Curious Wedding Customs.

Otago Witness, Issue 2396, 1 February 1900, Page 56

Curious Wedding Customs.

Among the most curious wedding customs are classed those of the Coreans. It is said that in Corea the woman must be as mute as a statue throughout her entire wedding day. Should she say one word, or make a sign, she would be ridiculed by her friends and family and lose caste for ever, though her husband is free to taunt and to try to provoke her into saying something. There are places where the eating or drinking from the same plate or cup is all the wedding ceremonial that the people nave. With some people it con&ists of the two drinking rum from the same cup, as a sign of their linked lives. In still other parts ox the world the two families meet at a banquet and signify by their partaking of a meal together that an alliance has been effected. In Maoriland and JBurmah there is no ceremony, marriage being regarded as a business partnership. It is said by one who has lived there that all the god's and goddesses of Maoriknd help the Maori whose wife betrays or dishonours her husband. But she may trade or exchange him to suit her own sweet will. In Zululand hair dressing is an important feature with both bride and bridegroom. The head of a Zulu bride is closely shaved except for the hair which is left to aid in the cone-shaped erection which is the lawful coiffure of a Zulu wife. In the Philippines the marriage laws are all in favour of women, and with her it is a clear case of " what is yours is mine, and what is mine is my owii." She adds her husband's name to hers, and the children take the name of both. In Siberia a bride on coming to her husband's house is required to prepare a dinner with her own hands as a test of her skill as housewife. In Sweden the bride wears a coronet of myrtle or of coloured paper. One of the superstitions of that country is that if a girl loves cats she will have a sunny wedding day. The Japanese bride, dressed in a long, white silk kimono and white veil, sits upon the floor facing her future husband. Two tables stand near, and upon one are two cups, a bottle of sake, and a kettle with two spouts. Upon the other are a miniature fir tree, which signifies the strength of the bridegroom, and a stork standing upon a tortoise, representing long life and happiness. The two-spouted kettle is put to the mouths of the bride and bridegroom alternately, signifying that they are to share each other's joys and sorrows. The bride keeps her veil, and it is used as her shroud when she dies.