Artist: Nakagawa Tadahide source: Records of Ring Customs (1799) collection: Setsuon Library
On the third day after the wedding, the bride and the groom will prepare gifts and go to the bride's home to pay respect to her parents and relatives. This is known as Huiqian or Huimen. The bride's parents will hold a banquet to entertain them. When the newlywed couple is ready to go back to the groom's home, the bride's parents will also prepare gifts for the groom's family.
Funeral Rituals
Funeral rituals are the most complicated and solemn of all rites and customs. The major funeral rituals during the Qing Dynasty include: Chuzhong (initial departing), Chengfu (dressing in mourning), Baosang (declaring death), Guanlian (encoffining), Diaoyan (paying homage to the deceased), Jiesan (welcoming the spirit of the deceased on the third day after the funeral), Chengzhu, and Fayin. During the funeral procession, the eldest son carries a streamer, walking in front of the procession followed by the second eldest son holding the tablet and other family and relatives "carrying crying-over-death sticks covered with white." The eldest daughter-in-law will carry a special kind of pot. Other rituals include burning the pillow and breaking the basin. The funeral procession consists of a drum band, funeral wreaths, elegiac couplets, errand-men, Buddhist or Taoist monks, family and relatives of the deceased, the coffin, carriages and sedans, and so on. The scale and organization of the funeral procession varies considerably, depending on the wealth and status of the bereaved families.
World History
