Note 22 — II.—BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH.

The ceremonies which take place after the first meeting of the bride and bridegroom recall in a minor degree certain superstitions which obtain elsewhere than in China. Thus the bride’s face is hidden by a long white veil not unlike that worn by Egyptian women when they venture abroad. This points to a motive similar to that inducing amongst the old Anglo-Saxons the use of the “care cloth,” made of white linen, which was held over the pair as the nuptial benediction was pronounced, to hide the blushes of the bride. If the bride was a widow, this was dispensed with, and similarly in the rare event of a Chinese widow re-marrying she dispenses with a veil. The bride and bridegroom after their first interview go through an act of worship known as “worshipping Heaven and Earth.” A table is set out, and on it are placed some lighted candles, a lighted censer, and the following articles: two miniature white cocks made of sugar, five kinds of dried fruit, a bundle of chopsticks, a foot measure, a mirror, a pair of shears and a case containing money scales.22 The fruits are frequently placed on a platter of willow wood, which, as every one knows, is supposed to possess supernatural properties in places other than China. The precise signification of the shears is not very clear to the Chinese themselves, but they regard them as typifying industry. It is odd, however, to find that knives known as “bride knives” formed part of the wedding outfit of our great-great-grandmothers. Mirrors, says Brand,23 “were formerly used by magicians in their superstitions and diabolical operations, and there was an ancient kind of divination by the looking glass.” As regards the white cock, I shall have more to say about this bird under the heading of superstitions connected with deaths. When its images made of sugar are used as above described, an attendant breaks off a portion of each and gives them to the newly-married pair to eat. All the articles displayed are intended to be omens of prosperity and future harmony. Upon the same table as these are shewn on, are placed two oddly-shaped goblets, which are filled with a mixture of wine and honey, of which both bride and bridegroom partake. Honey plays a similar part at Sicilian marriages, a spoonful of the pleasant, but sticky, liquid being administered to each of the contracting parties by two of the attendants directly the marriage ceremony has been performed.