Guangdong Tourism Culture and Customs Chronicle

Author: He Wei / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: The Marriage Customs of Water-Dwelling People
Water-dwelling people, also known as the "" (Dànjiā), are an ethnic group in China with a unique history and folk culture. Until shortly before the liberation, there were over 200,000 water-dwelling people in Guangdong. They lived on over 30,000 different types of boats and were concentrated in areas around the Pearl River estuary, including Panyu, Shunde, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, as well as Sanwei, Xinhui, and Taishan. Until the 1950s, the banks of the Pearl River in Guangzhou were still crowded with groups of "egg boats," and they lived a "nomadic" life on the water, earning their living by fishing, transporting goods, and trading salt. Their marriage customs are quite unique: if a man is not engaged, he places a basin of grass at the bow of his boat; if a woman is not engaged, she places a basin of flowers at the bow to attract matchmakers.
Water-dwelling people enjoy free love, and they intermarry within their own group, using songs as a medium. The songs they sing are called "Saltwater Songs," which are hailed as "Songs of the Water." The lyrics often address each other as "older brother" or "younger sister." Their wedding ceremonies are distinctive. Three days before the wedding, the couple does not meet. The bride is accompanied by her sisters for three days and nights before her wedding, crying and singing "Songs of Complaining Fate," reciting verses that are vivid and poetic. On the auspicious day, a "lucky man" (a man who has achieved marital and family happiness) accompanies the groom in a small flower boat to pick up the bride in her red boat. Often, the brothers of the groom and the sisters of the bride sing duets to express their feelings, and only then is the bride carried by a "lucky woman" (a woman who has achieved marital and family happiness) to the groom's boat. After the bride is brought back, she boards the boat to pay respects to her ancestors and meet her in-laws. In the evening, relatives and friends gather for a banquet on boats. During the banquet, over a dozen small boats are anchored together, facing each other, with red cloths draped over them to create pavilions. Those with better economic conditions invite large, ornate boats like "tower boats" (lóutíng) and "Purple Cave boats" (zǐdòngtíng), decorating them with lights and fireworks for a lively and joyous celebration. On the wedding night, the groom invites many friends who are skilled in singing and dancing, and the celebration often lasts late into the night. Some water-dwelling families also practiced the customs of raising "adopted children" and "adopted daughters-in-law," waiting for them to grow up before marrying them, a practice known as "turning the head" (zhuǎnjì). P56-57