,lovewillcomebutrichestarry.

IfyouwedinbleakNovember,onlyjoyswillcome,remember.

WhenDecembersnowsfallfast,marryandtruelovewilllast.

MarryinMayandyou’lllivetoruetheday

Mayhasbeenconsideredanunluckymonthtomarryinforanumberofreasons.InPagantimesthestartofsummerwaswhenthefestivalofBeltanewascelebratedwithoutdoororgies.Thiswasthereforethoughttobeanunsuitabletimetostartmarriedlife.InRomantimestheFeastoftheDeadandthefestivalofthegoddessofchastitybothoccurredinMay.TheadvicewastakenmoreseriouslyinVictoriantimesthanitistoday.InmostChurchestheendofAprilwasabusytimeforweddingsascoupleswantedtoavoidbeingmarriedinMay.QueenVictoriaisthoughttohaveforbiddenherchildrenfrommarryinginMay.

“MarryinLent,livetorepent”

Lentwasthoughtaninappropriatetimeforaweddingasthiswasatimeofabstinence.

JunewasconsideredtobealuckymonthtomarryinbecauseitisnamedafterJuno,theRomangoddessofloveandmarriage.

Thesummerasawholewasconsideredagoodtimetomarryandthisispartlytodowiththesun’sassociationwithfertility.InScotlandonepopularcustomwasforthebrideto“walkwiththesun”tobringhergood.Shewouldwalkfromeasttowestonthesouthsideofthechurchandthencontinuewalkingaroundthechurchthreetimes.

IfyouwedinbleakNovember,onlyjoyswillcome,remember.WhenDecembersnowsfallfast,marryandtrueloveandmarriage.

Junewasconsideredtobealuckymonthtomarryin,becauseitwasnameafterJune,theRomangoddessofloveandmarriage.

Thesummerasawholewasconsideredagoodtimetomarryandthiswaspartlytodowiththesun’sassociationwithfertility.

1.2Traditionsofmarriage

1.2.1Changingsurnames

Itwasthoughtunluckyforawomantomarryamanwhosesurnamebeganwiththesameletterashers.Thesentimentwassummarizedinthefollowingthyme:

Tochangethenameandnottheletteristochangefortheworstandnotthebetter.Thebrideshouldnotpracticewritinghernamebeforethewedding.Thiswasthethoughttobringbadluckbytemptingfate.

1.2.2Experiencesofbrides

Somethingoldmustbesomethingthathasbelongedtoahappilymarriedwomantoensurethetransferofhappiness.

Somethingnewisnormallythegownorshoes.

Somethingborrowedshouldbegoldtoensurefuturewealthandfortune.

Somethingblue,symbolizesmodesty,fidelityandlove.

Theplacingofasilversixpenceinthebride’sshoewastoensurewealthinthecouplesmarriedlife.Todaysomebridessubstituteapennyintheirshoeduringtheceremonyassilversixpencesarelesscommon.

1.2.3Flowers

Flowershavealwaysbeenusedfordecorationatweddings.

Somepeoplechoosetheflowersattheweddingonthebasisoftheirsymbolicmeaning.Forexample,brangeblossomhasalwaysbeenassociatedwithweddingsbecauseitsignifiespurityandchastity.

Peniesareavoidedbysomeastheyrepresentshame;azaleasrepresenttemperance:

rosessymbolizeandsnowdropsrepresenthope.

Acombinationofredandwhiteflowersisavoidedbythesuperstitiousbecausetheystandforbloodandbandages.

Forever,peoplefromdifferentregionsmayattachothermeaningstothesameflower.Forexampleliliessymbolizemajestytosomebutarethoughtunluckybyothersbecauseoftheirassociationwithdeath.

Thegroomoftenchoosesaflowerforhisbuttonholewhichalsooccursinthebride’sbouquet.Thisisavestigeofthetimewhenaknightwouldwearhislady’scolorstodisplayhislove.

Therearealotoftaboosandcustoms,forinstancethedowryofthebridehavescissors（FlyingButterflies）,aspittoon（descendantsbarrel）,feet（fertiletenthousandare）,candy（sweetsweethoney）,wallets,belts（wealthy）,vases（Blossoming）,bronzebasinandshoes（withChung-kaitotheold）,Dragonwas,bedsheetsandpillowpair,twopairsofchopstickstiedwithredstringandbowl（withfoodandclothing）,seventytwosetsofclotheswithcypress,lotusseeds,longanandLeeisaccompaniedby（clothed）andotheritems,eachitemhasitsowndifferentkindofsignificances.NowIwilltellafewtypicalexamples:

同时，在婚礼进行时也有一定的顺序，按一般的情况，在整个婚礼过程中有：

祭祖（男方在出门迎娶新娘之前，先祭拜祖先。

）、出发（迎亲车队以双数为佳。

）、燃炮（迎亲礼车行列在途中，应一路燃放鞭炮以示庆贺。

）、等待新郎（礼车至女方家时，会有一男童侍持茶盘等候新郎，新郎下车后，应赏男孩红包答礼，再进入女方家。

）、讨喜（新郎应持捧花给房中待嫁之新娘，此时，新娘之闺中