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Chinese Wedding Combing Hair Ceremony

9 April 2014 by Eileen

I am back with more Chinese Wedding posts!  This week I am going to write about the combing hair ceremony.  Do check out my Chinese tea ceremony and wedding gifts if you missed those!

Why it is necessary for hair combing (梳頭, shūtóu)?

Chinese believe that it will bring long and lasting marriage.  So both bride and groom will have their own hair combing ceremony.

When should it be done?

It is conducted on the eve of the wedding by the women, typically the parents.

In this photo of my aunty, the ceremony is done before the groom came to fetch the bride.  Both parents said the four blessings:

一梳梳到尾 (1st combing, be together till the end of the road)

二梳百年好合 (2nd combing, happiness and harmony together till old age)

三梳子孙满堂 (3rd combing, blessed with many children and grandchildren)

四梳白发齐眉 (4th combing, blessed with longevity)

Chinese Wedding Combing Hair Ceremony
Chinese Wedding Combing Hair Ceremony praying

When it was my wedding, my parents didn’t do the hair combing ceremony as they had not bought any over in UK.  So my parents helped me wear the veil before the wedding.  I don’t have any photos to share as no one had took the photos for us while we are inside the hotel room.  Such a shame.

After the hair combing ceremony, both bride and groom shower with water infused with pomelo or pomegranate leaves and change into a new set of clothing and shoes.  Then each will eat a bowl of sweet soup of pink glutinous balls called tang yuan (湯圓) to wish the couple a complete and sweet marriage.  Of course, these traditions have not been widely practise as modern day people tend not to stick with tradition.

What do you need for the hair combing ceremony?

For male:

  • Pointed comb
  • Mirror
  • Red string
  • Ruler
  • Pair of dragon and phoenix candles
  • Lian zi, red dates, Tang Yuan in either 6 or 9 pieces
  • Fruits and meat

 For female:

  • Round comb
  • Mirror
  • Red string
  • Sewing kit
  • Ruler
  • Pair of dragon and phoenix candles
  • Lian zi, red dates, Tang Yuan in either 6 or 9 piece
  • Fruits and meat

(This information is from http://www.goldenhappiness.com.sg/hair_combing.html)

For my sisters wedding, my mother helped her put on her veil as my dad had passed away.  So it does not always need two people to do it.

Next week, I will write about Yue Lao who is a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology.

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Filed Under: Chinese Wedding Tagged With: chinese culture

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Comments

  1. Ellie says

    18 April 2014 at 10:12 pm

    such a lovely tradition. brings the whole family into the ceremony.

  2. Charly Dove says

    10 April 2014 at 8:15 pm

    I just love these posts, they’re absolutely fascinating. Another great tradition 🙂

  3. Globalmouse says

    10 April 2014 at 2:47 pm

    A hair combing ceremony? How brilliant!! What with that and the tea ceremony there are some lovely customs!!

  4. Lucie1979 says

    10 April 2014 at 2:00 pm

    this is so interesting!! I had no idea any of this went on before or at Chinese Weddings! Thanks for the great post. xx

  5. hannah staveley says

    10 April 2014 at 11:57 am

    Ohhh wow this is fab, loving reading all about this. x

  6. sonya says

    10 April 2014 at 11:06 am

    What a lovely custom, so interesting to hear about customs from a different culture.

  7. sonya says

    10 April 2014 at 11:06 am

    What a lovely custom, so interesting to hear about customs from a different culture.

  8. Tina Mansfield says

    10 April 2014 at 8:58 am

    I love reading about your different customs, there seem to be so many no wonder weddings go on for so long!

  9. TheBrickCastle says

    9 April 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Your weddings must take hours! I think it’s really sweet and nice, it’s full of things that you would never do except for at a wedding 🙂

  10. Red Rose Mummy says

    9 April 2014 at 9:23 pm

    I love these posts, I’m really enjoying your photos and family stories.

  11. mummyoftwo says

    9 April 2014 at 7:02 pm

    Another really interesting post! I am loving reading about all of these traditions.

  12. Circusmum says

    9 April 2014 at 12:32 pm

    Very interesting. I didn’t know about the hair combing ceremony. A few of my friends have been married in China, I must ask them if they preformed it!

  13. LauraCYMFT says

    9 April 2014 at 11:38 am

    It’s amazing the different traditions each culture has!

  14. Kim Carberry says

    9 April 2014 at 10:24 am

    I have never heard of this before…..So very interesting 🙂

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Hello!

Welcome to ET Speaks From Home. My name is Eileen, mother of two children aged 17 and 16 with visual impairment. We've been online since 2012 and continue to grow. I love to cook, craft, DIY, write about Chinese Culture and YouTube reviews.
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