How was the wedding of the prince and princess in the past?

Under the Nguyen Dynasty, the wedding of princes and princesses was conducted methodically, according to the regulations.

Accordingly, the wedding of the Nguyen prince lasted only one day. The princess's wedding had to take place three days apart with many different ceremonies.

Prince gets married

Prince married called load fees . The wedding usually takes place after the prince has left the private residence. Through conversations, the king mentioned private matters, whether there were any officials who wanted to give the son to the prince.

After a mandarin accepted to marry his daughter to the prince, the wedding was held according to the date and time determined by Kham Thien Giam (an agency specializing in calendars).

One day before the recharging, the court setting ceremony at Can Chanh Palace was held, and the king announced the time to conduct the wedding.

Wedding ceremony of King Bao Dai and Queen Nam Phuong.

The ceremony began, two officials Chanh, Deputy Ambassador took the blood, carried the casket to a house of Van Vo Cong Thu. Pre-arranged offerings on the golden lacquered plates include 2 gold bars, 4 silver bars, 2 brocades, 20 fine fabrics, a pair of bracelets, a pair of earrings, a cow, and a painted pig. all red.

The group set out to the bride's house, including 2 mandarins, the deputy envoy, a few ministers, his wife, and soldiers carrying items.

After arriving at the bride's house, the offerings are neatly placed on the table (cattle and cows are left in the yard). The Chief of Mission stands on the left, the deputy on the right, the bride's parents stand in front of the court. According to the words of the official, they bow together 5 times and then respectfully accept the offerings.

On this day, the Nguyen Dynasty king gave a golden book, talking about the marriage between the prince and the royal concubine, clearly stating the background of the two people, buying hats, clothes, shoes, palanquin. for the new concubine.

At that time, the bride's house had already set up the altar to place the needles. After reading, the needle will be returned to the bride to be placed on the altar. After the ceremony, the new servants will invite the bride to sit on a chair and bow.

After the rituals are over, the bride's family holds ceremonies to treat the groom's family, before the bride returns to the prince's residence. The very next day, the bride's parents will enter the palace to give thanks to the king and queen.

3 days for the princess's wedding

According to the book 'Life in the Court of the Nguyen Dynasty', marrying a princess must have 6 ceremonies, conducted in 3 intermittent days.

The first day is called the 'recharge ceremony'. The groom's family brought an offering to the palace including a buffalo, a pig, 2 bass trays, 2 wine jars, 2 brocade trees, 10 silk sheets, 4 gold bars, a pair of earrings, a gold brooch, 2 chains jade, 16 silver ingots.

Arriving at the place, the master kissed brocade, silk, betel nut on the altar, gold and silver were given to the princess.

A ritual in the Nguyen Dynasty.

On the second day, the 'sand loading ceremony' and 'sand loading ceremony' were conducted . Items for this ceremony include 4 buffaloes, 4 cows, 2 pigs, wine, brocade, cloth, gold bullion, silver bullion.

After the above ceremonies, the king sent a minister to bring the ceremony to the shrines. Three days before the wedding ceremony, the royal palace led the princess to pay respects to the shrines, the queen and the empress dowager.

Two days before the wedding, the king sent the mandarin Kham Mang to visit his wife's residence, to bring the seven treasure beds, the eight fairy curtains, etc. to decorate.

On the third day of the wedding ceremony, the 'face ceremony' will be held . This ritual has the meaning of praying for the princess and concubine to have "heavenly descendants". Next is the 'welcome' ceremony - bedspread for the new couple.

After that, the concubine dressed in ceremonial clothes and went to the palace to bow to the king, ask for permission to welcome the princess and listen to the king's teachings. The phoenix waits in a room, four sides of the curtain, the flute covered. The princess wore a five phoenix hat, a red robe, embroidered round flowers, a phoenix bird, wore a red dress, followed the maids to her father and mother to listen to the teachings before returning to her husband's house.

When the palanquin stopped in front of Ta Doan's door, the princess stepped out and invited the princess to get on the palanquin and bring it back to the palace. According to the regulations, when the princess's palanquin leaves the imperial citadel, only her consort can get on the palanquin.

The concubine rode a horse and covered two umbrellas, the servant leading the way. 300 soldiers with fans, staffs, and bandits followed. Following the princess's palanquin, there were 6 maids, dressed in fairy robes, 2 holding candles to light candles, 2 holding twigs, 2 holding goose cages, 4 holding betel nut caskets and incense boxes, 12 princes and Consort, 4 officers of literature and martial arts and his wife led the way.

Arriving at the palace, the wedding procession went straight to the main door, followed by the next rituals to announce the ancestors. The next day, the princess introduced herself to her parents-in-law. On the 9th day, the couple went to pay homage to the king, queen, and empress dowager.

The dowry of the princess is granted according to the king's reign, and the groom is given the title of Pho Ma Do lieutenant - mainly sitting without salary, attending feasts on holidays, or following the king to serve places.

The wedding ceremony of the princess is changed according to each king's life. After the reign of Tu Duc, the wedding was held at Ton Nhon Phu - the place of worship of the Nguyen Phuc family (the family of the kings of the Nguyen Dynasty). The offerings of the consorts are becoming less and less permissive.