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1、本 科 生 毕 业 论 文题 目 On Differences of Marriage Customs Between China and Western Countries 专 业 英 语 班 级 094 姓 名 指导教师 所在学院 外国语学院 完成时间 2013年02月18日 - 16 -On Differences of Marriage Customs Between China and Western Countries Abstract: Marriage is a ceremonious thing in everyones life. No matter in which co
2、untry and religion, wedding is a festive thing. As the countries of China with a long history and the western countries with rapid development, although there are many differences in wedding culture, they all carry with love and best wishes. There are many procedures in Chinese marriage custom. Earl
3、iest wedding ceremony including six etiquettes: proposing, asking the name, asking for fortune, sending betrothal to the girls family, choosing the date of wedding and hold wedding ceremony. However, in western, there are normally four procedures including proposal, changing surnames, choosing the d
4、ay and holding the wedding. With the progress of overall society, some institutions of marriage begin to change gradually. Thus, it is necessary to know about some foreign wedding cultures. This paper aims at making comparison between Chinese marriage and western marriage by analyzing different marr
5、iage system, religious, geographies and value orientation. By taking a new look at contemporary marriage and making comparison, we can know more about new marriage value of modern people.Key word: Marriage; wedding; wedding culture; contemporary marriage；comparison摘 要 婚姻在每个人的生命中都是非常隆重的事情。无论是哪个国家或宗教，
6、婚礼是一个值得庆祝的节日。有着悠久历史的中国和快速发展中的西方国家虽然有不同的婚俗文化，但是婚礼都是充满爱和祝福的。中国的传统婚姻有许多讲究。最早的婚礼仪式有纳彩、问名、纳吉、纳征、请期、亲迎。而西方通常只有求婚、更名、挑选日子和举行婚礼这些步骤。随着整个社会的进步，婚姻制度也在悄然改变。因此，有必要了解一些外国的婚礼文化。本文旨在通过分析不同的婚姻体制、宗教信仰、地理因素和价值取向对中国婚姻和外国婚姻做一些比较。将对中国婚姻和外国婚姻在婚姻体制、宗教信仰、地理因素和价值取向方面进行分析和比较。通过比较重新审视当代婚姻现状,了解现代人们对待婚姻的价值观新的见解和认识。关键词 婚姻; 婚礼; 婚
7、礼文化; 现代婚姻; 比较CONTENTSAbstractIContentsIII1. Introduction12. Chinese Wedding Custom12.1 Six Etiquettes22.1.1 Request For Marrying the Bride22.1.2 Request for Bride and Grooms Birth Dates22.1.3 Bride Price (Betrothal Gifts)32.1.4 Formal Gifts for the Brides Family32.1.5 Arrangement of Wedding Ceremony
8、32.1.6 Wedding Ceremony32.2 Three Letters33. Western Wedding Culture43.1 African Wedding Customs43.2 Austrian Wedding Customs53.3 European Wedding Customs53.3.1 Russian Marriage Customs63.3.2 British Wedding Customs63.3.3 French Wedding Customs63.3.4 German Wedding Customs73.3.5 American Wedding Cus
9、toms74. Differences between China and the West84.1 Different Marriage Media84.2 Difference in Freedom Degree94.3 Different Marriage Purpose94.4 Different Degree of Equality95. Reasons for Differences105.1 Marriage System105.2 Different Beliefs115.3 Geographies125.4 Value Orientation126. Marriage Cus
10、tom in Modern Times137. Conclusion14References15Acknowledgements161. IntroductionChina is one of the four ancient countries which witnessed the splendid civilizations during the five thousand years. Since the Yellow Emperor built Huaxia, descendants of the dragon created excellent culture in their w
11、onderful land. Western Europe and other states also have obvious characteristics of culture in the long history. From eating habits to dressing style, from festival air to education background, there are numerous differences between China and western countries in modern times. However, during these
12、differences, marriage is the first human relation since ancient times. In China, marriage is a connection among complex social relationship and has always been taken seriously. Wedding is a kind of ceremony combines two people who fall in love with each other and is a display which can prove their f
13、aithful love. Wedding is always carrying happiness and giving us a lot of indelible memories. As China carried out reform and opening up, more and more communication and exchanges between China and foreign countries took place, which virtually affect the culture atmosphere. It is clear that differen
14、t countries have different wedding ceremonies in the background of different natural environment, life style and understanding about life. Affected by those factors, marriage customs in different groups differ in various forms.2. Chinese Wedding CustomIn old times, marriages are arranged so its norm
15、al for the parents to dominate the bride-seeking process. There are some circumstances where the marriage has been arranged when both the bride and the groom were very young or not even born. Such kind of marriage can even be distorted. Therefore, there have been many tragedies. Just like the Butter
16、fly Lovers and Peacock Flying Southeast in which depicted tragic love story. After the founding of New China, the people became masters and women get liberation. As marriage is a great event in ones whole life, it gives its full autonomy to persons who are involved in it. Free love becomes a reliabl
17、e guarantee to happy marriage. The way to select mate also changes a lot in modern society, such as introduction by friends, matrimonial agency, and If You Are the One and so on. The traditional wedding rituals undertaken by the Chinese has been practiced since the Qin Dynasty (221 206 BC). Its elab
18、orate for the grooms family to search for an ideal bride for the family, it is particularly complex for wealthy households and yet also essential for poor households. In general, the procedure of a marriage has six etiquettes and three letters. Each of them plays a very important role in a successfu
19、l marriage.2.1 Six EtiquettesChinese marriage was systemized into custom in the Warring States period (402-221 B.C.). Due to the long history, there are different customs to follow in different places. Although they are generally the same, visitors still get chance to witness traditional marriages i
20、n the countryside. It was very important to follow a basic principle of Three Letters and Six Etiquette since they were essential to a marriage.2.1.1 Request For Marrying the BrideIt is so called that men and women do not marry without matchmaker. A matchmaker is the person who tries to help people
21、they know to form a romantic relationship or to get married. After the grooms family has spotted a young girl whom the groom wants to marry, the family will find a matchmaker to communicate with the womans family. This old lady will assuage the conflict of interests and general embarrassments when d
22、iscussing the possibility of marriage on the part of two families largely unknown to each other.Both sides will deal with certain terms. If that goes successfully, both families will proceed to the next step.2.1.2 Request for Bride and Grooms Birth DatesThis is the second step in arranging a marriag
23、e. Upon successfully competition of the previous step, the grooms family will request for the brides family Eight Letters through the spokeswoman. In Chinese calendar, there are 22 letters that we use to represent date. Ten are known as Tiangan and twelve are Dizhi. Two bottles are used to represent
24、 each of the following: year, month, day and time. Altogether, eight letters will accurately represent the brides birth date.After obtaining the eight letters of the groom and potential bride, a fortune teller will be hired to determine whether the two match each other. If there is nothing wrong wit
25、h the brides birth date, the grooms family will proceed to the next step. Otherwise, there will be no further contact between the families and the grooms family may look for another suitable bride.2.1.3 Bride Price (Betrothal Gifts)Gifts in monetary, furniture, or even estate terms are arranged for
26、the matchmaker to present to the brides family, including the Gift Letter.2.1.4 Formal Gifts for the Brides FamilyThe traditional purpose of these gifts is to show the sincerity of the two families and a promise to take good care of the bride. It is a way of showing respect and gratitude to the pare
27、nts. And the differing traditional items symbolize meanings such as “wealth”, “abundance of descendants”, “sweet and loving marriage”, “a good shelter” and many more.2.1.5 Arrangement of Wedding CeremonyBefore wedding ceremony, two families would arrange a wedding day according to Chinese tung shing
28、. Selecting an auspicious day to assure a good future for the couple is as important as avoiding what is believed to be an unlucky day. In some cases there may be no auspicious dates and the couple will have to review their potential date range.2.1.6 Wedding CeremonyOn the big day, both the bride an
29、d the grooms house will be decorated in red. The grooms family will sent out a procession of servants, musicians and a carriage which is carried by four servants to the brides family to bring the bride back. The bride will then be brought to the grooms house and the two will perform the marriage cer
30、emony witnessed by all the relatives and friends.2.2 Three LettersChina is a traditional nation which put more emphasis on etiquette, courtesy. The marriage etiquette, with a long history in China, has rich meaning and complete system. Formal letters play an important role in marriage events.Request
31、 letter: Request letter is a formal letter confirming the arrangement of marriage.Gifts letter: Gifts Letter is a list which records the value of gifts sent to the brides family.Wedding letter: Wedding letter is a letter presented to the brides family on the day of the wedding to confirm the act of
32、bringing the bride into the grooms family.The Chinese wedding culture in modern and contemporary times has been undergoing constant evolvements and innovations, presenting the characteristics of a rich combination of western eastern cultures and both tradition and fashion.3. Western Wedding CultureW
33、edding customs are various, from America to Europe, from Middle Eastern to Africa. Everyone has so many sorts of restrictions in choosing a partner that it is not as romantic as traditional marriage. According to the way human beings in choosing their companions, there are snatch, free love and cros
34、s marriage, etc. Some of these points will be further elaborated.3.1 African Wedding CustomsThe wedding customs of the African nation are different because of different religions and ethnics. It is hard to find identical wedding ceremony in those wedding customs.Long and fun-filled wedding: There ar
35、e a lot of wedding programs at Sudanese traditional wedding, so that it will last ten days till the end.Religious overtones wedding: The wedding is hosted by minister in grooms house who will read Quran to bride and groom.Wedding without groom: Berber people who lived in Algeria cant meet groom at a
36、 wedding. The reason is very humorous. The groom has to live separately from his parents. This situation will last three days till his parent knocks at his door and ask him to make good arrangements for family life. People will applaud for him and bless him when groom goes out of new room.3.2 Austri
37、an Wedding CustomsIn the past the marriage proposal was a more formal procedure, the prospective groom sent his friends or members of the family to represent his interest to the prospective bride and her family. If they saw a blind man, a monk or a pregnant women or wolves these would be good omens
38、which would bring good fortune to the marriage.Traditionally, bride had been thought to be particularly vulnerable to evil spirits and many of the cultures associated with wedding are to be protected by local people. And bridesmaids were dressed in a similar way to the bride. The bridesmaids act as
39、decoys to confuse evil spirits and thus protect the birds.Although most wedding ceremonies take place on Saturday, it is considered unlucky in the past. Friday was also considered unlucky particularly Friday the 13th. The famous old rhythm advises a wedding in the first half of the week: Monday for
40、wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday for the best day of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, Saturday for no luck at all.Whats more, in the middle Australia and the north arid region as well as the border district, there are aborigines occupying 1% of the Australia population. They dont k
41、now much about the agriculture and the stockbreeding, living a primitive life including collecting wild plants and hunting, and keeping the ancient manners and customs, their wedding customs is more specific. For aborigines, the most important thing is to dress up with some decorations. Their dress
42、is very simple, just cover the waist with a piece of doth, nearly naked, but their decorations are really complicated.3.3 European Wedding CustomsOne of the ancient traditions of European wedding which is still popular today is the engagement ring. Many of our most enduring western European wedding
43、culture began in England. Also, we can see some of other countries in Europe.3.3.1 Russian Marriage CustomsRussian wedding customs are a little similar to China. According to their traditional customs, grooms parents or matchmaker will communicate with brides family. If brides family agrees with thi
44、s marriage, the engagement is done. And after both of the families deal with it properly, they begin to make preparation for big wedding ceremony. The bride has to say goodbye to her bedroom before she attends wedding. If her relatives are dead she has to go to tombs to make leave-taking. On the wed
45、ding day, groom will meet groom with his friends and prepare two carriages, one for the new couple and one for brides family members.3.3.2 British Wedding CustomsThe majority families in the UK have legal marriages. And most of wedding ceremony is hosted in the church. Many of our enduring western E
46、uropean wedding cultures come from England. The wedding tradition including something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue has existed about hundreds of years, even though many brides and grooms no longer know the significance of the tradition.After lovers feeling gets strong, they
47、 can announce to get married. The groom has to buy wedding ring which will be put on brides middle finger of the left hand. Bride and her wedding party always walk together to the church. A little girl leads the procession, strewing blossoms along the road, so the brides path of life will always be
48、happy and laden with flowers. Usually, a party will be held after the wedding ceremony and the dinner can be simple or complex. However a big cake is indispensable which will be cut by bride for the first time.Honeymoon is a period of harmony immediately after the wedding ceremony. Honeymoon is one of the most important contents. British pay much attention