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Post by buff on Dec 12, 2008 8:43:03 GMT -5
If your EA counsins are part flip, they are expected to undergo the right of passage.
The stats I'm thinking are the ones from families with one parent raised from oriental upbringing.
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Post by betahat on Dec 12, 2008 12:44:36 GMT -5
IT must have something to do with the marriage being supposed to last forever. I think there also might be some element of dowry/security in it. I'm sure there are cultures where you exchange something more useful like a herd of cows or a nice jacket (like in Mongol the movie) or something, but I don't know how many people are going to be interested in your soup exchange Celtriya...
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quiapo
Junior Member
Posts: 188
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Post by quiapo on Dec 13, 2008 20:40:44 GMT -5
Betahat - there seems to be an innate tendency to express significant aspects of human life in terms of symbols, the soup exchange might catch on if people decide to treasure the soup bones. or the soup bowls?
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Post by Paddy on Dec 14, 2008 5:18:40 GMT -5
I wondered about this exchange and why such objects are designed to last "forever". Metal objects and rocks. (Aside from the fact that it's supposed to embody the "foreverness" of the relationship). A nice bowl of soup and the memory should suffice for eternity, shouldn't it? In Chinese weddings, one of the 12 courses during the meal consists of noodles, the length of which is supposed to represent longevity of life (and thus marriage). I can't remember the name of the noodles - but they are long and slippery. And in Southern Chinese weddings, after the groom has collected the bride from her home, they then drive off on a circuitous route around the town/city passing by all those streets with auspicious names. These days, this journey will be caught on a interminably tedious video by a camera man in a preceding car. Here's a couple of roads in Guangzhou that have to put up with wedding congestion: Wanfu Lu - 10,000 Lucky Road Changshou Lu - Longevity Road |
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Post by Paddy on Dec 14, 2008 18:44:11 GMT -5
What is it with you and bowls? Do you have a special attachment to them. I have to say that I'm partial to a good bowl too - no finer vessel for eating from. Never heard of them occupying central ceremonial roles (though other vessels - cups and incense burners - hold immensely important symbolic roles in some beliefs/ceremonies).
I participated in a couple of tea ceremonies this year. In Chinese ceremonies, the generational relationship between you and the couple determines whether you are served tea (if you are the generation above) or you serve to (if you are the generation below). During my cousin's daughter's wedding, the bride and groom had to serve me tea, coz I'm a generation above. The weird thing, though, is that they are both older than me. I felt quite smug about that! I always insist she calls me uncle, but she always refuses. She couldn't shirk her duty this time!
The drawback was that I had to hand over a wad of cash, as is the custom.
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