*Wedding on Water of Doumen

130.*Wedding on Water of Doumen

Nominating Unit: Doumen District, City of Zhuhai

Wedding on Water of Doumen is a traditional one among the Danjia People in the counties of Baijiao, Shangheng, Doumen, Qianwu, Jing’an, in Doumen District, City of Zhuhai. According to historical data, there were Danjia People living since the Ming Dynasty. The wedding custom originated here in the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, matured in the years of Guangxu’s reign, and reached a peak at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China in Shatian District in the Pearl River Delta.

The people in Doumen Shuixiang were particular about the marriage. Traditionally the young men were married by conforming to the parents’ ideas and the word of the matchmaker. The parents picked the girl whose date of birth and eight characters of a horoscope matched the boy’s and made them engaged, naming “jianiansheng”. Later, free love gained its popularity and the young people chose their partner by singing and then fell in love. After the rituals like “pick the tea-leaves” and “choose a good marital day”, the two parties would discuss the arrangements of the wedding and then began to prepare for it. On the night before the wedding, there was a ritual called “zuogaotang”, when the groom performed“baixi” and “baiqianhe”. And then the relatives and friends would sit circling around and sing the traditional Xujia song to show their congratulations. While in the bride’s home, the bride invited the fellow partners growing with her to hold a ritual called “tanjiajie”, when the fellows sing for the ancestors, parents and families as well as the bride to say farewell and congratulations. The second morning, the male family would send a team to pick up the bride without a stop of the ship or a direct stop at the wharf but stop by the indication of the bride’s family – playing the gong and the drum. The bride should be shouldered by the sister-in-law to the wharf and then welcomed to the ship by the sister of the picking-up team. After performing the formal wedding ceremony, the bride needed to serve a cup of tea, called “guotangcha” to the elder, singing Xianshuige to answer the questions of the elder. The other young people could take the opportunity to find their sweetheart while eating “dushuifan” and “naodongfang” (teasing the groom and the bride). The third day after the wedding, the bride should go back to her family, after which the marriage could be called accomplished.(https://www.daowen.com)

The whole process of the Doumen wedding was accompanied by songs on a boat in the links of preparing for the wedding, picking up the bride, worshipping the elder, meeting the singing friends and so on, reflecting clearly the characters of the springside culture and providing great meaning and value to the study of Xujia culture in the Pearl River Delta. Wedding on Water of Doumen was selected into the list of the second batch of state-level intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

Now the wedding custom is still advocated by the local elders. However, affected by the modern wedding ritual, the young people are unaware of the deep meanings of the folk custom. Being constantly challenged, the ritual has become simpler and simpler. The instruments, especially for the boat which has been replaced by the car, have been substituted by the new rising ones. Wedding on Water of Doumen, faced with great challenge, needs urgent salvation and protection.