Arriving at the House of the Groom
2 min readThe Bride’s Journey to the Groom’s House
The“good luck woman”or a dain，employed by the bride’s family to look after the bride，carried the bride on her back to the sedan chair.Another attendant might shield the bride with a parasol while a third tossed rice at the sedan chair.Sometimes the bride was borne out in a wooden“cage”with her feet padlocked.presumably a remnant from rougher times with extremely reluctant brides.A sieve，Shaizi，which would strain out evil，and a metallic mirror，king，which would reflect light，were suspended at the rear of the bride’s sedan to protect her from evil influence.The bride might also attach a special mirror to her garment，which she would not remove unitil she was safely seated upon the mariage bed.
Firecrackers were set off to frighten away evil spirits as the bride departed in the sedan chair.The physical movement symbolized the transfer of the bride from her parent’s family to her husbands.
Great care was taken to ensure that no inauspiclous influence would affect the marriage.The female attendints who escorted the bride to hernew home were chosen with particular care that the horoscope animals oftheir birth years were compatible with that of the bridegroom.The sedan chalr itself was heavily curtained to prevent the bride from inadvertently glimpsing an unlucky sight，e.g..a widow，a well，or even a cat.Attendants scattered grain or beans，symbols of ferlility，before her.
Ariving at the Groom’s House
Once again，firecrackers were set off just before the procession arrived.A red mat was placed before the sedan chair for the bride lest her feet touch the bare earth as she dismounted.All the household would be waiting to receive her.The bride was required to step over a saddle or a lit stove to cross the threshold，since the words for“saddle”and“tranquility”sound the same，（An），and the fire would cast out of evil influences.An attendant might immediately place a heap of rice in a sieve over or near the bride.If the bride did not wear a lucky mirror，one might be used at thistime to flash light upon the bride.In some regions，a grain measure and a string of of copper coins were laid out as talismans of prosperity.After these rituals took place，the groom could finlly raise the red scarf and view the bride’s face.
