Wedding Custom of Danjia People
Wedding Custom of Danjia People
Nominating Unit: City of Shenzhen
In the Qing Dynasty, Danjia people in Yantian and Longgang District of Shenzhen started the custom of rowing a dragon boat to welcome the bride, which was later developed into the custom of dragon boat race onshore after the middle 19th century when the local Danjia fishermen finally landed and settled down.
Most traditional Danjia people get engaged because of the dictates of their parents or the words of matchmakers. The bridegroom’s side usually puts a piece of paper on which the girl’s date of birth and eight characters of the horoscope are written on the shrine of the fishing boat to ask for approval from their ancestors. If no bowls or dishes are broken within three days, the two can get engaged. After the engagement, the bridegroom’s side must present a big gift to the bride’s side, which includes ten grails of pork, chicken, fruit, and cake as well as some clothes and cloth, etc. Three days before the wedding, the bride must get on her boat, waiting to get married and singing wedding songs. At the same time, the bride’s parents usually sing a kind of folk song called Xianshui song to teach their daughter to be frugal in household and loyal to her future husband. Apart from this, the groom’s parents must sing the same kind of folk song (Xianshui Song) for several days to teach their son to be hard-working in fishing, to love his family, and to carry on the family line. The last night is called ‘wedding-preparation night’, the songs sung that night are called wedding songs. It’s a wealthy man that has many sons who puts on a terrain and a piece of red cloth for the groom.
On the wedding day, the groom, together with the people who welcome the bride, sails a boat and later holds a welcome party in the bride’s boat. At the party, the newly-married couple must burn joss sticks and light candles to worship the sea and offer a sacrifice to it. Later on, they kneel down and say goodbye to the bride’s parents, and the bride sings farewell songs to express her appreciation to them. Besides, the bride’s family members and friends all sing Xianshui songs to send their best wishes to the bride. The newlymarried couple can’t go to the groom’s boat until the groom knocks three times at the bride’s head with a fan handle, which means the bride should be obedient to the groom and his family from now on.
Since Danjia people landed and settled down, this traditional custom has been developed into a kind of dance which simulates the dragon boat custom. The dance team (with a even number of people) which welcomes the bride is composed of a drummer, a gong player, a boatracer, a flower basket carrier, and a boat sculler, etc, among whom the sculler and gong player could be male, others are all female. According to the traditional custom, the dance team waits at the entrance of the bride’s village at the auspicious moment on the wedding day. Headed by the Qilin (unicorn) team, the dance team simulates the boat, heading back home slowly after getting the bride. When the bride arrives at the groom’s house, such activities as stepping across a brazier, eating glue puddings, serving tea for the elderly, worshipping ancestors are held. The wedding banquet lasts three days before the wedding ceremony fi nally comes to an end.(https://www.daowen.com)
Xianshui songs, dragon boat race, and the welcome dance at the wedding are unique forms of folk art developed by Danjia people, which boast profound cultural connotations. The change of the wedding custom of Danjia people has reflected the development of the way of life and the mode of production of the local floating population, which is of great importance to the study of the vicissitude of the nature, the economy, the society, the history and the culture of this area since the Qing Dynasty.
Recently, the traditional wedding custom is being continuously simplified under the impact of the exotic culture. In addition, the youths have lost their interest in it, which results in its extinction. Therefore, measures should be taken to rescue and protect it.
