Taiwanese Traditional Marriage

Taiwanese traditional marriage is a ceremony with a very specific set of customs related to all
kinds of superstitions held by Taiwanese people from the older generations. To this day, many of
these traditions and customs are still kept to preserve the significance of marrying away a
daughter. This is critical for those who study Asian culture to understand that Taiwanese
ancestors and older generations emphasized the duties of a daughter. The traditional Taiwan
wedding is a fairly long process. Every step, action, and even object of the wedding conveys its
own symbolic meaning. For instance, the color red is one of the biggest themes because red
symbolizes good luck in Chinese culture. Moreover, a daughter is educated from a young age
about her duty to serve and honor her husband. The wedding process includes the farewell
ceremony, the welcoming ceremony, and the wedding ceremony, all accompanied by particular
customs and their symbols.

Farewell Ceremony
The first step of Chinese Traditional Marriage is the
preparation to send the daughter away. This happens at the
brides house with her biological family. The bride eats tangyuan (stuffed glutinous rice dumplings in sugar water; seen in
Figure 1, right) for the last time with her family. The Chinese
word tang-yuan (rice dumping) sounds like the other word
tuan-yuan, which means reunited. Thus, eating the stuffed
dumplings symbolizes the last time the bride shares a meal
with her parents and siblings as part of her original family.

Figure 1: Tang-yuan are usually white

and pink colored, and can be served
hot or cold.

After eating tang-yuan with her original family, the bride kneels down and knocks her forehead
against the floor three times as a symbol of her thanks for the parents sacrifices for her
upbringing and education. Then her father puts a square-shaped red cloth over the brides head
and face. The reason behind the red (symbolizing good luck) cloth over brides head is to prevent
her from knowing where her husbands house is; thus she is forbidden to run away from her
husbands house. Traditionally, brides are not supposed to be seen by anyone, including the
groom, until the entire ceremony is completed.
Once the bride leaves the house, she is carried by a red decorated sedan (see Figure 2, left) which
is a form of transportation used in the older days. It is shaped like a box and is hollow on the
inside. It consists of two windows on the sides, covered by red curtains, and two thick handles,
each pair extended to the front and back of the red hollow box. The bride sits in the sedan carried
by four servants from her original house to the grooms house. The bride then throws a little
paper fan, previously hidden in her wedding clothes, out of the sedan. This means that the bride
will throw away all her bad temper and habits before marrying into the grooms family. The
parents of the bride spill a bucket of water outside their house. The spilling of water represents
that once their daughter is married, there is no taking her back, just like the water.
Figure 2: A Chinese traditional red sedan
with double happiness written on the
side.

Welcoming Ceremony
Before coming into the grooms family, the
bride must step over a bucket of fire in order
to burn off all the bad luck, and she steps
on a red tile to break the tile. Breaking the
red tiles has two meanings. The first meaning
is to break the ice between the grooms
family and the bride so they can live a
peaceful life together. The second meaning
derives from the obligation of passing on the
bloodline; the brides virginity is to be broken on the day of marriage in bringing
fertility to her husband and his family.
Meanwhile, Chinese firecrackers (shown in Figure 3, right)little explosives tied
together into a long firecracker usually with a letter on the topare lit to congratulate the newly
wedded couple, and also to scare ghosts away.

Wedding Ceremony

Figure 3: Chinese firecracker

with the word luck on the
top; lit from the bottom.

After the welcoming ceremony, the bride bows to the statues of the gods and ancestors, then to
the grooms parents, and finally the bride and groom bow to each other. When this process is
over, the groom takes off the red cloth on the brides head covering her face. If the bride and
groom were brought together through arranged marriage, this would be the first time the groom
sees his newly-wedded wife.
The bride is then brought to the grooms bedroom. Together, they sit on a bench with the grooms
pants under the bench. This is an action done in hopes to get sons in the future. Shortly after, the
groom escorts the bride to the living room. Next, the bride is obligated to pray to the gods and
ancestors in respect, and then serve all elders in the grooms family with hot tea. If the parents of
the grooms side accepts the brides tea (rarely does the parent not accept the tea), the bride is
considered part of the family.
The Big Picture
In the traditional Taiwanese wedding, several common themes hold the wedding together. First
of all, every step of the tradition has a symbolic meaning. Symbols are tied into objects and
actions with all good intentions. For instance, several objects such as the brides head-cover and
the Chinese firecrackers are decorated in red for good luck. Secondly, older generations have in
mind a filial daughter is to be married into her husbands family to fulfill her obligation as a
woman- serving her husband and his family. Some customs are done in blessing the bride in
fertility and obedience to her husband and his family. Finally, these traditions are done by
generations after generations; they hold great meanings to all the Taiwanese as a whole. As
collectivists, Taiwanese believe a daughter should always be reminded of her obligations and
duties as a woman.