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1OntheDifferencesandIntegrationbetweenChineseandWesternWeddingRitualsIIntroductionMarriageisformedinalonghistoricalevolutionoftheweddingritualsinanation.Itistheregularityoftheactivitiesthatpromotespeople'sawarenessofmarriage.Weddingrituals’foundingdoesnotdependonthelaw.Itcannotrelyonsciencetests,butontheforceofhabit,traditionalcultureandnationalpsychology.Duringthedevelopmentofhumanhistory,themarriageinstitutionandfamilysystemhaveexperienceddifferentprocessesofdevelopment.Astheunionofamanandawoman,marriageincludesnotonlywedding,butalsothepreparationphaseforthemarriageandtheperformancestageafterthefestivities.Itrunsthroughthewholeprocessoflife.Thesecustomsplayaveryimportantroleinethnicstudiesandthehistoryofmankind.Chinaisacountrywithanancientcivilizationandalonghistory,andmanyrituals.Amongsomanycustoms,thereisaparticularoneweddingritual.Thiscustomhasgonethroughvariousandlongstagesofdevelopmentfromancientsimpleweddingceremonytolatercomplexceremony,fromfeudalweddingritualtothemodernfreeweddingritual.Duringthesecourses,people’sideasareprogressing,thoughwecannotsaythattheirideasreachtothetopofmankind’sideasallovertheworldoverallthetimebecausetherearestillbackwardideasexistinginmanyplaces,inmanypeople’smindsandmaybetheywillstillexistforalongtime.However,theyreachtothetopofmankind’sideasinacertainstageoftheuninterrupteddevelopmentofidea.2Greekcivilizationisthebaseofwesternculture.Britainplaysanimportantroleinethnicstudiesandthehistoryofmankind.Comparingwitheachother,theyaredifferentinmanyaspectssuchasinrightaspectandinfreedomaspectandtherearemanyreasonsthatresultinthesedifferencessuchasculturalandgeographicalreasons.Withthedevelopmentofthemodernsociety,people’sconceptshavechangedalot.Moreandmorepeoplewanttohaveaspecialweddingceremonywhichisuniqueintheworld,andmoreandmorepeoplechoosetheirwivesandhusbandswithoutthinkingaboutwhichcountrytheyarefromorwhatracetheybelongto.Sothemodernweddingritualscomeintobeing,inbothEastandWest.TheintegrationofChineseandWesternweddinghelpsustoformamorecivilizedsociety.Peoplecanlearntoliveabetterlifewithothers.Throughthisthesiswewillfindoutthedifferencesandintegration.Andmakeabetterunderstandingofthemarriageculture,andthenwecanuseittohelpustopayattentiontothematerialandspiritualcivilizationtomakeourcountrystandforthedirectionofhistory.IIChineseWeddingRituals2.1OldChineseWeddingRitualsLikeotherthings,weddingritualshavethesamedevelopmentandevolvingprocess.Intheearlydaysofhumanity,thehumanrelationshipinaverylongperiodoftimestillkepttheirregularrelationsliketheanimalworld.Marriage,inChina,hasgonethroughalongtime.Asamostgrandetiquette,ithasalwaysgivenahighdegreeofattention.SincethebeginningofZhouDynasty,Chineseweddingshouldcomplywithsixprocedures,whichistheso-calledsixetiquettes.AndLaterinTangandMingDynasty,marriagealsocompliedwiththesixetiquettes.Astimegoesby,althoughmanyweddingritualsexperiencedvariouschangesSixetiquettesasthebasic3patternhasnotchangedmuch.Itisstillessentialandcoreinweddingrituals.Weddinghaschangedmuchtoday,butinmanyplacestherestillremainstraditionalweddingrituals.Infeudalsociety,aweddingwouldbedecidednotbytheyoungcouple,butbytheirparents'desires.Onlyafteramatchmaker'sintroductionandwhenparentsconsideredthetwofamilyconditionsweresimilarandcouldbematched,wouldtheweddingprocedureswentforward.Conditionsthatshouldbetakenintoconsiderationincludedwealthandsocialstatus.Ifaboy'sfamilywaswell-offoranofficialfamily,hisparentswouldneverpermithimtomarryagirlfromapoorfamily.Essentialtotheweddingprocesswerethecommonlyrecognized'threeLettersandsixetiquettes'.Thethreeletterswerethebetrothalletter,thegiftletterwithagiftslistforthegirl’sfamilyandtheweddingletterusedonthedaythebridegroommethisbrideatherhome.Thebookproprietyandceremony,whichrecordsearliestweddingceremony,saysthatwedding,usually,involvessixnecessaryprocedures,namely,proposing,askingthename,askingforfortune,sendingbetrothalpresenttogirl'sfamily,discussingthedateofweddingandmeetingthebride.(Confucius6)2.1.1Proposing:Proposingisthefirstetiquetteinweddingandisthefirstmeetbetweenthemembersinthetwofamilies.Thus,itisveryimportant.Usingacommonexpression,itismakinganofferofmarriagetoafamilyonbehalfofthesonordaughter.Iftheparentsinoldtimesthoughtthatthegirlcouldbethedaughter-in-lawinoldtimes,theywouldaskamatchmakerforsendingthegiftsandbringthesonandthegirltogether.Ifthegirl’sparentsalsoagreedonthemarriage,theywouldacceptthegifts.Peopleusuallyusedawildgoosewhensendingthegifts.Becausethewildgoosescouldflytothesouthorthenorthaccordingtotheseasonsandtheywouldneverchangewhichimpliedthewomanwouldbepunctualandalsobecausewhenthe4wildgoosesfliedtheywereinarowandwhentheystoppedtheywereinalinewhichimpliedthatwomanshouldcomplywiththemarriagerulesandarrangeinorderthatneithershouldbreachit.2.1.2AskingtheNameItaimstoaskforgirl’snameandpray.Inancienttimesthegirl’snamewouldnotbeknownbyotherpeopleuntilthegirlreachedanageofmarriage.First,theman’sfamilymusthavethematchmakerandinformthegirl’sfamilythroughacard.Andtheman’sfamilywouldwriteoutpostalremittance.