“Just as a good horse will not carry two saddles,
A chaste maiden will not marry two husbands.”
The floor from the door to the bridal chamber is covered with red carpet, along which the bride is conducted to the chamber, after she has worshipped heaven and earth with the bridegroom. Her mother now bids her farewell, and returns to her own home.
When in the bridal chamber, the bridegroom and bride sit upon a bed, face to face. An “offspring dumpling” is brought in, and handed to the bridegroom, who eats a mouthful. It is next handed to the bride, who takes a small piece into her mouth, and afterwards spits it out, as an omen that the marriage will be productive of a numerous offspring. The bridegroom then comes out of the bridal chamber, and the bride is left alone, still sitting on the bed. The first ceremony on the second day is called “the holding of the precious vase”. This vase contains gold, silver, precious stones and grain, and is covered with red silk, and tied with silk thread. The bride holds it in her arms all day long, until the pair retire to rest. During the day, the bridegroom attends to the guests, who are engaged in feasting. The majority of them disperse at noon, leaving behind only those who are either related to, or very intimate with, the family. They stay on till five or six in the evening, when they also leave. About ten o’clock the bridegroom returns to the bridal chamber, accompanied by his mother, and ascends the bridal couch, on which the bride is still sitting. On the four corners of the bed are placed laichees, lung ugan, chestnuts, and dates, which are intended to indicate that the pair will produce an early, numerous, and intelligent offspring. There is a lamp in the room, called “the longevity lamp”, which is kept burning all night. Before the pair retire to rest, the mother of the bridegroom, holding in her hand a bowl containing “longevity dough”, feeds both the bride and bridegroom, and then departs, leaving the happy pair alone.
The bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber soon after,
