The Grand Wedding of China's Last Emperor
Updated: 2007-06-04 09:03
The sedan chair stopped in front of the Palace of Heavenly Peace, facing the throne directly. According to Manchu tradition, the bridegroom should shoot three arrows over the bride to drive away the evil spirits. However Puyi decided not to do this due to his poor eyesight. It was too dangerous to shoot without glasses, yet the grand wedding was too important a ceremony for Puyi to wear them.
Then the couple was led to their nuptial chamber, called the east warm cabinet, in the Palace of Earthly Peace, where the bride stepped over a big fire, a saddle and an apple according to Manchu tradition. This would bring a peaceful and prosperous life to the couple. A steelyard, a traditional Chinese weighing device in the shape of a beam, was handed to Puyi to unveil the bride, another Manchu tradition to remind the wife to be thrifty. Yet again, in order not to hurt the bride, the steelyard was taken away. Puyi took away the kerchief with own hands and saw his empress for the first time.
The couple still had to go through a series of rituals before completing the wedding ceremony, including eating "sons and grandsons dumplings," several small dumplings stuffed in a large one, which were believed to bring children to the couple quickly, "longevity noodles", a special dish to ensure long life, and drinking from the nuptial wine cup, twin cups connected to each other, also a traditional wedding ceremony.
The grand wedding was finished, yet the imperial couple encountered their first marital problem. It is said the 17-year old Puyi, dazzled, by the red decorations all around him, panicked and fled from the wedding chamber, leaving the beautiful empress alone in the bed. Rumors spread about why the young emperor had left on his wedding night, yet no one could ever give a convincing explanation. Even Puyi himself mentioned little about the issue in his autobiography 40 years later.
