中英雙語話中國民風民俗 第25期:封建婚姻的條件
Conditions Required in a Feudal Marriage
封建婚姻的條件In feudal society,a marriage would be decided not by a young couple's love, but by their parents' desires. Only after o matchmaker's introduction and when parents considered the two family conditions were similar and could be matched，would the marriage procedures go forward. Conditions that should be taken into consideration included wealth and social status. If a boy’s family was well-off or an official family,his parents would never permit him to marry a girl from a poor family. Essential to the marriage process were the commonly recognized "three Letters and six etiquettes". The three letters were the betrothal letter,the gift letter with a gifts list and the wedding letter used on the day the bridegroom met his bride at her home. Six etiquettes then led to the final wedding ceremony.
在封建社會，婚姻不是由年輕夫婦的戀愛決定的，而是由他們的父母的願望決定的。只有在媒人的介紹下，當父母認爲兩人家庭條件相似，並且可以匹配，結婚纔會繼續辦理。應考慮的條件包括財富和社會地位。如果男方的家境殷實或是官員家庭，他的父母絕不會允許他娶一個家貧的女孩。婚姻過程中的普遍認可的必不可少的是“三書六禮”。三書是訂婚信、禮單和新郎去他的新娘家迎娶那一天用的婚書。六禮儀則是通向最後的婚禮儀式。
