Tea & Wedding

Chinese ancient people often associate tea with marriage, they believe that tea represents the character of constancy and purity, but also symbolizes more children and happiness, which is very consistent with the widely popular concept of marriage in ancient China, so various customs of tea and wedding have been passed down to today.

It proposes marriage to the woman’s family on behalf of the man’s family. In some ethnic groups in Yunnan Province, men propose to a woman with tea and other items. If the woman accepts the “tea gifts”, the marriage will be decided. Otherwise, the woman will return these gifts back to the man. From this point of view, the relationship between tea and wedding is really close.

It is a traditional custom of the Han nationality to serve tea for wedding, which is still used in many places. In order to express our gratitude to the relatives and friends of both sides at the wedding banquet, a cup of tea, candy, sunflower seeds and other refreshments are served, which is both economical and amiable.

It’s mainly used for newlyweds after the wedding ceremony. The first cup of tea is that the bride and bridegroom take the cup with both hands and bow to the shrine to worship God. The second cup of tea is that the bride and bridegroom honor their parents for raising. The third cup of tea is that the bride and bridegroom drink in one gulp, which is meant to pray for the gods to keep the couple together for a long time.

It means the rejection of marriage, which is mainly the custom of the old Dong minority. If the woman is not satisfied with the marriage arranged by her parents and does not want to get married, she will personally deliver a packet of dried tea wrapped in paper to the man’s home, put the tea bag on the table and leave. This is an implicit way of saying thanks to the husband’s parents.