The marrage customs of Bai people

  By Charlotte

There are three forms  of  marriage  in Bai  nationality. One is to marry a daughter to a man, which accounts for the majority, the other is the bridegroom to join his bride's family. This situation is mainly because the parents of bride have no son. In addition, the live-in  son-in law  must be renamed by the elders of the woman. The third is the form of Juan Zhang hui men(卷帐回门), which means seven days after the marriage of both men and women, the wife with her husband carring the tent, bedding back to the woman's family has brothers, but they are too young to take care of the old parents and younger siblings. So they have to come back to bride's home to support elderly. When his younger brother grew up and got married, the man returned to the man's home with his wife. These three forms of marriage have a long history and are still in use. But no matter what type of marriage it is, the process of marriage is basically the same.

  After the son became a married man, he usually seperated from his parents and organized a small family. Parents who live together, choose to live together with their young children. Therefore, the momogamous family is a common form of family organization of Bai people.

  According to the Bai custom, if the husband dies, the wife can preserve chastity or choose to remarry, but  she can not take away the property of her ex-husband when she marries with another man.

  The ceremony of wedding of Bai people is very grand. It usually takes three days to get married, the day of marriage is called" formal and happy day".

  As is mentioned above, these are the traditional wedding custom of Bai nationality.