Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese wedding traditions

Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese weddings are bound up with ancestors, luck and place, rather than a single doctrine. In Japan a Shinto shrine wedding is a form that spread in the twentieth century, and in Chinese communities the traditions combine Taoist, Confucian and folk rites.

The Shinto shrine wedding

A Shinto wedding in Japan takes place at a shrine, with a priest, a miko attendant, a ritual purification, offerings, and the san-san-kudo, in which the couple drink sake from three cups, three times each. The bride wears the shiromuku, white from head to toe, and the groom a montsuki. Only close relatives are present, and the two families drink sake together at the end. The Shinto form became popular after the 1900 wedding of the future Taisho emperor, according to common accounts.

Chinese and Taoist custom

Chinese families choose a lucky date using the almanac and the couple's birth details. The tea ceremony, in which the couple serve tea to elders, who give red envelopes, is central in Cantonese and many other communities. The red dress, firecrackers, the hair-combing and the lion dance are common. Taoist temples may provide blessing and a date. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, rites differ again.

A changing picture

Many Japanese weddings are now held in chapels with a Christian-style rite, and a Shinto one is a minority. Chinese weddings often mix a registry visit, a banquet and a photo shoot. Rural customs continue, and the folk rites are not always labelled religion by those who keep them.