למד סינית בסין עם בית הספר קיטס

Actually, in ancient China when matchmaker is a necessary part of a marriage, matchmakers were mixed group of people. Alongside with official matchmakers, the majority of matchmakers were married women who worked as peddlers or who worked in service industries such as fruit sellers, tailors, needle sellers, jewellery sellers, barbers, nannies, brokers, creditors and restaurant […]

Matchmakers were supposed to be paid when they succeeded in arranging a marriage. If it happened that the in-laws were on good terms, the couple enjoyed a happy married life and the wife gave birth to a male progeny, the matchmaker would enjoy long-term benefits. When it came to festivals, birthdays or the New Year, […]

For their own benefits, matchmakers would try their best to negotiate a positive outcome for each marriage proposal, even through cheating. In reality, there were numerous matchmakers who forgot what was right to get the prospective profit and made money at the sacrifice of the future couple’s happiness. Chen Duo (1488-1521), a poet in the […]

The chamber pot could not be carried on the dowry table. It is called “happy pot” or “offspring pot” to express good wishes to the couple and their children. Inside it people often put some dried jujubes, peanuts, melon seeds, red half-boiled eggs etc. respectable families might wrap it up in a large piece of […]

In Shaoxing of Zhejiang Province, after a daughter was born, her parents would brew wine with polished glutinous rice and refined malt. After the wine was made, they would store the wine in several jars and ask skillful painters to paint or carve on the jars designs of hills, waters, flowers, birds, pavilions, towers, buildings […]

Ethnic minority groups were also particular about dowries. For example, the Miao people’s dowries include a pair of twin bamboo plants, which were covered with red cloth. They were carried to the bridegroom’s home by the bride’s uncle and planed soon after the wedding. It is said that this custom originated from an old legend […]

Before sending the dowries to the bridegroom’s home, the bride’s family would display all the dowries in the courtyard or on the empty ground. After the display, the trousseaux would be loaded onto the dowry tables one after another. The greater the display, the more respected the bride’s family would be. After that, the wedding […]

When procession bearing the dowry reached the bridegroom’s family, there would be a great din of drums, pipes and fireworks over the sky to welcome its arrival. It was a complex process for people to unload the dowries. Usually a close relative of the bride’s family would present a list of the items and read […]

The people in Henan Province like the TV program “Spring in Theater” very much. It’s an opera singing competition. All the contestants were amateurs and most were women. The lead roles in most Henan operas are intended for women. The most popular piece women perform is from the opera “Hua Mulan”. Almost everyone, from a […]

A water banquet has two requirements and the first one is that soups are the only hot dishes allowed to be presented. The second requirement is that once a dish is finished, it is immediately followed with another dish; like the process of continuously flowing water. In total, twenty four dishes are served at a […]