[
    {
        "id": 211077,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1987",
        "page_number": 138,
        "title": "RAS-1987",
        "content_text": "113\n\non the right side were stitched six $1000 notes. On either side of the characters were strips of red paper with gold inscriptions wishing the young couple health and good fortune, from the various family members who had contributed the money.\n\nOutside in the street female relatives and friends of the groom were busily cleaning cooking utensils and preparing for a feast. Other women were practising banging the gong and dancing in step, in readiness for the 'Dragon Boat' dance they would perform. Although the Hoklo people in Yim Liu Ha have been settled on land for more than four decades they still retain many of their customs originally performed on water. Instead of the bridegroom being transported by boat to worship and to fetch his bride, on land he is carried along in a procession called pa lung sung (扛龍船) by pairs of women pretending to row a dragon boat.\n\nThese women are gaily dressed in matching pairs with straw hats decorated with plastic flowers and paper tassels. Round their necks they wear collars embroidered and sequinned with nine Chinese characters symbolizing good fortune: up, down, in, out, double happiness, then the same ones repeated around the other side. At their waists they wear aprons in the same colour as the collar, and each woman carries a yellow painted stick to resemble an oar. Often the family will possess its own set of wedding attire, made by a clever seamstress within the family, but in this case the whole set had been borrowed from another family.\n\nAt 10 am the procession was ready to leave the groom's home. The women formed themselves into four pairs, with one at the front to bang the gong, and another older woman at the back carrying a fan, with her left trouser leg rolled up above the knee, who was said to represent the tail of the dragon. Then, at a given signal, the women set off at a steady pace, moving in a rhythmic rocking motion to suggest the rowing of a boat.\n\nThey were followed by two men who formed the head and back part of the Chilin, while behind them walked the band banging a large gong and clashing cymbals. Then came the bridegroom and his best man, both wearing Western suits of the latest fashion, with the groom in white shirt, maroon cummerbund and matching bow",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211078,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1987",
        "page_number": 139,
        "title": "RAS-1987",
        "content_text": "114\n\nTie. The best man held a black umbrella over the groom, draped with a strip of red cotton: although it was not raining, bad spirits may have been about and it is common Chinese tradition to protect those about to be married from harm befalling them.\n\nThe procession reached the temple of Ma Jo (#), the Hoklo name for Tin Hau. This is the main temple in Yim Liu Ha. The women redoubled their rowing efforts and the Chilin cavorted and stretched as the groom and best man went in. After making obeisance to the god, they came out, bowed and lit incense at the little shrine opposite the temple, all the while to the deafening accompaniment of gongs and cymbals.\n\nFirecrackers were set off and after a further brief visit to the temple, the procession continued on its way to the shrine of the earth god, To Dei Gung (±‡A) at the beginning of the village. Two of the rowers were now carrying small branches of kumquat leaves with which they flailed the air. The Chilin pounced and postured, incense was burned as a sign of respect, and the god offered food from a basket of carefully arranged chickens and other tasty morsels. The bridegroom and best man bowed to the god, more firecrackers were set off, and the procession reformed to return to the house, taking with it the basket of food.\n\nThe proceedings so far had taken about an hour, and all felt entitled to a rest. Then at 11:30 am, the procession resumed as the bridegroom prepared to leave the village to collect his bride from Kwan Tei. This time he was carrying a bouquet of artificial pink roses to give to the bride. The women rowers had increased in number: the drummer at the front now wearing a funny hat, while of the eight in the middle, two pairs were wearing aprons while two pairs were not. These were followed by the woman representing the tail of the dragon, and then by a \"fortunate\" woman whose parents were both living and who had several children. She was carrying a round rattan sieve with pomelo leaves, cypress leaves, and two pieces of ginger root, traditional emblems of marriage, long life, and fertility. After this came the Chilin, the band, and the groom and best man with the umbrella.\n\nThey stopped briefly outside the temple and the earth god to",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211079,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1987",
        "page_number": 140,
        "title": "RAS-1987",
        "content_text": "115\n\nbow once more, then the procession wended its way round the village square to where the groom's car and those of his attendants were parked. The groom's car was decorated in the usual fashion with rosettes along the bonnet and a Western doll in a white dress at the centre. Cymbals clashed, the Chilin postured around each wheel and to the front and back to prevent bad spirits from following the groom and best man into the car. Firecrackers were set off and the car left for Kwan Tei accompanied by friends and relatives.\n\nAt 1.30 pm we returned to find everyone waiting in the village square. The women had really entered into the fun by embellishing their outfits, and were now dressed in funny hats with small leafy branches stuck in some of them. The old woman with the rolled up trouser leg who was playing the part of the dragon's tail, was now wearing a yellow plastic colander, decorated with beads and ornaments, upturned on her head. At her back she had a small cushion stuffed under her sam which had been tied tightly to form a large lump! She was carrying a pink plastic beaker, and holding a wooden stick with a red piece of cloth tied to the top. Two women were holding a bamboo pole, supposed to be the rudder, which had crushed beer cans tied to the bottom and at the top a small branch of kumquat leaves. More women now prepared to join the Dragon Boat procession. Those without the proper accessories improvised by either wearing ordinary kitchen aprons, or else ones to which they had added some handsome decoration of beads and embroidery at the neck. There was an air of great frivolity as all entered into the spirit of the festivities.\n\nSoon the car returned carrying the bride and groom. More firecrackers were set off, cymbals clashed and the Chilin cavorted around the car, covering it, touching it, and bowing to each wheel. The women with bamboo poles and tin cans danced as the assembled crowd fought enthusiastically to get a first look at the bride. She was dressed in the traditional hung kua and red leather shoes, with cypress leaves and gold ornaments in her hair, and was carrying the bouquet given to her by the groom.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211080,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1987",
        "page_number": 141,
        "title": "RAS-1987",
        "content_text": "116\n\nThe dragon boat procession reformed and set off in the direction of the groom's home where the newly weds would live. Two women in front were wearing funny hats: one banging the gong while the other thumped a plastic oil drum. They were followed by eight pairs of women rowing in formation, while at the back were the two women with the rudder of tin cans and the woman representing the dragon's tail. Above the bride's head was held the sieve of pomelo leaves and ginger root, carried by the 'fortunate' woman. One attendant, wearing a Western style short evening dress, was carrying a pink umbrella held over the bride, to which was tied a sprig of cypress and pomelo leaves with red cord. A second attendant carried the red and gold patterned tin suitcase known as gar chong (#), containing the jewellery the bride had been given, while a further attendant brought a large suitcase with the bride's belongings. Another woman carried a white enamel basin decorated with red characters for double happiness and flower motifs. In the basin food and other items were wrapped in red cellophane paper, and decorated with cypress leaves.\n\nThe procession stopped briefly in front of the earth god and again firecrackers were set off. At the Ma Jo temple the young couple paused and bowed three times before continuing to their new home. Cymbals rose to a crescendo; the couple, followed by other relatives and the Chilin, went into the house, and a long string of firecrackers was set off.\n\nThe rest of the procession now dispersed as those inside the house settled down for a cool soft drink. It was now 2.15 pm and in the street women were feasting on food prepared that morning, especially on a salty vegetable soup known as ham choy cha (**), chicken, and for dessert, sweet dumplings which are only served at Lunar New Year and special occasions such as wedding ceremonies. These are considered a lucky symbol of getting together. Later that afternoon the newly weds would offer tea to the groom's parents, and then at 6.00 pm all who had taken part in the ceremony were invited to a restaurant in the village of Sha Tau Kok for a large feast to round off the day's festivities.\n\nPlates 19-23 illustrate this article. They were taken by the author.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211278,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1987",
        "page_number": 339,
        "title": "RAS-1987",
        "content_text": "Plate 19. The 'Dragon Boat' procession with Chilin (B) and bridegroom in the background).\n\nPlate 20. The 'fortunate' woman carrying the sieve with pomelo leaves, cypress leaves and ginger root.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522",
        "rank": 0
    }
]