中西婚礼差异英文版.docx

中西婚礼差异英文版.docx

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中西婚礼差异英文版

中西婚礼差异英文版

DifferencesBetweenChineseMarriageCustomandWesternMarriageCustom

Abstract

TherearemanyproceduresinChinesemarriagecustom.Thebookproprietyandceremony,whichrecordsearliestweddingceremony,saysthatmarriageincludessixetiquettes,namely,proposing,askingthename,askingforfortune,sendingbetrothalpresentstothegirl'sfamily,discussingthedateofmarriageandmeetingthebride.Inwesternmarriage,therearefourprocedures.Theyareproposal,changingsurnames,choosingthedayandholdingthewedding.Asthedifferentreligions,culturalorigins,marriageconceptsandgeographies,therearemanydifferencesexistinginthetwokindsofmarriagecustoms.InChinesemarriagecustom,thematchmakerfunctionsalmostallthetimeandyouthshavenorighttochooseandwomenarenotonanequalfootingwithmen.Bycontrast,inwesternmarriagecustom,thepriestfunctionsandtheyouthshavelegalrighttochoosewhomtheywanttomarryandmenandwomenareequal.Therealsoexistcommonthingsinthetwosides.Theyhavebeenmaintainedforthousandsofyears.Butinrecentyears（especiallyafterthefoundingofmodernChina）,peoplehavetendedtodiscardsomeofthedetailsandadvocatesimplifiedmarriageproceduresandweddingceremonies.

KeyWords：

Marriagecustom;differences;reasons

摘　要

中国婚俗有着许多的仪式。

最早记载婚礼习俗的《仪礼》云：

“婚有六礼，纳采、问名、纳吉、纳征、请期、亲迎。

”而在西方国家主要有4个程序，即建议，改姓，选期和举行婚礼。

由于宗教、文化根源、婚姻观念以及地理环境的不同在一定程度上导致了中西方婚俗的不同。

在中国婚俗中，媒人起着决定性的作用，而作为婚姻当事人的青年男女却没有选择的自由和权力，而且男女在婚姻中的不平等现象也屡有出现。

在西方，是牧师在婚姻中起作用，并且青年男女有合法的权力去选择自己的夫婿或妻子。

当然中西方的婚俗也存在相同的地方。

它们存在了上千年之久。

近年来（特别是新中国成立之后），中西结合的婚姻屡有出现。

关键词

婚俗；差异；原因

Introduction

Marriageisformedinalonghistoricalevolutionofthemarriagecustominanation.Itistheregularityoftheactivitiesthatrestrainspeople'sawarenessofmarriageandmarriage.Marriagecustom’sbindingdoesnotdependonthelaw,anditcannotrelyonsciencetestsneither,butontheforceofhabit,traditionalcultureandnationalpsychology.Duringthedevelopmentofhumanhistory,theinstitutionofmarriageandfamilysystemhasexperienceddifferentprocessesofdevelopment.Humanhaveexperiencedgroupmarriage,thedualsystemofmarriageandindividualmarriagesystem（monogamy）.

Asaunionofamanandawomanandafamilyformationstage,marriageincludesnotonlymarriage,butalsothepreparationphaseforthemarriageandtheperformancestageafterthefestivities.Itrunsthroughthewholeprocessoflife.Thesecustoms,asanationalsymbolandculturaldevelopment,playsaveryimportantroleinethnicstudiesandthehistoryofmankind.

Chinaisacountrywithanancientcivilizationandalonghistory,andmanycustoms.Amongsomanycustoms,thereisaparticularmarriagecustom.Thiscustomgoesthroughvariousandlongstagesofdevelopmentfromancientsimpleweddingceremonytolatercomplexceremony,fromfeudalmarriagecustomtothemodernfreemarriagecustom.Duringthesecourses,people’sideasareprogressing,thoughwecannotsaythattheirideasareuptothetopofmankind’sideasinallovertheworldat  alloverthetimebecausetherearestillbackwardideasexistinginmanyplaces,inmanypeople’smindandtheymaybewillstillexistforalongtime.However,theyareuptothetopofmankind’sideasinacertainstageoftheuninterrupteddevelopmentofideas.

Greekcivilizationisthebaseofwesternculture.Britainplaysanimportantroleinwesternhistoryandwesternculture,andofcoursemarriagecustom.

Comparingwitheachother,theyaredifferentinmanyaspectssuchasinrightaspectandinfreedomaspectandtherearemanyreasonsthatresultinthesedifferencessuchasculturalreasonandgeographicalreason.

I.ChineseMarriageCustom

Likeotherfolk,marriagecustomhasthesamedevelopmentandevolvingprocess.Intheearlydaysofhumanity,thehumanrelationshipinaverylongperiodoftimestillcarriedtheirregularrelationsliketheanimalworld.Therewasnomarriageatall,ifsuggestsome,theonly"arbitrarymarriage."

InChina,marriagehasgonethroughforalongtime.Asamostgrandetiquette,ithasalwaysbeenahighdegreeofattention.Tocontrolthemarriage,thefamilyandthewholesociety,sincethebeginningofZhouDynasty,Chinesemarriageshouldcomplywithsixprocedures,whichistheso-called"sixetiquettes."AndLaterinTangandMingDynastyinChina,marriagealsocompliedwiththe"sixetiquettes".Astimegoesby,althoughmanyweddingcustomsexperiencedvariouschanges"Sixetiquettes"asthebasicpatternhasnotchangedmuch.Itisstillessentialandcoreinmarriagecustom.

Marriagehaschangedmuchtoday,butinmanyplaces,therestillremainstraditionalmarriagecustom.

Infeudalsociety,amarriagewouldbedecidednotbytheyouths’love,butbytheirparents'desires.Onlyafteramatchmaker'sintroductionandwhenparentsconsideredthetwofamilyconditionsweresimilarandcouldbematched,wouldthemarriageprocedureswentforward.Conditionsthatshouldbetakenintoconsiderationincludedwealthandsocialstatus.Ifaboy'sfamilywaswell-offoranofficialfamily,hisparentswouldneverpermithimtomarryagirlfromapoorfamily.Essentialtothemarriageprocesswerethecommonlyrecognized'threeLettersandsixetiquettes'.Thethreeletterswerethebetrothalletter,thegiftletterwithagiftslistandtheweddingletterusedonthedaythebridegroommethisbrideatherhome.

Thebookproprietyandceremony,whichrecordsearliestweddingceremony,saysthatmarriage,usually,involvessixnecessaryprocedures,namely,proposing,askingthename,askingforfortune,sendingbetrothalpresenttogirl'sfamily,discussingdateofmarriageandmeetingthebride.

A.Proposing:

Proposingisthefirstetiquetteinmarriageandisthefirstmeetbetweenthemembersinthetwofamilies.Thus,itisveryimportant.Usingacommonexpression,itismakinganofferofmarriagetoanotherfamilyonbehalfofthesonordaughter.

Iftheparentsthoughtthatthegirlcouldbethedaughter-in-lawinoldtimes,theywouldaskamatchmakerforsendingthegiftsandbringthesonandthegirltogether.Ifthegirl’sparentsalsoagreedonthemarriage,theywouldacceptthegifts.Peopleusuallyusedawildgoosewhensendingthegifts.Becausethewildgoosescouldflytothesouthorthenorthaccordingtotheseasonsandtheywouldneverchangeitwhichimpliedthewomanwouldbepunctualandalsobecausewhenthewildgoosesfliedtheywereinarowandwhentheystoppedtheywereinalinewhichimpliedthatwomanshouldcomplywiththemarriagerulesandarrangeinorderthatoneshouldnotbreachit.

B.AskingtheName

Itaimstoaskforgirl’snameandpray.

Inancienttimesthegirl’snamewouldnotbeknownbyotherpeopleuntilthegirlwasinanageofmarriage.

First,onemusthavethematchmakerandinformoftheman’sfamilythroughacard.Andtheman’sfamilywouldlastlyreceiptforpostalremittance.Thusitcanbeseenthat“askingthename”notonlymeantthattheman’sfamilywantedtoknowthegirl’sname,butalsowrotedownthewoman’sbirthdayandEight-characters（infourpairsdenotingthetime,date,monthandyearofaperson’sbirth,eachpairconsistingofoneHeavenlyStemandoneEarthlyBranch,usedinfortune-telling）.IfthebirthdayandEight-characterswerenotharmtheman,theman’sfamilywouldlastlyreceiptforpostalremittance.Sometimesthewoman’sparentsalsowrotedowntheofficialpositionofthewoman’sgreat-grandpa,grandpaandfatherandthedowrythatcouldbesupplied.What’sinterestingisthatduringthisprogressitwasthematchmakerthatfunctioned,nottheman’sfamilyorthewoman’sfamily.Matchmakerwasalsoimportantintheotherprocedures.IntraditionalChinesemarriage,peoplebelieved“behestoftheparentsandproposalofamatchmaker”.That’swhymanymarriagesinthepastwerearrangedbyparentsandmatchmakers.Matchmaker’sproposalwasthemarriage’svalidbasisinTangdynasty.

Ithasbeensimplifiedtoday.Manymarriagedoesnotneedthisprocess.

C.AskingforFortune

Afteraskingthename,thebridegroom’ssidehadgotthewoman’sbirthdayandEight-Charactersandtheywenttoconsultafortune-tellerthenwhichwascalled“askingforfortune”.Itincludedtwoaspectsofcontents.Onewasconsultthefemalevirtues.Ancientpeopleregardedfemalevirtuesasthemostimportantoneinthegospelofthreeobediencethatwereobediencetoone’sfatherbeforemarriage,toone’shusbandaftermarriage,andtoone’ssonafterone’shusband’sdeathandfourvirtuesthatwasmorality,properspeech,modestmanner,anddiligentworkforawomanaccordingtoConfucianethics.

Zhonglichun,ZhugeLiang’swife（ZhugeLiangwasastatesmanandstrategistintheperiodoftheThreeKingdoms,nowasymbolofwisdominChinesefolklore）wasfamousforherugliness,wisdomandhighfemalevirtues.Amaninoldtimesalwayshadmanywives.Inordertosolidifyingandsteadinthefamily,peoplepaidmuchattentiontofemalevirtues.Hencetherewasthesaw“Marrywifeismarryingvirtuesandtakeaconcubineismarryingappearance”.

Theotheronewasconsultgoodorbadluck.IftheywerenotfitforeachotherinEight-Charactersaccordingtothebirthdayandwhat’smore,thewomanwouldharmtheman,theresultwasthatthismarriagewouldnotbeheldandwouldbecancelled.Iftheresultwasfitforeachotherandmoreoverthewomanwouldmakethemanprosperous,theman’ssidewouldinformthewoman’ssidethroughthematchmakerandsendthebetrothalgiftsandexchangecards.Thusthemarriagewasactuallydecidedtobeheld.

D.SendingBetrothalPresentstotheGirl’sFamily

ThebookproprietyandceremonywrotebythescholarsinHand