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In the olden days, the marriages of Straits-born
Chinese were arranged by their parents with the help of
a match-maker or go-between. Astrologers were consulted
to find out if the horoscopes of the young man and young
woman were suitable and, if so, to fix a day for the
marriage. The two people most
concerned were seldom consulted. Often, the
bridegroom saw his bride for the first time only on the
wedding day. Before the wedding, several things had to
be done in the bride's house and for the bride. First,
the front room to be used for the ceremony had to be
prepared. An altar, about 6 feet high, to represent the
height of the heavens was set up to the God of Heaven.
It consisted of two carved tables – the lower one was
made of dark wood and was shorter and broader than the
red table, which was placed on top of it. This upper
table had a red embroidered cloth hung in front of it.
It also had a red embroidered runner on which were
placed joss sticks in holders filled with rice and
covered with red paper, and two red candles. There were
also oranges with strips of red paper around them, and
pieces of sugar cane. Inside the front room, at the
rear, was the regular altar to the Domestic God (for
example, the Goddess of Mercy), with joss sticks,
smaller candles, three cups of tea, and a vase of
flowers. By the side of it, were four tall red candles.
Secondly, the bride had to be prepared for her wedding.
According to the traditional idea of beauty, her upper
and lower front teeth were filed so that they would form
an even line. Her eyebrows were plucked to form a fine
arch. All the fine hairs on her face were also plucked
out. This was done by stretching a thread and drawing it
up and down her face. Her hair was also cut into a very
short fringe high above her forehead. Thirdly, a white
wedding suit had to be cut and sewn for the bride and
the bridegroom out of the finest cotton material. This
was the responsibility of the bride's mother. The
brides' suit consisted of trousers and a blouse with
Chinese buttons and long sleeves. Because it was later
to be worn beneath the formal red wedding gown, it had a
plain circular neck and the trousers were not too long
so that they would not be seen when the red gown was put
on. The dress was as loose as possible because it was
customary for the bride to wear it at death, so
allowance was made for the bride to put on weight. A
similar white wedding dress – Chinese jacket and
trousers – was cut and sewn for the bridegroom out of
the same material. The bride's mother also provided two
pairs of pyjamas and a pair of embroidered slippers for
the bridegroom as he was to spend twelve nights are the
wedding as a guest in the bride's house. Finally, the
bridal chamber had to be prepared. the color scheme
throughout was pink and red, which were thought to be
lucky colors. For instance, the mosquito net was light
pink, and the bedsheet and pillow cases were another
shade of pink. These were usually made of satin. Before
the bed was made, a little boy was made to roll from one
side of the bed to the other. This was to ensure that
the first-born child would be a son ! |
