Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 86

1841.

Notices of China, No. V.

69

of letters, but on which there is nothing written. Only those who have received these cards in due form can be present at the nuptials. The bridegroom is always the bearer of them, and in delivering them to the guests, he at the same time makes to each a present of two cakes made of rice flour, cooked in water and colored red. The persons invited must, a few days before the fête, send him a sum of money equal to and even greater than the expenses they will be con- sidered as occasioning. The least sum is eighty cash for a child, and a hundred and forty or more for an adult. This contribution serves not only to cover the cost of the bridal feast, but the additional

expenses.

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The second day of the wedding, the husband carries to the same gests, another card of invitation, like the first and with the same formalities, and everything passes off as on the preceding day. On the second day, the bride goes to present her respects to the ladies who have honored the nuptials by their presence, and makes a genu- flection to each. They, in return, each make her a present of a ring, or something else, of indeterminate value. The smallest they can give, however, must be worth at least 40 cash. The young gentlemen, invited to the wedding, unite together after the feast, and make the bridegroom a present of two Chinese lanterns. In the course of the night the guests in concert get up a hurly-burly to the wedded pair. In the midst of the uproar, and when the latter are supposed to be asleep, the former try to break into their apartment, either by forcing the door, or by making a hole in the wall, in order to carry off some of the garments, or other things belonging to the married couple... If they succeed, the husband is obliged to repur- chase the stolen articles.

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In the ceremonies that accompany marriage entertainments, the gravity of Chinese manners does not allow of those animated signs of mirth, which we often see among us under similar circumstances, but on the other hand they indulge in many indecencies which our morals forbid. Throughout the whole of the fête, music is incessant, and the scene closes with a comedy, performed by professional actors, whose theatrical pieces are in as bad taste as those of the merry- andrews that go about our country to amuse people with their farces. Before the guests retire, they make an image of paper, or something else, representing a little child, which they carry to the bridal bed, to secure a son for the first-born. The comedians receive a handful of cash for their services. Should the father and mother of one of the betrothed happen to die, the marriage is postponed during the season