Do you know what is “成亲(cheng2 qin1)”?
Maybe you will feel puzzled about this
Chinese phrase. That is fine. I will show you another one that is “结婚(jie2 hun1)”. If you have taken Chinese
lessons, you must have already known this word. It means “get married” in
English.
Actually, “成亲(cheng2
qin1)” is a more Chinese characteristic name for marriage in China, especially
in ancient times.
In this Chinese lesson
online, we will get to know the different names of marriage in China.
“成亲” is the
most frequently-used one in China. “成亲” can be
understood as “成为亲戚(cheng2 wei2 qin1 qi4)”. That is to say, if
you two get married, you will forever become relatives to each other. It has
reveled the basic meaning of human’s marriage.
“拜堂(bai4
tang2)” is another common word concerning marriage. It is concerned with the
traditional formal wedding ceremony. At that time, the new couple had to kowtow
towards their parents, the heaven and ground and the public at present. We call
this ritual activity “拜堂(bai4 tang2)”.
“结为连理(jie2
wei2 lian2 li3)” is a more implicit expression. It occurs more in the literary
works. “连理(lian2 li2)” is a kind of plant whose
branches usually tangle together. So couples are often compared to “连理”.
When it comes to marriage in China, there
are two characters we have to focus. They are “嫁(jia4)”
and “娶(qu3)”. Actually, they have no exact words
in English. “嫁” means the action of a woman marrying a
man, and “娶” refers to the contrary meaning. We can
say “他娶了她(ta1 qu3 le5 ta1)” but we can’t say “他嫁了她(ta1 jia4 le5 ta1)”. Do you understand it?
We have learned many expressions about Chinese
marriage in this Chinese
lesson. If you are interested in Chinese culture, just join us in our
following Chinese
language lessons, and you will gain a lot from them.
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