HLM – Chapter 946 The Han-Style Wedding

Wang Bo’s hometown was the land of Confucius and Mencius, close to the Central Plains. Particularly in Fengcheng, after passing through two more cities, one could reach ancient Central China. Therefore, in important ceremonies like weddings and funerals, traditional customs were still preserved.

This was also why he brought Eva to the wedding. Zhou Haojie’s family was well-off, and naturally, a wedding of this magnitude would be grand. Wang Bo believed that Eva could witness an authentic traditional Chinese wedding this time.

To be precise, what awaited them was a Han-style wedding.

A Han-style wedding is one of the most traditional wedding styles of the Han ethnic group. Unlike general Chinese-style weddings, it differs significantly from weddings with Qing Dynasty or Republican-era influences.

Since Wang Bo wanted to introduce it to Eva and Dale, he had done some homework in advance.

The Han-style wedding is based on the Zhou rites. Its atmosphere emphasizes elegance, nobility, and solemnity. Tracing back to the origins, it truly embodies the classic cultural traditions of the Chinese nation.

In traditional Chinese culture, a Han-style wedding is seen as the foundation of ritual and music civilization, the starting point of human relationships and social order, and the origin of harmony between humans and the yin-yang of nature, generating all things.

Only such a wedding could match the couple’s deep and steadfast emotions, and resonate with one’s ethnic identity and cultural traditions.

Of course, this was still a regular family wedding, not a full historical reenactment. Certain elements, however, were styled according to Han traditions.

For instance, wedding attire. Zhou Haojie had shown it in the group chat before. Han-style wedding clothing varies according to different historical periods, which determines the color and style choices.

During the Han and Zhou periods, dark colors and red were favored; a Han-style wedding in this style could choose a red-and-black quju (曲裾) robe or clothing.

A Tang-style Han wedding could choose red for the groom and green for the bride.

A Ming-style wedding typically adopts Ming official uniforms, with brides wearing phoenix coronets and long red skirts.

Wang Bo woke up early in the morning. Eva, still groggy, followed him out of bed, sighing, “Oh my, it’s so uncomfortable not to have enough sleep. Why does our body need so much rest?”

Dale, fiddling with a small red Tang-style dress, turned around and said, “Sister, you went to bed at nine last night! That’s eight hours! You slept eight hours!”

Eva shot her a glance. “You remember it so clearly!”

Wang Bo, putting on his suit, laughed: “Dale, be quiet. Don’t you know your sister needs at least ten hours of sleep? She’s just grumpy from getting up early.”

Eva made a face at him. “I’m not, though!”

It was five in the morning. The sky was still dark, but the first phase of the wedding was about to begin.

A Han-style wedding generally has three stages: pre-wedding rites, main wedding ceremony, and post-wedding rites.

The pre-wedding rites—proposal, name inquiry, engagement, betrothal, and setting the date—had already concluded. Today began the main wedding ceremony.

First came qin-ying, the formal welcoming of the bride. Fengcheng was an ancient city, founded in the Zhou dynasty, formed during the Spring and Autumn period, and flourished in the Han and Tang dynasties.

Because the city held no significant strategic importance, it avoided disasters during modern wars, perfectly preserving some ancient architecture.

Zhou Haojie’s wedding venue was set in a hotel built in an ancient architectural style, named “Western Zhou Dynasty.” The hotel had a hall constructed to resemble ancient times, and the wedding banquet would be held there.

Wang Bo helped Eva straighten her dress. She chose a wine-red silk cheongsam. The dress fit her perfectly, and its shaping ability complemented Eva’s curves beautifully, making her look exceptionally elegant.

The dress slit reached her knees, showing off her well-shaped calves as she walked. To keep warm, she wore matching cotton pants/stockings, which made Wang Bo feel even more captivated.

The tricky part was the hairstyle, which required her golden hair to be pinned at the back. Wang Bo had Zhou Haojie contact a wedding company in advance. He paid the makeup team to style Eva as well—one of the reasons they had to wake up so early.

At the wedding company, Zhou Haojie and Li Jiayi were already getting their makeup done. Wang Bo accompanied Eva in, noticing Yao Ranran, Song Tiantian, Zhao Xiaohui, and other female classmates there. He was surprised: “You all got up so early!”

“Following the great tycoon Wang Bo, we get to have professional makeup and hairstyling too,” Zhao Xiaohui said cheerfully.

Wang Bo couldn’t understand how crazy these women were—waking up so early in the freezing winter just for makeup.

Seeing her classmates waiting, Eva waved and said she’d go last. Song Tiantian felt embarrassed: “No, Eva, you go first.”

Eva yawned, holding Wang Bo’s arm: “No, you go first. I’m not being polite, I just want to catch a little sleep.”

Others thought she was being polite, but Eva really fell asleep holding Wang Bo…

Makeup and hairstyling took a lot of time. By the time the girls finished, it was almost eight. After getting ready and packing up, it would be nine.

Eva’s golden hair was braided into small plaits, which were then arranged like petals into a rose shape. With her light makeup, she looked dignified and elegant rather than glamorous.

Wang Bo admired, “The design is absolutely perfect.”

The makeup artist smiled: “It’s your girlfriend’s temperament and appearance that’s perfect.”

Next came Zhou Haojie welcoming the bride with a proper eight-man sedan chair.

Fan Dong and his group ran over to take photos, but Wang Bo pushed them away, jokingly scolding: “How dare you touch my Lord Zhou’s dragon sedan! If today weren’t a wedding, I’d make you regret it!”

Zhou Haojie’s Han robe was dark with floral patterns and golden dragons. He wore a jade pendant at the waist and a short sword symbolizing bravery—the full princely look.

He struggled onto his horse: “Xiao Bozi, deal with them first. After the wedding, I’ll make them pay!”

Fan Dong smirked: “Better enjoy the bride, or we won’t let you have fun.”

The sedan chair left Zhou Haojie’s house. This step, called ‘liang jiao’, involved stopping the chair at the groom’s doorstep to signify ownership to the neighbors.

Then came ‘fa jiao’, where the groom went to the bride’s house and carried her into the sedan chair.

The advantage of a Han-style wedding was that there were no complicated steps like giving red envelopes or ‘stealing the bride.’ Li Jiayi, wearing a bright red quju and gold and silver jewelry, sat in the sedan chair, which then proceeded to the Western Zhou Dynasty hotel.

Once she sat, the lead sedan bearers shouted: “Lift the sedan!”

The chair shook twice as it was lifted. Eva remarked, “This must be heavy.”

Wang Bo explained with a smile: “This is called ‘trembling the sedan’—it’s part of the ritual, meant to ward off evil spirits and bad luck from the bride.”

The hotel was in the suburbs, so naturally, they couldn’t carry it fifteen or sixteen kilometers. The bearers carried it for two streets, then loaded it onto a truck. Everyone rode together to the hotel.