The marriage customs of the Gelao people are mainly spread in Wuchuan Gelao and Miao Autonomous County, Zunyi City. Wuchuan Gelao and Miao Autonomous County is located in the northeast of Guizhou Province, bordering Dejiang and Yanhe in the east, Fenggang in the south, Zheng'an and Daozhen in the west, and Pengshui in Chongqing in the north. The county covers an area of 2,777 square kilometers and has a population of about 450,000, of which 185,000 are Gelao people, accounting for 43% of the total population, and 151,000 are Miao people, accounting for 35% of the total population. The county has a subtropical humid monsoon climate with mild climate, abundant rainfall and distinct four seasons. Hongdu River is the mother river of the Wuchuan Gelao people, and has nurtured the splendid culture of the Gelao people for thousands of years. Wuchuan was a barbarian land in ancient times. It belonged to Ba first in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, then to Chu, to Qianzhong County in the Qin Dynasty, and to Wuling County in the Han Dynasty. In the 19th year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (599), Wuchuan County was established to recruit and comfort the Liao people. According to the "Yuanhe Records" of the Tang Dynasty, Wuchuan was named after the river. In the early Tang Dynasty, Tian Kechang used the land to build Sizhou, and Sizhou became the territory of the Tian family. Later, the envoy Ran Anchang, who was recruiting and comforting, asked to establish a county to pacify Wuchuan because it was an important road to Zangke and Yelang. So Ningyi County was established, and Wuchuan belonged to it. In 1986, the "Wuchuan Gelao and Miao Autonomous County" was established with the approval of the State Council. In the early days, the marriage of the Gelao people was relatively free. Young men and women sang songs and talked about love in their daily interactions and production labor, and they used big trees or big stones as matchmakers to conclude marriages. The Records of Sinan Prefecture in the Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty recorded: "Sinan gradually became influenced by Chinese customs." "Han people are simple, and their wedding etiquette and clothing are similar to those in the Central Plains." "Yi and Lao gradually became influenced by the Germans, and their customs followed those of China." The marriage etiquette of the Han people in the Central Plains, "parents' orders, matchmaker's words", "equal status", and "three matchmakers and six certificates", quickly changed the free and romantic marriage customs of the Gelao people. By the Qing Dynasty, the marriage etiquette of the Gelao people had developed into a systematic and standardized ritual activity. In the "Nanyuan Chronicle" compiled by Shen Bofu from Wuchuan in the Qing Dynasty, there is a detailed record: "Wedding. No extravagant betrothal gifts, at first, the matchmaker sends a red card without writing the name, and verbally expresses the intention, which is called the first matchmaker. The girl's family agrees, and the matchmaker writes his own name on the card, which is called the second matchmaker, and the agreement is made. The matchmaker asks the girl's family to invite the girl's relatives, etc., which is called a book list, and takes it to the man's family to write a red card, decide the name, and the wedding card is sent by the groom, and incense, candles, wedding fireworks, jewelry, cloth, tea, and salt are brought. , wine, and dried meat. On the day of the engagement, the girl's father offered incense and silk, performed the ceremony of informing the ancestors, and invited relatives and neighbors to set up a banquet to accompany the matchmaker, which was called "burning incense". The two surnames who have been married for generations are called old relatives. The first couple is called birth relatives. The birth relatives ceremony is complete, but they all mention whether they exist or not. Old relatives, some omit all matters. When the marriage is about to take place, the matchmaker is sent in advance to tell the girl Geng to marry the boy Suji to marry. On the day of the wedding, the ceremony is held in advance, and the hairpins, bracelets, clothes and skirts are prepared for the girl to wear a crown and hairpin. The girl's family in the city will escort the dowry and makeup to the house one day before the wedding. The groom's family prepares the furnishings and hangs up the tent for the girl to return. For villages with long roads, the bride will go with the colorful sedan chair. The girl bids farewell to her ancestors and rides on the colorful sedan chair, with drums and flags, and they line up on the road in order. The girl's uncles and brothers will go with her, which is called "sending the bride". When the sedan chair returns, the groom wears his best clothes to help the girl to the door, and first performs the ceremony of laying geese in front of the family shrine, and then leads the girl to the room to perform the ceremony of drinking the wedding wine. The bridesmaids are all connected by relatives, and the one who is as lucky as her eyebrows will be the host. After the morning meeting at the temple, the bride pays respect to the elders in the hall, which is called "paying respect to the guests". Three days later, the bride cooks and chooses a day to entertain the guests, and the ceremony is completed. The wedding ceremony is often not held. If there are children raised in the groom's family, before the ceremony is completed, it is called "idle room", and the ceremony of burning incense and passing the ceremony is omitted, and the ceremony on the wedding day is the same. "To this day, although the wedding customs of the Gelao people have been reduced in the ritual procedures of the Qing Dynasty, this traditional wedding custom is still generally retained throughout the marriage process, and the Gelao people still attach great importance to this traditional and standardized wedding customs and rituals. The marriage custom of the Gelao people is a folk ritual activity with complicated procedures and standardized etiquette. The procedures for the man are: propose marriage, exchange gifts, serve tea, put incense, open the year of birth, report the date, and marry. The corresponding procedures for the woman are: make a statement, consult a matchmaker, prepare for marriage, cry for marriage, and send the bride. To propose marriage, the man invites a matchmaker to the woman's house to propose marriage, which is called "asking for advice". The woman "makes a statement" to respond to the man's proposal. To exchange gifts, the man invites a matchmaker to the woman's house to formally propose marriage. The woman invites family elders to "consult the matchmaker". The main purpose is to inquire about the man's family background and family style, and examine the matchmaker's morality. In this process, whether to open the marriage or not requires the consent of three generations of the same clan of the man and woman's two families. Therefore, it is called "six certificates". Sending tea (also called "taking favors", i.e. betrothal gifts) generally includes: the first matchmaker (commonly known as the first favor), sending meat favors to the girl's parents, called the first tea; the second matchmaker (commonly known as the second favor), in addition to sending meat favors to the girl's parents, also send 0 favors to the uncle, called the second tea; the third matchmaker (commonly known as the third tea), the man must ask the matchmaker to the girl's family to ask clearly about the specific scope of gifts and the size of favors for the third tea. The girl's family "sends favors" to the man according to their own relatives. Generally, the scope of sending meat favors is expanded to three generations of direct relatives such as grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, etc., and other relatives send 0 favors. Sending tea is generally on festivals such as Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, December, Spring Festival, etc. The third tea is actually to inform relatives of the news that the daughter is getting married. Relatives prepare to "send" according to the size of favors and the close relationship, and the host family also begins to prepare the daughter's dowry. The three matchmakers are done. Installing incense, also known as "inserting incense". The man's family prepares five-color cloth, meat, candy, pastry, crispy sesame cakes, "fragrant" (i.e. peanuts, sunflowers, walnuts, chestnuts, etc.), and a pair of dragon and phoenix candles, as well as incense paper, firecrackers, and a number of bundles. The bundles are written with the names of the woman's ancestors, and the man who burns them calls himself "son-in-law, grandson-in-law". All the things are packed in tea basins and led by the matchmaker to the woman's house, where they are placed under the shrine in the main hall, and a worship ceremony is held: lighting incense, burning candles, burning money paper bundles, and setting off firecrackers. "Incense" means engagement. After incense, the engagement cannot be changed. Kaigen, the man asks the matchmaker to go to the woman's house to ask for the birth date. Report date, invite the fortune teller to choose the wedding date according to the birth date of the man and woman, commonly known as "looking at the date". Then take the "report date book" written by the fortune teller, prepare gifts and go to the woman's house to negotiate and determine the wedding date. As the saying goes, "the date is determined by the time", after the wedding date is determined, both parties begin to prepare for the wedding. The woman's side: Before getting married, there is a custom of fasting for three days at least, and seven or eight days at most. You must practice the crying song for the wedding. The Gelao people call the crying song for the wedding "crying sisters" because when the girl cries for the wedding, she is accompanied by her good sisters. These girls stay together a few days before the wedding day, and they are inseparable from morning to night. They sing songs instead of crying, tell each other their hearts, and talk about their feelings of separation, so they are called "crying sisters". After the man's wedding team arrives near the woman's house, the matchmaker and the "Ya Li Xiansheng" (i.e. the master of ceremonies) must first inform the woman's family and hand in a "letter", and then the wedding team can enter the woman's house. The woman's side sends a person (with the same surname as the woman) to greet the groom and the "Ya Li Xiansheng" outside the gate. After the three of them bow to the "incense", they are guided into the main hall. After the ceremony, the master of ceremonies puts out the man's gifts (a "book" is placed on each gift, such as a "round book" in a red egg, a book of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trustworthiness" in the middle of the gift, and a "book of invitation" and a "book of opening", etc.), and then the woman's side selects a man with good fortune to light the dragon and phoenix candle with the man's special "candle", and hold the "passing ceremony": first worship the sky, kneel facing the "incense", toast three cups, kowtow three times, then kneel facing the door, toast three cups, and kowtow three times. After that, worship the ground, and the ceremony is the same as above. At this time, the master of ceremonies takes out a "report book" and hands it to the woman's family. The woman's family sends someone to stand on the threshold with the "report book" and report to the woman's relatives: "There is an invitation in front of the hall, take the book and the wine", and the order is parents, grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. Those who are called go to the main hall to accept the kneeling and toasts of the new son-in-law. This set of etiquette is called "passing the book and passing the ceremony". The girl comes out to cry for the matchmaker and the groom. During the banquet, the master of ceremonies will also send out "meal books", "dish books", "wine books" and "tea books" to express gratitude to the cooks and vegetable cooks. After the meal, the "dispatching of the bride" begins. The time of "dispatching of the bride" is also calculated in advance by a fortune teller. The bride is sent at an auspicious time. First, the bride's ancestral bag is burned, and then the girl is led out. She cries and worships the ancestors in front of the incense. After crying and worshiping several times, she goes out to get on the sedan chair. When getting on the sedan chair, she must step on the sieve with copper coins in front of the sedan chair. The bride's brothers with the same surname carry the sedan chair to the back of the house and then hand it over to the groom's sedan bearer. The groom goes to the main hall again to bid farewell to his parents-in-law and other relatives, and accepts the "hanging red" from his parents-in-law. "Hanging red" is also called "tying red", which means hanging a piece of red cloth or red bed sheet diagonally on the groom's shoulders, with the groom hanging it on the right shoulder and the bride hanging it on the left shoulder. The bride's family will accompany the girl to the groom's house with "sending guests". Two big red boxes are indispensable in the girl's dowry. The box contains a bag of rice and two bowls, which are the "clothes, rice and bowls" given by parents to their daughters, the best dowry given by parents to their daughters, and the mother model for their daughters' future rich life. The man's side: The man should prepare a pair of dragon and phoenix candles, a pair of candles for the bride, and call "Master" and sedan bearers in advance. After the bride arrives home, the groom first enters the main hall to kneel down and worship his parents, and then takes off the "red" and hangs it on the gate. The man's side then selects a woman with eyebrows and good fortune to make the bed for the bride. After the bed is made, firecrackers are set off to welcome the sedan chair, and the "returning carriage and horse" ceremony is held: a pig's head, a pair of candles inserted into the pig's nose, three incense sticks, three cups of wine, a number of long coins, and a rooster are prepared on the table. The sedan chair is carried around three times. Finally, the sedan chair is carried into the main hall, and the woman who makes the bed leads the bride out (the bride still has to step through the sieve with copper coins in front of the sedan chair) and takes her into the new room. Firecrackers are set off again to welcome the "family guests" to the main hall, and they are entertained with tea, wine and food. After the meal, the bride and the groom's parents will hang red ribbons for the closest person to the bride among the "relatives-sending guests", and then the groom will personally set off firecrackers to see them off (the "relatives-sending guests" cannot stay overnight at the groom's house no matter how far they travel). After seeing off the "relatives-sending guests", the "meeting and worshipping" ceremony will be held: the woman who makes the bed will lead the bride out, and together with the groom, they will worship heaven and earth, worship their parents, and accept their parents' blessings and gifts. After worshipping her parents, the bride will immediately run back to the bridal chamber. The groom will also kneel down to worship his uncle, aunt and other relatives. The day after the wedding is called "re-talking", and some relatives and friends who missed the "main wine" can make up for the "favor" on this day. In the morning, the bride and the groom will kneel down to present the cloth shoes she made by herself to her parents and other relatives, and change their names to "mom", "dad" and so on. The second day after the wedding is called "re-talking". The new daughter-in-law will use the rice brought from her parents' home to cook for the whole family. This meal is called "filial piety and harmony meal", also called "reunion meal". On the fourth day after the wedding, the newlyweds have to prepare gifts and go home, commonly known as "returning to the parents' home" or "returning to the door". After the new son-in-law arrives at his wife's house, he must first enter the main hall, put down the gifts, and then come out to set off firecrackers. The more firecrackers he sets off, the more proud his wife's family will feel. "Returning to the parents' home" cannot be stayed overnight, and must be rushed back. At this point, the wedding is over. The marriage customs of the Gelao people are rooted in the entire Gelao community and are an important ritual activity that every Gelao person must experience in their lives. The marriage customs, from "proposing marriage" to "marrying", have many procedures, complete rituals, and strict ritual norms. At the same time, strict taboos are emphasized, and there are taboos in any link, especially in combing hair, making beds, and lighting candles, and no mistakes can be made. The marriage customs of the Gelao people have been passed down since the Qing Dynasty, and the basic content remains unchanged. The ancient etiquette of "three matchmakers and six certificates" and "engagement with incense" is still preserved. It is the legacy and manifestation of the Gelao people's historical culture, and the concrete embodiment of the Gelao people's folk customs, psychology, etiquette, and morality. It contains the spirit, beliefs, and value orientation of the Gelao people, and carries the Gelao people's beautiful expectations. It has relatively completely preserved the Gelao people's historical culture. The Gelao marriage customs were once popular in the entire Wuchuan and even the Gelao-inhabited areas in northern Guizhou, and were mastered by most Gelao people. However, in recent years, with the process of global economic integration, various popular cultures that have flourished along with urbanization and industrialization have strongly impacted the Gelao people's traditional marriage concepts and customs, accelerating their transformation. At the same time, the Yali Xiansheng, who plays an important role in the Gelao wedding customs, has mastered a set of complicated etiquette procedures. However, due to the impact of modern social culture and economy, fewer and fewer young people learn this etiquette norms and play the role of Yali Xiansheng. In addition, the Gelao wedding customs are cumbersome and the etiquette requirements are strict, which is not adapted to the modern simple and fast-paced life. Rural marriage customs also tend to be simplified, which has caused a gap in the inheritance of the Gelao wedding customs. The Gelao wedding customs are facing a trend of gradual simplification, and the traditional etiquette system is facing an endangered situation.