分栏三：湖南通道侗族婚嫁习俗（一）

湖南通道侗族婚嫁习俗

Marriage Custom of Dong People in Tongdao County of Hunan Province

在湖南通道，民族不同，婚嫁的形式与习俗也存在差异。自古至今，侗族流行着丰富多样的婚嫁形式，如“明媒正娶”、“拐婚”、“逃婚”、“招郎上门”、“姑表婚”、“扁担亲”等。侗族男女的婚娶过程隆重而正式，通常分为“迎亲”、“入门”、“婚宴”和“回门”四个程序。在婚嫁习俗上，侗族有其独特的民俗风情，典型的包括“抢婚”、“闹新娘”、“姑敬酒，嫂敬茶”、“族内不通婚”、“不落夫家”等。在嫁妆的挑选和赠送时间上，侗族人也有他们自身的讲究。即使是当双方感情走到尽头而选择离婚时，他们也会循族俗而行。

In Tongdao County of Hunan Province, the marriage forms and customs differ from one ethnic group to another. Since ancient times, the Dong minority has long been renowned as a group with diverse marriage forms. The most typical forms include “formal marriage via open matchmaking”, “marriage via ‘abduction’”, “marriage via ‘elopement’”, “marriage via recruiting visiting son-in-law home ”, “marriage between cousins”, and “marriage via exchanging the ‘shoulder poles’between two families”.The marriage process of Dong peopleis said to be grand and formal, usually including four procedures: “fetching the bride and bridesmaids home”, “entering the gate of the bridegroom’s home”, “holding wedding banquets” and “escorting the bride back to her own parent’shome”. As for marriage customs, Dongpeople are alsorich in bestowing unique ones like“robbing for the bride and bridesmaids”, “teasing the bride”, “the bridegroom sisters’proposingtoasts and the bride’sserving tea”, “non-intermarriage within the same clan”, and “not dwellinglong at husband’s home after marriage”. In the selection and timeof dowries, Dongpeople have their own hobbies too. Even when a Dong couple chooses to end up their marriage due to loss of mutual affection, they will follow their owndivorce customs.

一、侗族婚嫁形式

Marriage Forms of Dong People

1、明媒正娶

1. Formal Marriage via Open Matchmaking

“明媒正娶”意为正大光明的婚姻。这一婚俗主要分布在县域西部地区，其特点是男女青年自由恋爱，愿结秦晋之好，而双方父母又都同意。

Formal marriage via open matchmakingimplies that the marriageis founded in an aboveboard and fair way. Mainly prevalent in the western TongdaoCounty, this custom manifests itself in that young men and women fall in love with each other unrestrictedly and aspire to make lifelong alliance between two families by marriage. The essence is that their willingness for marriageis approved by bilateral parents.

这种婚姻，一般经过“媒人说亲”、“合生辰八字[1]”、“择吉日迎亲”、“办喜酒”、“新娘回门”等程序。“合生辰八字”由男方选择吉日，请媒人到女方家取来生辰八字。“八字”（通常写在红纸上）取来先放在焙笼[2]上，图个“米满箩谷满仓”之意。男女八字相合之后，男方派家族中一名妇女陪同媒人拿茶叶1饼，肉1斤，酒2斤，到女方家放鞭炮进门报喜，这叫“过贴定亲”。结婚吉日等具体事宜由双方商定。

This form ofmarriage usually undergoes the following procedures: “the go-between of a matchmaker”, “the match of TheFour Pillars of Destiny”,“the selection of an auspicious day to welcome the bride”, “the holding of the wedding banquet”and “the bride’s returningto her own parent’s home”. The match of TheFour Pillars of Destinyis usuallydone by the male side. On a chosen day of good fortune, the male familyasks a matchmaker to go to the girl’s home for her Four Pillars of Destiny. The information about the girl’sFour Pillars of Destinyis generally written on a red paper for the sake of good luck. When the male family gets the red paper from the matchmaker, they will put it on a large bamboo basket in the hope of “reaping a bump crop harvestin the coming year”. If the Four Pillars of Destinybetween the male and female match well, the male side will choose a sociablewoman from their large family and send her to the female’s home with the matchmaker to deal with related wedding matters. As a common practice, they will present some tea, meat and wine to the girl’s family. Fire cracks will be set off in front of the girl’shouseto announce the arrangementof a marriage. The details about the marriage like the exact date for wedding are determined via mutual negotiation.

[1]生辰八字: Four Pillars of Destiny—photo from http://image.网址未加载/

中国的占星术概念，意为“一个人命运的好坏可以通过他们出生年月日和时间对应的干支周期特征来判断”。

TheFour Pillars of Destinyis aChinese astrologicalconcept that a person’sdestinyor fate can bedivinedby the twosexagenary cyclecharacters assigned to their birth year, month, day, and hour.

[2] 焙笼：BambooBasket —photo from http://image.网址未加载/

2、拐婚

2. Marriage via “Abduction”

侗族男女青年恋爱自由，他们大多在“行歌坐夜”、“爬窗探妹”、“走寨做客”中相互认识，谈情说爱，建立深厚感情。在自由婚姻遭受阻挠时，为达到结为夫妻的目的，他们通常采取“拐婚”的方式结合。

Inmost cases, Dong young people are free in their pursuit of love. There are a lot of social activitiesfor men and women there to get to know each other, such as “singing antiphonal songs at night”, “climbing windows to woogirls”,and “being guests to visit other Dongvillages”. On these occasions, they get familiarwith each other, form mutual affection and find their sweethearts for marriage. Although free marriageis prevalent, there are also cases that lovers’desire for free marriage meets obstruction. In this circumstance, some lovers will achieve the goal of getting married via “abduction”.

“拐婚”，顾名思义，就是将姑娘“拐”到家里做媳妇。“拐婚”有两种方式。一种是男女青年通过自由恋爱，感情发展到一定程度，即将喜结良缘，但女方父母不同意。在这种情况下，他们互相商议，约定一个吉日晚上，男青年带着几个伙伴，到姑娘家房屋后窗等待，姑娘乘父母不注意，带着自己的衣服以及银饰等东西，与男友一起逃到男方家。男方父母则顺其自然，不加干涉。女方家人知道后，带人到男方家找人，“大闹”一场，以提高姑娘的身价。

“Marriage via‘abduction’”literally means abducting a girl home and making her wife. There are two causes for a man to abduct a girl for wife. One occurs out of the objectionof the girl’s parents to the marriage. To resist the obstruction, Dong young man who finds his sweetheart via restricted pursuit of love and has strong desires to form alliance with her by marriage will take the action of abducting the girl. The abduction takes place with the “conspiring”efforts of the young man and woman in love. On a planned night, the young man in accompany withfriends secretly approaches the girl’s house and waits for her at the back windows. Away from her parent’s notice, the girl sneaks out of the house with some casual clothes and silver ornamentsto meet her lover. Then she escapes to her lover’s home with them and stay there. Knowing this, the young man’s parents just let them go with the flow instead of interfering withthem. The girl’s parents together with quite a few relatives, however, will rush to the man’s home to seek for their daughter. Usually, they will make a scene with the man’s family there to increase the value of their daughter.

另一种是姑娘已有心上人，但父母却将其许配给他人。在临近举行婚礼之前，姑娘与心上人约定，选择一个吉日晚上一起逃到心上人家，致使生米做成熟饭。不论是哪种形式的“拐婚”，男方把姑娘“拐”到家后，必须到女方家赔礼道歉，也就是所谓的“认亲”。 男青年邀上伙伴，抬着鸡、鸭、肉、酒、米以及糖、烟、水果等，到女方家办上几桌酒，请女方家的亲戚来吃喜酒，三人对六面把事情讲清楚，一来赔礼道歉，二来互相认识。在酒席上，经双方协商，选定吉日，再举行隆重的婚礼。

The other situation takes place when the girl has been betrothed to someone else rather than her own sweetheart by her parents. Before the forthcoming wedding ceremonyfor the arranged engagement, the girl will escape to her sweetheart’s home on a chosen auspicious night previously decided between the two lovers. There the two live together and become husband and wife. Regardless of the form of “abduction”, the male side must visit the girl’s parents and apologize to them after having abducted the girl home. This process is called “identifying each other as relatives by marriage”. With companions, the young man takes a lot of food stuff to the girl’s family as gifts. The male side should also offer a feast to the girl’s relatives andfriends to express their heartfelt apology and warmest welcome. During the feast, all former unpleasantness will be cleared up with the presence of witnesses from both sides. They will also decide the date for a grand wedding for the young lovers through reciprocalnegotiation.

3、逃婚

3. Marriage via “Elopement”

男女青年自由恋爱愿结为终身夫妻，而双方家长都不同意或对儿女的婚配另有所指。如果青年男女均不愿服从父母的安排，但又无其它解决方法，只好约定特定日子双双逃走，去亲戚朋友家匿居。经过一段时日后，再通过亲朋好友去双方家里沟通。有些父母迫于社会的压力和对儿女的思念会回心转意，最终派人把新娘新郎接回家并为他们操办婚事。也有的青年男女干脆远走他乡，待有小孩后才回家看望父母，报答养育之恩。

Marriage via “elopement” occurs when young men and women who vow to develop their free love into lifelong couples meet with the objection of parents from both families. The reason why parents oppose their children’s free will of marriage falls into two categories: being unsatisfied with their children’s chosen lover or having someone else betrothed to their children. Faced with parent’s opposition, some lovers refuse to obey their parent’s arrangement. If their parents don’t give in to their requirement, they might choose to elope to the home of their relatives or friends. When they think their parent’s objection softens, they will plead some relatives or friends to be persuasive talkers for them. Out of the concern of social pressure andtheir own longings to see their away-from-home children, some parents might change their minds, nod to their children’s own choice and finally make preparations for the wedding. In the extreme case, some young lovers directly leave their hometowns for distant places to resist their parent’s firm opposition. They don’t return home to visit their parents until they have given birth to their own kids.

4、招郎上门

4. Marriage via Recruiting Visiting Son-in-Law Home

通道銮塘、下乡等地盛行招郎。“有女无儿”可招郎，“儿小女大”可招郎，“婚后丧夫”可招郎。招入的女婿按习惯改从女姓或原夫姓氏。在过去，外来人做上门郎的多，本地青年一般不愿做上门郎。现在本地人做上门郎的逐渐增多。

This form of marriage is prevalent in towns like Luantang, Xiaxiang of Tongdao County. There are mainly three causes for a family to recruit visiting son-in-law home: first, the girl’s family has no son; second, the son of the girl’s family is younger than the daughteror daughters; third, the girl loses her husband after marriage. In accordance with local customs, the recruited son-in-law will change his last name into his wife’s surname or follow the family name of his current wife’s former husband. In the past, those who became recruited sons-in-law usually came from neighboring villages. Local young men were often reluctant to be recruited in the same village. This tendency now changes, with the number of locally recruited sons-in-law graduallyincreasing.

5、姑表婚

5. Marriage between Cousins

在通道县独坡乡，流传着“姑表婚”的习俗，即姑妈家的姑娘嫁给自己舅舅的儿子。为了让姑姑的女嫁给自己，男方会约上同伴到姑姑家去“闹”。“闹”是一种情趣，男的故意说“女的不愿嫁他就要‘赔’东西，送糍粑”；女的故意说“男的不要她，不‘赔’东西，也没有糍粑”。于是男的将锅子架到火上“空炒”，并表示“再不拿东西来，就放火塘灰到锅子里炒”。双方一边嬉闹，一边唇枪舌战，直至女方拿出东西来宵夜才罢方休，场面很是热闹欢快。

In Dupo village of Tongdao County, there is a long tradition of forming marriage between a girl and her uncle’s son. To please his cousin and marry her, the uncle’s son visits his aunt’s home with some companions and plays up there. He makes naughty misbehaving with his aunt’s daughter for the purpose of creating a funnyand romantic atmosphere. Usually, the guy starts the play by deliberately saying that the girl has to compensate him for the losses caused by her unwillingness to marry him. In return, the girl will refute by saying that she should pay him no compensation for he himself doesn’t want to marry her. In response to the girl’s refusal, the guy sets an empty pan over a fire and stirs it fiercely. He “threatens” the girl that he will get some ashes from the fire pit and stir them with the pot. They don’t stop frolicking with each other until the girl takes out some food forsnacks. The picture is definitely full of joys.

“姑表婚”在侗族曾长期流行过，侗族民间歌谣中都能找到其蛛丝马迹。随着社会的发展，近亲结婚虽已被明令禁止，但边远落后山区还存在有“姑表婚”的现象。

“Marriage between cousins”has a long tradition among Dong people. Its evidence can be found in Dong folklore songs. With the development of society, marriage between close relatives has been banned by law. However, the phenomena of marriage between cousins can still be seen in some remote and backward villages.

6、扁担亲

6. Marriage via Exchanging the “Shoulder Poles” between Two Families

“扁担亲”意为“换亲”，即“交换双方家中挑水的扁担”。甲家姐妹嫁给乙家兄弟，而乙家姐妹又嫁给甲家兄弟或甲家兄弟姐妹互相嫁（娶）乙家兄弟姐妹。这种交叉式的婚姻就是“扁担亲”。这种婚配除了一般的礼节外，最明显的特点是“甲乙双方必须互换家中挑水专用的链勾扁担”。这个程序表示“相互之间，挑水、做家务的姑娘换位，亲上加亲，两头的父母同受尊敬”，也表示“两家互换男性来繁衍后代，共同人丁兴旺，不偏向哪方”。

This form of marriage is established by exchanging the water-carrying shoulder poles between two families. This type of cross marriage occurs when a girl/ son of family A is married to the son/daughter of family B andvia the versa. In addition to the general etiquettes similar to other forms of marriage, the most obvious feature of such marriages is that “the two families involved must exchange their water-carrying shoulder poles”. This special etiquette bears the following implications: the girls in charge of water-carrying and other housework from the two families are exchanged; the relation between the two families is strengthened with the exchanged marriages; the parents of both families will be mutually respected by the married couples; the guys of the two families are exchanged for mutual offspring thriving.

二、侗族婚嫁过程

MarriageProcess of Dong People

1、迎亲

1. Fetching the Bride and Bridesmaids Home

迎亲前几天，男方集聚家族亲人分工去送红贴，请亲戚朋友按时来做客。婚期中来庆贺的客人会给主人家送礼，礼物为酒、鱼、鸭、鹅和大米等（以送鱼为多，因“鱼”有“物丰有余”之寓意）。“鸡”不能作为礼物，他们认为“鸡是扒食动物，它会扒散好姻缘”。此外，他们还有送“红对镜屏联”的习俗，喻为“成双成对，喜结良缘”。而且舅家送的镜屏必须挂在堂屋面对祖宗神位的左侧，以示对女方家亲戚的尊重。

A few days before the bridegroom goes to the bride’s home to fetch the bride and bridesmaids, the bridegroom would have his large family members gathered and ask them to help with wedding preparations. For example, they will be assigned the task of sending invitation cards which ask relatives and friends concerned to take part in the wedding on the planned day. The guests who come to celebrate the wedding will present gifts to the host family. Most commonly, the gifts are food stuffs like wine, fish, duck, goose and rice.“Fish” is frequently sent because the Chinese words which mean “fish” (鱼)and “ampleness” (余)have the same pronunciation. “Chicken” can’t be used as a gift for it is believed to be a foraging poultry which implies a negative connotation that it might spoil a well-matched marriage. In addition, people there have the custom of sending “pairs of red mirror screens”as gifts, which symbolizes “like-minded pairs, happy union”. Moreover, the mirror screens sent by the bride’s uncles must be hung on the left side of the host house to face the ancestral gods to show respect for the relatives of the bride.

迎亲吉日的前一天，男方派一人去堂报，“堂报”带的礼物有酒、猪肉、鹅或鸭等，多少不论。“堂报”的穿着里外全是新衣裳，似乎要与新娘争艳。进新娘家门，“堂报”鸣放鞭炮报喜。当晚女方家里备办酒席招待“堂报”，女方家族中亲戚朋友也会各户来1人，手提一盘菜、一壶酒作陪。

On the day before the exact fetching takes place, the bridegroom family needs to send an envoy to the bride’s homebeforehand. The envoy will take some gifts there in representative of the bridegroom family. The gifts are food stuffs like wine, porkmeat, geese or ducks. Moreover, the envoy should be extremely well dressed all over, seeming to compete with the beautiful bride. Approaching the bride’s home, the envoy will set firecrackers to announce the good news of marriage. That night, the bride’s family will serve the envoy folk with a grand feast. The envoy folk are usually hospitably treated, accompanied by the representativerelativesfrom the bride’s family. The accompanying relatives themselves will also bring some gifts to the host family, such asa dish and a pot of wine.

迎亲当日，新郎提灯笼（最原始是“火把”，后发展为“灯笼”，现在有极少数用“手电筒”），伙伴们拿作宵夜用的食物，夜深人静时向女方家出发。在快到女方家时，他们将食物掩藏起来。女方亦邀请平日好友为伴在家等候。新郎进门后，女方同伴即吵着要男方拿食物来宵夜，男方则以种种理由推托，于是双方展开舌战。经过几个回合的舌战后，男方看快到出发的时候了，才叫同伴把事先准备的食物拿出来宵夜。宵夜结束后迎亲队伍即向男方家出发。

On the exact day of fetching, the groomheadsfor the bride’s home with his pals when deep dark falls. Usually the groom takes along a lantern (originally “a torch”, later “a lantern”, and sometimes “a flashlight” nowadays) and his companions help carry some food for night snacks. As they approach the bride’s home, they will hide the snacks in case others find them. The bride, on the other hand, will invite several of her intimatefemale friends to jointly wait for the groom folk at home. After the groom folk step in, the bride maids will repeatedly urge the visitors to take out food for snacks. The groom folk, however, keep delaying on various excuses. Then both sides start a verbal duel. The duel will undergo quite a few rounds to have mutual fun. The groom folk will ask his followers to serve night snacks to the bride folk when the time for departure draws near. After the night snacks, they will depart for the groom’s home together.

侗族迎亲多在夜与日交替之际的“寅时[1]”，一则“寅”与“人”两字在侗族方言中发音相同；再者为了避免途中遇见不吉利的人和事。迎亲当日，侗族人忌讳与同日迎亲的队伍相遇。如相遇，让路时要互换花带或手帕。他们认为“交换布带或手帕，婚后才能事事如愿”。

Fetching the bride and bridesmaids home usually takes place at the time period of “Yin” for two reasons. For one thing, the Chinese words “寅” and “人” are pronounced the same way in the Dong dialect. For another, they choose the time period to avoid encountering unlucky people and things on the way. While the bride-fetching procedure is under way, Dong people consider it a taboo to meet another bride-fetching folk. If that really happens, the two folks need to give way to each other and exchange flower belts or handkerchiefs. In their opinion, everything will be smooth after marriage if they do exchange those stuffs.

[1]寅时: Time Period of “Yin”—photo from https://baike.网址未加载/

古代中国把一天划分为十二个时辰，每个时辰等同于现在的两小时。相传古人根据中国十二生肖中动物的出没时间来命名各个时辰。“寅时”是夜与日的交替之际，指凌晨3时至5时整，此时间段老虎最为活跃与生猛。

According to ancient Chinese division of time, a day can be separated into twelve time periods. Every time period equals two hours of nowadays. It is said that the ancient Chinese named the time periods in accordance with the haunting time of the twelve animals of birth years. The time period“Yin”refers to the transition period fromdeep night to early morning,3 a.m. to 5 a.m.During this period, tiger is the most active and ferocious in the animal world.

2、入门

2. Entering the Gate of the Bridegroom’s Home

接亲当日，新郎母亲在自家大门外放一束禾把，让新娘提进门，表示吉利。新娘进门之后，用一个竹钉将禾把钉在堂屋中柱上，表示“稳扎不动”。新娘到火塘边，坐在妇女为炊的一侧，表示“定根”，然后开始生火。接下来给客人分发爆米花，象征“婚后人丁兴旺”。吃茶后，新娘进入碓房舂米。左邻右舍听到深更半夜的碓臼声，就知道某家讨新媳妇了。次日清早，全寨姑娘妇女都来看新娘，新娘以油茶款待他们。

On the exact day of fetching the bride, the bridegroom’s mother will put a bundle of grainsoutside the gateof her home in advance. As the bride enters the gate, she will ask her future daughter-in-law to carry the bundle inside for a bundle of grains symbolizes “a rich harvest and an auspiciousfuture”. After the bride walks inside, the bundle will be stapledinto the central pillar of the hall with a bamboo nail. This denotes their sincere wish for the new couple’s marital stability.Then the bride approaches the fire pit and sits on the side where women usuallycook. This is a token that the bride has settled down and joined in the family. After that, she starts to make fire and distributepopcornsto guests. “Distributing popcorns”in Dong culture signifies that the new couple will give birth to as many babies as they want and the whole family will flourish. After drinking tea with guests, the bride is then guided to shell grain for rice in a small workshop of the bridegroom’s home at deep night. When neighbors nearby hear the shelling sound, they get to know that a certain guy in their village is marrying a wife. Early next morning, all the girls and women in the village will come to the bridegroom’s home for a close look at the bride. In return, the bride entertains them with a thick tea soup called Youcha for courtesy.

3、办婚宴

3.Holding Wedding Banquets

侗族婚宴有丰简之别。新中国成立前，个别大户人家杀猪宰牛大办酒席；一般人家只办几桌酒；困难人家只烧油茶招待左邻右舍，只有舅家及亲叔伯才得一餐便饭吃。

For Dong people, wedding banquets can be of different scales. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, some wealthy and influential families killed pigs and slaughtered cattle for grand wedding banquets; ordinary families only prepared plain banquets of a small scale for their relatives and friends; poor families seldom held banquets. Instead, they merely offered a casual meal to the bride’s closest relatives, and served their neighbors with Youcha.

地区不同，侗族婚宴的形式也各异。通道南部侗族地区在新娘入门后，次日办酒招待亲朋好友。而西部地区比较复杂。一般来说，新娘入门后第二天即请亲朋好友来喝喜酒，吃完后散客。也有分期分批连办两三天的。头天晚上由新郎家办长桌酒，第二天中餐由全房族共同办一席即散客。若是办三天，新郎家只在当晚办酒，以后则由家族各户轮流开餐，到第三天中午新郎家再办一席即散客。

The form of Dong people’s wedding banquets also varies from region to region. In southern Tongdao County, the groom family offers a wedding banquet to their relatives and friends the next day the bride enters their home. In western Tongdao County, the situation is more complex. Generally, people there follow the same etiquette as southern people. That is to say, the groom family only provides one wedding banquet to the guests. However, there are also occasions when wedding banquets go consecutively for two or three days. If the banquets last for two days, the groom’s family hosts a long-table feast on the first night and then the whole clan of the groom concertedly prepares lunch for the guests on the second day. If the banquets continue for three days, the first supper and the third lunch are served by the groom’s families. At intervals,the individual families of the groom’s clan take turns to offer meals to guests.

4、回门

4.Escorting the Bride Back to her Own Parent’sHome

办完婚宴后，男方派本房兄弟（人数必须是奇数）送新娘回家，新娘家设宴邀同房族的人与男方送新娘的人互认亲戚，习俗上称“回门酒”。

After the wedding banquet, the groom will sendseveral of his clan brothers to escortthe bride back to her own parent’shome (the number of the escorts must be odd). To let those escorts and the clan members of their own acquaint each other as relatives, the bride’s family will hold a special feast customarily known as “The bride’s returning-home-feast”.

送新娘回门要过三关：第一关，拦寨关。新娘家的姑娘们把寨门关紧，还沿寨巷设置障碍，用纺车、织布机、犁耙之类堵塞必经之路。送新娘回门的人被要求唱开路歌，依照障碍物唱颂歌，否则要被罚酒。第二关，拦门关。新娘家的大门口摆着一张八仙桌，桌上斟满九碗酒，要送新娘回门的人唱酒歌，否则又要受罚。第三关，剥衣关。新娘回门时，要操办一桌鸡肉宴款待新娘的女伴。虽事先已有准备酒宴，但为了取乐，女伴们故意刁难送新娘回门的小伙子们，要他们脱下衣服抵押，走村串寨去买鸡，把鸡买来了才把衣服送还。

To smoothly send the bride back home, the escorts must overcome three barriers. The first barrier is “being blocked at the entrance to the bride’s village”. To hinder the visitors from entering the village too easily, the bride’s family will ask some lassies to shut the gate to the village. Moreover, they will set various obstacles along the lanes the visitors must pass, such as spinning wheels, looms, and plows. The escorts are pushed to sing praise songs so as to pass the obstacles. Those who don’t sing are made to drink wine as a punishment. The second barrier is “being stopped at the gate to the bride’s home”. At the gate to their home, the bride family will lay a large square table with nine bowls of wine before the escorts arrive. The visitors are then requested to sing wine songs to avoid being teased or punished.The third barrier is “being stripped”. When the bride is escorted back home, her family will hold a chicken dinner to entertain the bridesmaids. Although the dinner has actually been prepared beforehand, the bridesmaids will deliberately bully those escorting lads for fun by asking them to buy chicken for the dinner from nearby villages. Their overcoats are taken off as mortgages, which won’t be returned until they bring back chickens.

回门酒宴后，新娘即留住娘家，其余送新娘回门者席罢结队回家。新娘在娘家间歇居住三五年不等，直到怀孕才长住夫家。

As the bride’s returning-home-feast ends, the escorts will leave while the bride usuallystaysat her own parent’s home. She might continue living with her parents for three or five years. As a common practice, she doesn’t stay at her husband’s home for a long time until she gets pregnant.

资料来源：侗族习俗对外译介研究课题组

微信编辑：吴巧玲

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