October/November 2011 part 2 question 3 Summary

The Chinese families often follow wedding traditions. One of them is to send three letters. The first letters is a request letter, which serves as a confirmation of the formal marriage arrangements accompanied by gifts. The second letter is a gift that record all the gifts and its values. The third letter is a wedding letter given to the bride on the wedding day itself. Another traditions is for the groom's family to pay for the wedding expenses. Before the big day, the bride is isolated with her closest friends to symbolically mourn the lost of family and friends. She is also to bath in water infused with pomelo to cleanse her from bad influences. In choosing a lucky wedding date, a Chinese couple would choose it according to the lunar calendar and ensure that the moon and stars are aligned. Traditionally, a couple would marry on the half hour rather than on the hour as it is believed that the couple would begin their marriage on an upswing. The colour red plays a vital role as it it considered to be a bold and lucky, signifying love, prosperity and happiness. The parents provide a bed which the groom sleeps on while a young nephew jumps up and down on it to give luck to the couple in producing an heir. On the wedding day, the couple serves tea to family and guests and in return, they are given money and jewelry places in red envelopes. The bride would wake up early to honour her ancestors and is formally introduced to the groom's family and friends. In passage A, many disasters happened. The wedding location was in a church which needed maintenance. The bride wore a yellowing wedding dress. The Kougars were dressed in hideously mismatched colours and designs. The best man had forgotten where he put the ring. The origin made the wedding march hardly recognisable and the rain which was a had become a raging torrent.

Adam