Crowd of elders prevented groom from demanding cash and gifts Photo: SCMP
The rowdy events occurred on the way to a wedding in a village in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, eastern China, in late October, when the groom’s motorcade was blocked by a crowd of mostly elderly people, Fengqi Video reported. According to tradition, the groom’s relatives are required to give these people anything they ask for, from sugar and cigarettes to red envelopes filled with money. If the crowd is not satisfied with the gifts, the groom may not be able to see the bride or the pick-up may be delayed beyond the auspicious time.
The ritual of blocking the groom’s path is called lan men (blocking the door). Some relatives and friends of the bride even pose challenges such as asking the groom to guess riddles, recite poems or show off his singing and dancing skills. According to a wedding planner in Taizhou, the groom’s family often prepares many gifts and money to distribute to the crowd blocking the groom’s car.
The clip of the wedding in Taizhou has attracted great attention on Chinese social networks, with 6,000 comments left on Douyin, most of which were condemning: “What an evil custom. This is clearly a robbery,” said one person, while another wrote, “This custom will prevent young people from getting married,” followed by a comment that “The groom’s family put 10 yuan in each red envelope. With such a large crowd, the total amount of money the groom’s family must have spent on them is not small.”
In addition to this “door blocking” ritual, Chinese weddings also have the controversial custom of “hun nao” or “hot weddings”. Accordingly, this custom allows wedding attendees to taunt the groom, the bride, and even the bridesmaids. This has led to violence and sexual harassment in some cases.
Earlier this year, a wedding in Shandong with a strange custom caused outrage on social media. Video footage of the event showed a group of muscular men pinning a bride wearing a traditional red wedding dress to the ground. The wedding took place in a rural residential area with a red carpet in the courtyard. Guests gathered in the courtyard to watch the strange custom. A guest tried to stop the men, but the men just laughed at their efforts. The men then sprayed white foam on the bride’s head and prevented her from trying to escape the “challenge”. Several men then forcibly held the bride and groom’s heads and forced them to greet each other.
The video posted on Weibo has been viewed more than 140 million times, with more than 13,000 comments, mostly expressing outrage. “There are many wedding customs like this that still happen in rural areas and there is no way to stop them,” one person commented. “How can the groom tolerate this? It’s really disgusting. When will these scenes stop?” another asked.
Weddings involving vulgar challenges and even sexual harassment have repeatedly drawn attention on social media in some parts of China. In 2020, also in Shandong province, a groom was dragged from his car on the way to pick up his bride, smeared with soy sauce, vinegar and raw eggs, and pushed into a roadside ditch. Several wedding guests were later arrested by police.
According to Chinese media, in response to public outrage, local authorities have contacted village elders and hope to “promote change and eliminate inappropriate wedding customs.”
Thai An
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