中西婚禮差異英文版

1、.中西婚禮差異英文版Differences Between Chinese Marriage Custom and Western MarriageCustomAbstractThere are many procedures in Chinese marriage custom. Thebook propriety and ceremony, which records earliest wedding ceremony, says that marriage includes six etiquettes, namely, proposing, asking the name, askin

2、g for fortune, sending betrothal presents to the girl's family, discussing the date of marriage and meeting the bride. In western marriage, there are four procedures.They are proposal, changing surnames, choosing the day and holding the wedding. As the different religions, cultural origins, marr

3、iage concepts and geographies, there are many differences existing in the two kinds of marriage customs. In Chinese marriage custom, the matchmaker functions almost all the time and youths have no right to choose and women are not on an equal footingwith men. By contrast, in western marriage custom,

4、 the priest functions and the youths have legal right to choose whom theywant to marry and men and women are equal. There also exist common things in the two sides. They have been maintained for thousands of years. But in recent years (especially after the.下載可編輯 .founding of modern China), people ha

5、ve tended to discard some ofthedetailsandadvocatesimplifiedmarriageproceduresandwedding ceremonies.Key Words ：Marriage custom; differences; reasons摘要中國婚俗有著許多的儀式 。最早記載婚禮習(xí)俗的 儀禮云：“婚有六禮，納采、問名、 納吉、納征、請期、親迎?！倍谖鞣絿抑饕? 個程序，即建議，改姓，選期和舉行婚禮 。 由于宗教 、文化根源 、婚姻觀念以及地理環(huán)境的不同在一定程度上導(dǎo)致了中西方婚俗的不同。在中國婚俗中 ，媒人起著決定性的作用 ，而作為

6、婚姻當(dāng)事人的青年男女卻沒有選擇的自由和權(quán)力 ，而且男女在婚姻中的不平等現(xiàn)象也屢有出現(xiàn) 。 在西方 ，是牧師在婚姻中起作用 ，并且青年男女有合法的權(quán)力去選擇自己的夫婿或妻子 。當(dāng)然中西方的婚俗也存在相同的地方。它們存在了上千年之久 。近年來 （特別是新中國成立之后 ），中西結(jié)合的婚姻屢有出現(xiàn) 。關(guān)鍵詞婚俗；差異；原因IntroductionMarriage is formed in a long historical evolution of the marriage.下載可編輯 .custom in a nation. It is the regularity of the activitie

7、s that restrainspeople's awareness of marriage and marriage. Marriage custombinding does not depend on the law, and it can not rely on sciencetestsneither,buton the forceofhabit,traditionalcultureandnational psychology. During the development of human history, theinstitution of marriage and fami

8、ly system has experienced differentprocessesofdevelopment.Humanhaveexperiencedgroupmarriage,thedualsystemofmarriageandindividualmarriagesystem (monogamy).As a union of a man and a woman and a family formation stage,marriageincludesnotonlymarriage,butalsothepreparationphaseforthemarriageandtheperform

9、ancestageafterthefestivities. It runs through the whole process of life. These customs,as anationalsymbolandculturaldevelopment,playsaveryimportant role in ethnic studies and the history of mankind.China is a country with an ancient civilization and a long history,and many customs. Among so many cus

10、toms, there is a particularmarriagecustom.Thiscustomgoes throughvariousandlongstages of development from ancient simple wedding ceremony tolatercomplexceremony, from feudal marriage custom tothemodern free marriage custom. During these courses, peopleare progressing, though we can not say that their

11、 ideas are up to.下載可編輯 .the top of mankind s ideas in all over the worldall overat the timebecause there are still backward ideas existing in many places, inmany people s mind and they maybe will still exist for a long time.However, they are up to the top of mankind s ideas in a certainstage of the

12、uninterrupted development of ideas.Greek civilization is thebase ofwesternculture. Britain plays animportant role in western history and western culture, and of coursemarriage custom.Comparing with each other, they are different in many aspects suchas in right aspectandinfreedom aspectand there arem

13、anyreasons that result in these differences such as cultural reason andgeographical reason.I. Chinese Marriage CustomLike other folk, marriage custom has the same development andevolving process.In theearlydaysofhumanity, thehumanrelationship in a very long period of time still carried the irregular

14、relations like the animal world.Therewasno marriageatall, ifsuggest some, the only "arbitrary marriage."In China, marriage has gone through for a long time. As a mostgrand etiquette, it has always been a high degree of attention. Tocontrol the marriage, the family and the whole society, si

15、nce thebeginning of Zhou Dynasty, Chinese marriage should comply with.下載可編輯 .six procedures, which is the so-called "six etiquettes." And Later in Tang and Ming Dynasty in China, marriage also complied with the"six etiquettes". As time goes by, although many wedding customs exper

16、ienced various changes "Six etiquettes" as the basic patternhas not changed much. It is still essential and core in marriage custom.Marriage has changed much today, but in many places, there stillremains traditional marriage custom.In feudal society, a marriage would be decided notby the y

17、outhslove, but by their parents' desires. Only after amatchmaker'sintroductionandwhen parentsconsidered thetwo familyconditions were similar and could be matched, would the marriageprocedures went forward. Conditions that shouldbetaken intoconsideration included wealth and social status. If

18、a boy's familywas well-off or an official family, his parents would never permit himto marry a girl from a poor family. Essential to the marriage processwere the commonly recognized 'three Letters and six etiquettes'.The three letters were the betrothal letter, the gift letter with a gif

19、tslist and the wedding letter used on the day the bridegroom met hisbride at her home.The book propriety and ceremony, which records earliest weddingceremony,saysthat marriage,usually, involvessix necessary.下載可編輯 .procedures, namely, proposing, asking the name, asking for fortune, sending betrothal

20、present to girl's family, discussing date of marriage and meeting the bride.A. Proposing:Proposing is the first etiquette in marriage and is the first meet between the members in the two families. Thus, it is very important. Using a common expression, it is making an offer of marriage to another

21、 family on behalf of the son or daughter.If the parents thought that the girl could be the daughter-in-law inold times, they would ask a matchmaker for sending the gifts andbring the son and the girl together. If the girlon the marriage, they would accept the gifts. People usually used a wild goose

22、when sending the gifts. Because the wild gooses could fly to the south or the north according to the seasons and theywould never change it which implied the woman would be punctual and also because when the wild gooses flied they were in a row andwhen they stopped they were in a line which implied t

23、hat womanshould comply with the marriage rules and arrange in order thatone should not breach it.B. Asking the NameIt aims to ask for girl s name and pray.In ancienttimesthegirlnames wouldnotbe knownby other s parents al.下載可編輯 .people until the girl was in an age of marriage.First, one must have the

24、 matchmaker and inform of the manthrough a card. And the man s family would lastly receipt for postalremittance. Thus it can be seen that“ asking the name” nomeant that the man s family wanted to know the girl s namalso wrote down the woman s birthday and-charactersEight (in fourpairs denoting the t

25、ime, date, month and year of a personeach pair consisting of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch,used in fortune-telling). If the birthday and Eight-characters werenot harm the man, the man s family would lastly receipt for postalremittance. Sometimes the woman s parents also wrote down theoffi

26、cial position of the woman-grandpa,s grandpagreat and fatherand the dowry that could be supplied. What s interesting is thatduring this progress it was the matchmaker that functioned, not theman sfamily orthewoman sfamily. Matchmakerwasalsoimportant in the other procedures. In traditional Chinese ma

27、rriage,peoplebelieved“ behest oftheparentsandproposal of amatchmaker” . That s why many marriages in the past were arrangedbyparentsandmatchmakers.Matchmakerproposalwasthemarriage s valid basis in Tang dynasty.Ithasbeensimplifiedtoday. Manymarriagedoesnotneedthisprocess.下載可編輯 .C. Asking for FortuneA

28、fter asking the name, the bridegroom s side had got the womanbirthdayandEight-Charactersandtheywentto consultafortune- teller then which was called“ asking.It includedforfortune”two aspectsofcontents.Onewas consultthefemalevirtues.Ancient people regarded female virtues as the most important onein th

29、egospelof threeobedience thatwere obedienceto one sfatherbeforemarriage,toone husband aftermarriag e, andtoone sonafterone husbanddeathsandfourvirtuesthat wasmorality, proper speech, modest manner, and diligent work for awoman according to Confucian ethics.Zhong lichun, Zhuge Liang s wife (Zhuge Lia

30、ng was a statesman andstrategist in the period of the Three Kingdoms, now a symbol ofwisdom in Chinese folklore) was famous for her ugliness, wisdomand high female virtues. A man in old times always had many wives.In order to solidifying and stead in the family, people paid muchattentionto female vi

31、rtues. Hence there was the saw“ Marry wifmarrying virtues and take a concubine is marrying appearanceThe other one was consult good or bad luck. If they were not fit foreach other in Eight- Characters according to the birthday and whatsmore, the woman would harm the man, the result was that thismarr

32、iage would not be held and would be cancelled. If the result.下載可編輯 .was fit for each other and moreover the woman would make theman prosperous, the man s side would inform the woman s sthrough the matchmaker and send the betrothal gifts and exchangecards. Thus the marriage was actually decided to be

33、 held.D. Sending Betrothal Presents to the Girl s FamilyThe book propriety and ceremony wrote by the scholars in Handynasty regards it as sending money. If there is no receipt of gifts,there is no marriage. Hence whether receipt the gifts or not is theimplication of the agreement of the marriage by

34、the womanThe significance of it includes two aspects of meaning. One is thethanks for the woman s parents because the parents feed up her.The other is help the woman s family prepare for dowry.E. Discussing the Date of MarriageIn the past, the bridegroom s side decided the lucky day and sentthe matc

35、hmaker to inform of the womanPeoplespaidfmilymuch.attention to the marriage time. They usually had a person looked atthe almanac or asked for fortune. They liked having marriage inspring orautumn becausespring was thetimethat everythingcomes back to life and time whenspringwaschanging intosummer and

36、 was favor to pregnant with new life; autumn was theseason of harvest. After the labor for a year, people had enoughmoney to hold the marriage.下載可編輯 .Nowadays, it is also an important event. People pay many attentions to it.F. Meeting the BrideThe marriage is finally held after the five procedures.

37、In the past, the bridegroom wore wedding suit, riding on a horse, and guided the bridal sedan chair to marry the bride on the day. And the brideworea redcheongsamwaitingforthebridegroom.Now,thebridegroom wares western suit, and the bride wares wedding dress and usually in a car.II. Western Marriage

38、CustomIn the middle ages children were married at a young age. Girls wereas young as 12 when they got married, and boys as young as 14.The arrangement of the marriage was based on monetary worth.The familyof the girlwhowas tobe marriedgave a dowry,ordonation, to the boy she was to marry. The dowry w

39、ent with her when the marriage was held and stayed with the boy forever afterthe marriage. After the marriage was arranged, a wedding notice was posted on the door of the church. The notice was put up to ensure that there were no grounds for prohibiting the marriage. Thenotice stated who was to be m

40、arried, and if anyone knew any reasons that the two could not marry, they were to come forwardwith the reason. If the reason was a valid one the wedding would be.下載可編輯 .prohibited.There were many reasons for prohibiting a marriage. One reason was consanguinity, if the two were too closely related. I

41、f the boy or the girl had taken a monastic or religious vow, the marriage wasalso prohibited. Sometimes widows or widowers took vows of celibacy on the death of their spouse, and later regretted doing so when they could not remarry. Other reasons which also prohibitedmarriage, but were not grounds f

42、or a divorce, were rape, adultery, and incest. A couple could not be married during a time of fasting,such as lent or advent. Nor could a couple be married by someone who had killed someone.In the middle ages there were few reasons the wedding could be dissolved. One reason was if either the man or

43、woman were not of legal age, 12 for girls and 14 for boys. If the husband or wife hadpreviously made a religious or monastic vow or were not Christian, the marriage would be dissolved. The last reason a marriage couldendwas ifthewoman,nottheman,was incapableof*ualrelations.A. ProposalWhen the prospe

44、ctive groom had obtained his fathermarry, a formal marriage proposal had to be made. The prospectivegroom did not propose in person but sent his friends or members s consen.下載可編輯 .of his family to represent his interest to the prospective bride and her family. If they saw a blind man, a monk or a pr

45、egnant womanduring their journey, it was believed that the proposal would not be accepted as these signs were thought to bring bad luck. If, however, they saw nanny goats, pigeons or wolves, this was a good omen which would bring good fortune to the marriage.During Medieval times in western countrie

46、s, the man proposed by leaving a hawthorn branch at the door of his beloved on the first of May. By leaving the branch at the door she accepted his proposal.She made known her refusal by replacing the hawthorn branch with a cauliflower.B. Changing SurnamesIt was thought unlucky for a woman to marry

47、a man whose surname began with the same letter as hers. The sentiment was summarized in the following thyme:To change the name and not the letter is to change for the worstand not the betterThe bride should not practice writing her new name before the wedding. This was thought to bring bad luck by t

48、empting fate. C. Choosing the DayAlthoughmostweddingsnowtake placeon a Saturday,it wasconsideredunluckyinthepast.Fridayswerealsoconsidered.下載可編輯 .unlucky particularly Friday the 13th. The famous old rhyme advised a wedding in the first half of the week: Monday for wealthTuesday for healthWednesday t

49、he best day of allThursday for lossesFriday for crosses (= funerals)Saturday for no luck at allAdvice on which month to marry in was given by the followingrhyme:Married when the year is new, he'll love, kind and true.When February birds do mate, you neither wed nor dread your fate.If you wed whe

50、n March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you'll know.Marry in April when you can, Joy for Maiden and for Man.Marry in the month of May, and you'll surely rue the day.Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you'll go.Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bred.Whoever w

51、ed in August be, many a change is sure to seeMarry in September's shrine, your living will be rich and fine.If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember.When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.下載可編輯 .

52、Marry in May and you'll live to rue the dayMayhad beenconsideredan unluckymonthtomarryin foranumber of reasons. In Pagan times the Feast of the Dead and the festival of the goddess of chastity both occurred in May. The advice was taken more seriously in Victorian times than it is today. In most Churches the end of April wa