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'Passing the sky bridge'
By Huang Shunfu |
February 27, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN Chinese tradition, "disturbing the bridal chamber" is often the highlight of the wedding after a big feast.
According to the old customs, guests would make it difficult for the couple to enter the bridal chamber by placing a long line of benches. The bride and groom are required to walk on top of all the benches before they can enter the chamber. This is known as "passing the sky bridge," which means the Milky Way in ancient Chinese tales, where couples who walked through it would stay together forever.
Guests often made it more difficult by requiring the groom to hold hands of the bride and walk backwards.
In addition, some naughty guests would even put some tiny items like coins, longans, red dates or peanuts under the legs of each bench. Such items are good symbols for pregnancy, wealth and happiness, but of course they would also unbalance the benches. Even a sober man would find it difficult to pass the sky bridge, since it was made up of a dozen benches, but at weddings it was fairly common for the groom to get drunk. Some grooms would fall repeatedly while trying to pass the sky bridge.
Fortunately, the groom had some allies from his parents. They often asked someone to light firecrackers and distribute candies to distract guests. Then, they would check every bench - if one coin was under the leg, they would put the coins under the other three legs; if there are longans or red dates, they would ask the guests to remove them, or remove them by themselves. In a word, they would try to ensure that every bench was balanced.
At my cousin's wedding, I tried to give the groom a lesson because I didn't like this drunk man taking my beloved sister to the bridal chamber. I secretly replaced one of the benches with a three-legged one, and then put a broken leg under it for the fourth leg so it would look like the same as other benches.
After the groom started walking on the "sky bridge" with my sister, I realized that what I did was too much - if he fell down and broke his leg, my sister would hate me forever.
However, it was too late to change the bench back. I was scared and ran away.
My family found me in a bunch of brushwood after the wedding. I had fallen asleep. They told me that my trick was discovered by the groom's mother very early, and she had already taken the three-legged bench away before the ceremony. It was quite a relief.
According to the old customs, guests would make it difficult for the couple to enter the bridal chamber by placing a long line of benches. The bride and groom are required to walk on top of all the benches before they can enter the chamber. This is known as "passing the sky bridge," which means the Milky Way in ancient Chinese tales, where couples who walked through it would stay together forever.
Guests often made it more difficult by requiring the groom to hold hands of the bride and walk backwards.
In addition, some naughty guests would even put some tiny items like coins, longans, red dates or peanuts under the legs of each bench. Such items are good symbols for pregnancy, wealth and happiness, but of course they would also unbalance the benches. Even a sober man would find it difficult to pass the sky bridge, since it was made up of a dozen benches, but at weddings it was fairly common for the groom to get drunk. Some grooms would fall repeatedly while trying to pass the sky bridge.
Fortunately, the groom had some allies from his parents. They often asked someone to light firecrackers and distribute candies to distract guests. Then, they would check every bench - if one coin was under the leg, they would put the coins under the other three legs; if there are longans or red dates, they would ask the guests to remove them, or remove them by themselves. In a word, they would try to ensure that every bench was balanced.
At my cousin's wedding, I tried to give the groom a lesson because I didn't like this drunk man taking my beloved sister to the bridal chamber. I secretly replaced one of the benches with a three-legged one, and then put a broken leg under it for the fourth leg so it would look like the same as other benches.
After the groom started walking on the "sky bridge" with my sister, I realized that what I did was too much - if he fell down and broke his leg, my sister would hate me forever.
However, it was too late to change the bench back. I was scared and ran away.
My family found me in a bunch of brushwood after the wedding. I had fallen asleep. They told me that my trick was discovered by the groom's mother very early, and she had already taken the three-legged bench away before the ceremony. It was quite a relief.
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