The Eastern culture has always been known for being the birthplace of the most fascinating rituals and beliefs of history, and on its inhabitants, with an incredible sense of meditation and deep spiritual peace developed, they have done the most interesting and disturbing practices in the mystical world, full of large and enigmatic meanings in each. Therefore, today we will know some of the most iconic traditions of the country’s grand dragon, the quintessence of the legendary China.
The Orientals have a rite for every necessity of life, either to get abundance, love, prosperity, luck and happiness. Many of these rituals have been very demanding while others have faded with the passing of the years. Notably, they depend on each ethnic group that represents every person, thus, these practices vary. Let us see some of them here.
In the town of Han, specifically, it is customary that when a couple decides to marry, the parents of the groom seek a matchmaker who will contact the parents of the bride to officially ask the girl’s hand, the responsibility of this matchmaker is to get the two families acquaintance and enjoy a pleasant evening. After this, the groom’s family has to send expensive and prestigious gifts to honor the family of the bride. Having given the nod to the wedding celebration, friends and relatives of the bride and groom will visit both houses and after dinner they will make them jokes. The traditional color for weddings is red, for this reason, the decorations are on the same red.
On the other hand, in order to celebrate a child’s triumph of being admitted into college, friends of their parents will give them away red envelopes with cash in it as gratitude, the parents response is to invite their cordial friends to a great dinner.
In another sense, some of the most common rituals single women performed to find love is to comb their hair and decorate it with flowers; they also wear all red dresses.
For the New Year’s Eve, it is common for people to decorate their houses with ornamental dragon objects. As it is known, the dragon is a mythical and legendary animal that attracts good fortune for the oriental culture. Similarly, to ward off evil spirits, they make use of essential oils of natural flavors that put in their homes.
Another tradition that truly marked the Chinese culture was the bounded feet. This is a specifically feminine custom that still remains in some places in China. Women pressed bandaged into the feet of girls so they could not develop as they should, deforming and breaking their bones. Their feet might measure between 10cm to 15cm of what is considered the sole. This is practice because it accentuates their sensuality to reach adulthood, as for many men they represented the most attractive and erotic part of a woman.
How enigmatic and mysterious. And some traditions seem very painful, especially those of the bounded feet.