【正文】 second, correct means to go to church especially correct reading prayer book。 husband is the reason, and wife is the result. So when bride and groom get married they must first bow to the heavens and earth and then the groom’s parents and at last bow to each other. B. Different Cultural Origins Traditional Chinese traditional marriage custom was characterized by a distinctive patriarchal clan system. “Three obedience and four virtues” decided that women should bee an appendage to the men and be subordinated to the family interest. It was also characterized by strong feudal political color. Marriage sometimes was a kind of ways to ally in political. The policy of cementing friendly relations through political marriages was a typical example in history. The traditional marriage custom was influenced deeply by Confucianism. There sill exists differences between males and females in marriage custom today. This phenomenon is also caused by the traditional Chinese culture. Western marriage custom is influenced deeply by religion, however, which emphasizes both men and women are God’s sons and daughters, so they are equal unlike Chinese who pay more attentions to boys. Western people consider girls are also the fruit of love. C. Different Marriage Concepts Chinese people once thought that marriage was a kind of ways to incre。 autumn was the season of harvest. After the labor for a year, people had enough money to hold the marriage. Nowadays, it is also an important event. People pay many attentions to it. Sixth, the groom meets the bride. Marriage is finally held after the five procedures. In the past, the bridegroom wore wedding suit, riding on a horse, and guided to marry the bride on the day. And the bride wore a red cheongsam waiting for the bridegroom. Now, the bridegroom wares western suit, and the bride wares wedding dress and usually in a car. 2. The Preparations before Marriage Agreement in Western Countries In the middle ages children were married at a young age. Girls were as young as 12 when they got married, and boys as young as 14. The arrangement of the marriage was based on moary worth. The family of the girl who was to be married gave a dowry, or donation, to the boy she was to marry. The dowry went with her when the marriage was held and stayed with the boy forever after the marriage. After the marriage was arranged, a wedding notice was posted on the door of the church. The notice was put up to ensure that there were no grounds for prohibiting the marriage. The notice stated who was to be married, and if anyone knew any reasons that the two could not marry, they were to e forward with the reason. If the reason was a valid one the wedding would be prohibited. There were many reasons for prohibiting a marriage. One reason was consanguinity, if the two were too closely related. If the boy or the girl had taken a monastic or religious vow, the marriage was also prohibited. Sometimes widows or widowers took vows of celibacy on the death of their spouse, and later regretted doing so when they could not remarry. Other reasons which also prohibited marriage, but were not grounds for a divorce, were rape, adultery, and incest. A couple could not be married during a time of fasting, such as lent or advent. Nor could a couple be married by someone who had killed someone. In the middle ages there were few reasons the wedding could be dissolved. One reason was if either the man or woman were not of legal age, 12 for girls and 14 for boys. If the husband or wife had previously made a religious or monastic vow or were not Christian, the marriage would be dissolved. The last reason a marriage could end was if the woman, not the man, was incapable of habitual relations. First, when the prospective groom had obtained his father’s consent to marry, a formal marriage proposal had to be made. The prospective groom did not propose in person but sent his friends or members of his family to represent his interest to the prospective bride and her family. If they saw a blind man, a monk or a pregnant woman during their journey, it was believed that the proposal would not be accepted as these signs were thought to bring bad luck. If, however, they saw nanny goats, pigeons or wolves, this was a good omen which would bring good fortune to the marriage. During Medieval times in western countries, the man proposed by leaving a hawthorn branch at the door of his beloved on the first of May. By leaving the branch at the door she accepted his proposal. She made known her refusal by replacing the hawthorn branch with a cauliflower. Second, it was thought unlucky for a woman to marry a man whose surname began with the same letter as hers. The sentiment was summarized in the following thyme: to change the name and not the letter is to change for the worst and not the better. The bride should not practice writing her new name before the wedding. This was thought to bring bad luck by tempting fate. Third, although most weddings now take place on a Saturday, it was considered unlucky in the past. Fridays were also considered unlucky particularly Friday the 13th. May had been considered an unlucky month to marry in for a number of reasons. In Pagan times the Feast of the Dead and the festival of the goddess of chastity both occurred in May. The advice was taken more seriously in Victorian times than it is today. In most Churches the end of April was a busy time for weddings as couples wanted to avoid being married in May. Queen Victoria was thought to have forbidden her children from marrying in May. ,June was considered to be a lucky month to getting married , because it was named after Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage. The summer as a whole was considered a good time to marry and this was par