The "Tongkao of Five Rites" once said that since the Later Qi Dynasty, regardless of the emperor or the people, the wedding ceremony "is called Nacai, the second is Xiangming, the third is Naji, the fourth is Nazheng, and the fifth is invitation. Period, six days to welcome each other."

These are the six stages of ancient weddings, commonly known as the "six rites". The description is as follows:

1. Acceptance: This is the first stage of marriage negotiation. After the man asks a matchmaker to propose marriage, the woman agrees to the marriage proposal. The man prepares a gift and goes to the woman’s house to propose. The gift is a wild goose. Always live. Why use wild geese? Wild geese are migratory birds, and the symbol is in line with the meaning of yin and yang. Later, a new meaning was developed, saying that wild geese lose their mates and will never be paired again for life, so that their loyalty is chosen.

2. Name asking: After the marriage proposal, the matchmaker asks the woman for her date of birth and name to prepare for the marriage. ?

3. Najib: It is a ritual to inform the woman of the good news of marriage after asking her name. Also called "making an alliance". This is the main ritual during the engagement phase. According to ancient customs, geese are used as a token of confirmation that the marriage has been decided. Later, it developed to use rings, jewelry, colored silks, gift cakes, gift incense candles, and even sheep and pigs, etc., so it is also called a fixed appointment or a fixed appointment.

4. Betrothal gift: after the alliance is made, the groom’s family sends the betrothal gift to the bride’s family, which is a ceremony in the marriage stage. This wedding ceremony is also commonly known as the final betrothal or the big betrothal, the excessive gift, etc. Later, this ceremony also adopted the method of return gift, returning part or all of the food in the betrothal gift; or after being hired, the bride's family would give the man's clothes, hats, shoes and socks as a return gift. The amount of the betrothal gift and the name of the item usually have auspicious meanings, and the number should be double rather than single.

5. Application period: After sending the betrothal gift, choosing a wedding date, preparing the gift to the bride’s family, and obtaining consent. In ancient customs, geese are used as usual, and gifts are generally simple. The wedding gift is often combined with the betrothal gift, and the wedding date is determined at the same time as the wedding gift.

6. Welcome: This is the ceremony where the new son-in-law goes to the daughter’s home to welcome her. This ritual is often regarded as the main procedure of a wedding, while the first five items are regarded as transitional rituals such as marriage proposals and engagements. Some of these forms are due to the needs of social relationships, such as "adding makeup" at the girl's house, "opening the bow" and "making wedding arrangements" when arriving at the boy's house, etc., which are all rituals for establishing social relationships. It is purely a wedding part of the ceremony. Generally, a sedan chair is used, which can be divided into double or single roof. The "brother-in-law" who helps the bride to get on the sedan, and the "welcome guest" who accompanies the groom to the bride's house to pick up the bride, each have their own requirements. , returning the carriage and horse, welcoming the sedan, getting off the sedan, worshiping the heaven and earth, performing the wedding ceremony, entering the bridal chamber... Each process has several to more than a dozen forms, most of which express wishing good luck and exorcising evil spirits. The season for wedding is generally chosen in spring, when the state is based on agriculture, which coincides with the slack season and a good harvest, which is a good time for marriage.

After the "six rites" of marriage, the transitional period begins, when the bride returns to her natal family's "Guining" until the bride enters the childbearing period, and the birth ceremony of the second generation is held again. From then on, the wedding was only regarded as a family anniversary, celebrated on an anniversary basis (a grand celebration ceremony was held when a "60th birthday" was reached, called a bigamy ceremony), and was celebrated year after year until the end of the year.