The Mongols in Xinjiang practice an extra-clan marriage system, and intermarriage within clans is strictly prohibited, and intermarriage is strictly enforced, and intermarriage of their own ethnic groups is practiced. There could be no intermarriage between the feudal aristocracy and the commoners and slaves, but the feudal upper echelons could possess the daughters of the commoners. Marriage is the main form of The Mongolian people in Xinjiang, it has a unique set of customs, the process mainly includes: raising relatives, walking relatives, sending dowry gifts, building new houses and girls' banquets, weddings, unveiling accounts, returning doors and other 7 items.
Propose
Generally, when boys reach the age of marriage, their parents begin to find a partner for them and find a family. First of all, inquire about the girl's birthday, ask the astrologer to calculate whether the male and female fates are compatible or compatible, or go to the temple and ask the lama to chant the sutra to determine. If the fate coincides, entrust a matchmaker to say kiss. This time, the Mongolians in Xinjiang called it "Ai Rihe Ge Enjilhu", that is, "bring wine to raise relatives". If the matchmaker brings wine and food on behalf of the man's parents to explain their intentions to the woman's parents, the woman's parents generally have to say some prevarication. After a period of time, the matchmaker and several relatives of the man will officially bring wine, hada, and food to the woman's home to propose to the family, this time called "Yuge Abuhu", that is, "get an echo", that is, whether to agree to this family affair. When the man's relatives went, they offered hada and toasted to the woman's parents, and solemnly explained their intentions, asking the woman's parents to accept their offers. If the woman's parents do not agree to this family affair, they politely refuse, do not drink their toast, and ask them to bring back the gifts they have brought.
Go pro
Walking relatives, the Mongolian language calls this process "ZusuHadege", meaning intersecting Hada. Also known as "Hadeg Taibuha", the meaning of offering Hada. The Mongols in Xinjiang attach great importance to this process of walking in relatives, because after the kissing, both men and women generally do not change. After the parents of the two families of men and women thought that they were satisfied, after choosing the auspicious day of employment, the man's family went to the woman's house with hada, wine and gifts to discuss the dowry and betrothal with the woman's family. The reason why the marriage is called "letting go of Hada" or "Hada Feast" is not unrelated to the Fact that the Mongols regarded Hada as the highest rite. After the man informs the woman of the time of the visit, the matchmaker and some relatives of the man's family go to the woman's house with wine, hada, and half-cooked lamb tail meat, at which time the woman invites relatives, friends and neighbors to attend the kissing banquet. After the man's family came to give the gift, the gift was placed in front of the woman's parent, and the elder of the man held hada coated with yellow glue (indicating that the relationship between the two families was like wood glue that will never be separated) on his chest, recited the blessing and then offered Hada's hands to the woman's elders, and then toasted one by one. After the ceremony, everyone drank and danced. After the engagement, the woman's parents must also provide the man's parents with a list of their main relatives, which must include the mother's family. The Mongolians in Xinjiang attach great importance to the mother-in-law's family, and these relatives designated by the woman must be visited by the man to show respect for them, and from then on, the man and the woman have exchanged gifts.
Dowry
The dowry, commonly known as "Orid Busiger" in Xinjiang Mongolians, means "bed futon". The dowry is generally based on horses, cattle and sheep according to the ancient custom of Veyrat Mongolia, and its number varies according to the situation of rich and poor. 9 is the auspicious number, and those with less than 9 poor families are taken 5, 7 and other singular livestock. The famous Mongolian Code of One-Way Lat, formulated in 1640 AD, detailed the amount of dowry for marriages of all classes in society at that time: "Nobles with the highest number of dowries, the dowry of married women is: 30 pieces of precious goods, 50 horses and 400 sheep; Dalits with low dowries can also ask for the best yaks, 10 horses each, and 15 sheep as a dowry. At the same time, the man's family may also cope with a varying number of camels, horses, cattle, sheep, clothing, clothing, furniture and other property for dowry. "There is a custom in Xinjiang and the Turksay Special Department of Buxar Mongol Autonomous County, before marriage, the man goes to the girl's house to symbolically send a combing utensil, that is, two kinds of combs (combs and grates). Customs are generally the same and vary slightly from place to place. In some places, when there are ceremonies such as engagement and dowry gifts, the woman's parents want to let their daughters hide in the homes of relatives and friends, and do not allow their daughters to participate. According to tradition, wedding dates are chosen by lamas. According to the date and month of the birth of the two children, the lama chose the auspicious day of the wedding ceremony and the time of arrival of the greeter. Mongols are taboo to marry in September of the lunar calendar because they regard this month as the "great month." In addition, girls cannot marry when they are 18 years old, and 17 or 19 years old can be considered auspicious. Both men and women should make intense preparations before the wedding.
Build a new house
To build a new house, the man will also hold a grand ceremony to build a new house before marriage. The man's family supported the yurt, and relatives and friends took ropes, felts, needles and threads to participate in the ceremony of building a new house and help set up the new yurt. Relatives and friends also bring gifts such as wine and meat to bless, and the woman's family also comes to congratulate and give gifts. At the beginning of the ceremony, the blessed person hangs a hada (hada wrapped in wheat or gold, silver, and money to show future wealth) in the middle of the canopy, and coats the inner side wall of the bag with tits to show good luck. Sacrifice wine to heaven, earth, and stoves. Then the blessing is made, and the person is blessed with a beautiful verse with auspicious meaning. There are "Greetings from the Top of the Felt House Wooden Circle", "Greetings from the Felt Wall", "Greetings from the Pot", etc., and then everyone arranges the room together. Then the host grabbed lamb, milk wine and other friends with his hands to entertain relatives and friends, and everyone congratulated and sang to each other.
Girls' feast
Girls' banquets On the eve of the wedding, the woman also holds various banquets for the girl's wedding, commonly known as the girl's banquet. A few days before the wedding, the girls were invited to dinner by relatives, and each relative also gave gifts to the bride. The Turgut Mongols were particular about giving away a piece of clothing, a bowl and a headscarf. The day before the wedding, the girl's parents will hold a banquet for the girl who is about to get married, and invite the girl's relatives and friends to attend the banquet. The girls sang "The Girl's Feast", blessed the girl who was about to marry with the lyrics, poured out the parting feelings, and the girl's mother showed the bride's dowry to everyone. The Mongols attach great importance to the dowry of girls, which are generally jewelry, four-season clothing, and livestock, and with the change of the times, household appliances have replaced livestock. After all of the above procedures are over, it is the long-awaited wedding.
wedding
About the process of the wedding. It is recorded in the "Atlas of the Western Regions" that on the day of marriage, the son-in-law first came to the door, the female family recited the Lama Sutra, and the son-in-law went out to the daughter. He holds a sheep shoulder blade, worships the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the son-in-law greets the woman's parents, and the son-in-law and the daughter make their hair. Later, they were married in a yurt arranged by the woman's family. The next day, the son-in-law returned first, and chose an auspicious day to marry back. When the woman leaves her mother's house, the woman's relatives send it, but the father does not send it. To the relatives of women, each of them is given cattle, sheep, horses, wine, clothing, jewelry, and yurts. Whether it is more or less depends on the thickness of its strength and the density of its feelings. Occasionally, female slaves were used as concubines. The bride rode to her son-in-law's house, and the son-in-law's family also recited the Lama Sutra. The woman saw her parents and prostrated her head. When meeting Weng's uncle and brother-in-law, he took the felt as a curtain and could not meet directly, as for life. It is recorded that those who take a sheep as a gift can marry a woman without first going to the woman's house.
At the same time, there is also a custom in Turgut Mongolia called "Nuqi", on the evening before the wedding, the man selects a number of people who are good at rhetoric, brings gifts such as wine and meat, and brings the groom to meet the woman's parents. At first, the groom did not enter, but the others advanced, and after greeting the woman's parents, toasting and offering gifts, the groom was drinking and singing, when the groom was accompanied by two men. After the groom entered, he always let a few accompanying people cover him, "afraid" of being seen and "bombed" out. After several procedures were completed, the groom gave everyone a toast with the permission of the woman. Late at night, the man's visitors said goodbye one by one. At this point the groom's whip (or pedal) was found "missing". It is deliberately collected by the woman. At this time, the man's family left three people who could speak eloquently, and the bridegroom and the rest of the crowd returned on horseback. The woman deliberately asked them what else was going on, and the visitors answered one by one. If the man answers, he can take the horse whip or leave the horse pedal, otherwise he will be punished.
On the wedding day, both the man and the woman's home are bustling, and the man forms a marriage procession. At that time, the groom, dressed in a brand-new robe, accompanied by the groom, accompanied by the greeting procession (20-30 people), took the wine and meat to receive the kiss. The receiving team dismounted not far from the woman's house, and two eloquent people and the woman were sent to report to the woman for an invitation, and the woman immediately prepared to welcome the kiss. Several of the woman's sister-in-law or aunt were waiting at the entrance of the courtyard. At this time, one of the gentlemen who was good at rhetoric asked An Hou to say: "Your beloved girl has already promised to marry our son, and has chosen to marry the bride on this good day and auspicious day, please accept the holy and noble greeting gift." And one of the woman's articulate sisters-in-law came forward to answer, and the two sides conducted a polite answer before inviting the welcoming people into the house. After the man's family pays the gift, the groom, accompanied by the groom, prostrates himself to the woman's vesta and other offering gods, and then offers hada to his father-in-law and mother-in-law and relatives. Before the bride leaves, she must toast her parents and friends one by one to bid farewell. At this time, everyone sang a farewell song together, and relatives and friends used auspicious words and praise words to wish a couple of happiness and great prospects. At this time, when the woman's parents agreed to pick up the bride, the groom's visiting relatives, a strong young man, carried the bride out of the bride's house, the bride hugged her relatives and friends and did not want to leave the house, and the girl who accompanied the bride also had to pestered before letting her go.
On the way back, the welcoming team galloped all the way, playing music and singing, playing and chasing. After the arrival of the relatives, the groom helps the bride off the horse, and the mother-in-law first asks the bride to taste fresh milk to show good luck. Then the worship ceremony is held. The ceremony is presided over by the lama. At that time, the newlyweds hold a sheep shoulder blade on the white felt laid out outside the yurt, bow down to the sun, first worship the heavens, the earth, the sun and the moon, and then bow to the lama. At that time, the lama chanted the sutra and asked the Buddha to bless them safely, and the bride entered the new house accompanied by everyone. When entering a new house, be sure to step on the felt, followed by a hair combing ceremony. The bride's hair is rearranged by the mother or sister-in-law, splitting the bride's hair in half from the middle, then putting in a few strands of the groom's hair, combing them into two braids, and wearing all the jewelry to show the beginning of the daughter-in-law (in some areas, the dressing ceremony is combed at the girl's house on the morning of the girl's marriage. After dressing up, under the leadership of the sisters-in-law, the new daughter-in-law toasted the hada to the father-in-law, mother-in-law, uncle and other elders one by one, and prostrated. When prostrating, it should be arranged from top to bottom, all the way to brother, sister, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, etc. The person who accepts the prostration of the new daughter-in-law should return the gift. After the ceremony, the family had a drinking party, and then sang and danced, and the wedding ceremony reached its climax. After the grand and lively wedding banquet, the senders of relatives must return on the same day except for the bride's sister-in-law and bridesmaids. When they returned, the bride's mother gave a piece of clothing to each guest who came as a token of gratitude.
Uncover the fence
The ceremony is also known as "Hosigtayle". The time is the third day of the wedding, the tent refers to the newlyweds in front of the bed, according to the habits of the Mongolian people in Xinjiang, the bride can not show her face before the tent is revealed, accompanied by the bridesmaid during the day, and does not do any work. On the third day of marriage, the bride's parents and relatives came to the new house to hold a ceremony to uncover the tent with the man's relatives. They came with whole lamb, wine, hada, and other gifts. The man will set up a banquet to entertain the guests, and when the account is uncovered, a congratulatory speech should be offered, if the blessing is not said well, it is not in line with the wishes of the woman's family, and the people of the woman's family will raise objections and not let the account be revealed, which will cause a dispute. At the beginning of the ceremony, a lexicographic elder holds a shotgun in his hand and a white cloth strip in the barrel of the gun, and rhythmically recites the blessing. The fence is then unveiled by the proponent. Only then did the bride come out of the tent. Picking up a new plate, a new bowl, filled with milk tea and milk wine, starting from the father-in-law and mother-in-law to each of the guests present to toast a bowl, the mother-in-law in front of the guests will give the pot, bowl, scoop, pot and other household goods to the bride, indicating that the bride has begun to perform the duties of the daughter-in-law. At the same time, gifts such as fabrics and hand ornaments are sent to the daughter-in-law. Then everyone drank wine, ate meat, sang and danced, and celebrated all night. The day after the unveiling ceremony, the bride, led by the groom and mother-in-law, returns to her mother's house to give a family gift, also calling the bride back to the door. When you return to the door, you also bring gifts such as Hada, whole sheep, and wine. The bride's family should invite relatives, friends and neighbors to join them. At the beginning of the feast, the bride and groom are to offer hada and toast to their father-in-law, mother-in-law and elders. During the banquet, there are still singing and singing to help entertain. When the bride and groom return, the bride's mother gives them and their relatives gifts such as cloth and headscarves.
The marriage customs of the Mongols in Xinjiang are generally the same as those of the Mongols in other regions. But there is a slight difference. For example, the Mongolian marriage customs in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region do not have the ceremony of unveiling the fence, and the songs and greetings sung at the wedding are also very different. The Chahar Mongols of the Xilingrad League also had the custom of Tibetan grooms on wedding nights, which is not found in the Mongolian marriage customs in Xinjiang. The marriage customs of the four major Mongol tribes in Xinjiang are also different.
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