Wedding Custom: 'Ninghai Ten-mile Red Dowry'

Ten-mile Red Dowry – Wedding Customs of Ninghai[Photo/nbwh.gov.cn]

Ten-mile Red Dowry – Wedding Customs of Ninghai[Photo/nbwh.gov.cn]

Ninghai Ten-mile Red Dowry wedding customs mainly include wedding etiquette such as engagement, match-making, dating, preparing for dowry, receiving dowry, bride reception, wedding ceremony, bridal chamber pranks, bride’s home visit and the craftsmanship of red dowry. 

Qiangong bed (a bed of exquisite workmanship that takes the craftsman 1,000 hours to finish), Wangong sedan chair (a sedan chair of exquisite workmanship that takes the craftsman 10,000 working hours to finish), and the Ten-mile Red Dowry are wedding phenomena known to each household in east Zhajiang, and have been handed down generation after generation. The red dowry is a symbol of excellent craftsmanship to the people in the southern Yangtze River Delta. The red color symbolizes beautiful wishes of happiness, auspiciousness and ardency. It is an integral part of folk inheritance in south China.

“Ninghai Ten-mile Red Dowry Wedding Custom” was selected among the second list of National Intangible Cultural Heritages for its strong tradition and exquisite artistic value.