Hong Meishu
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Hong Meishu, Female, Korean, from Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Korean Chuantonghunli (Ⅹ-99). The tradition is documented in Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin. Within the regional tradition and school record of Korean Chuantonghunli in Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin: Korean weddings in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture preserve, besides the three major stages, the older "half escort" form, and the items that must be expressed in the ceremony do indeed survive. The "half escort" means the wedding is still held at the groom's home, while the new wife is brought into the husband's family on the second or third day; this compromise was once common among Koreans in the north. Marriages among Koreans in China were predominantly "half escort" before the mid-twentieth century and uniformly "personal escort" thereafter, with the new rites carried out accordingly in the villages of Yanbian. Local organizers often have one household take charge of one district, and families with nearby wedding dates help one another; cart drivers, box carriers, and cooks are assembled ad hoc, and the ceremony is considered complete once the proper forms have been observed. The Korean ethnic group long practiced "uxorilocal marriage" (NanGuiNüJiahun), in which the groom held the wedding at the bride's family home and stayed there for a number of years before taking his wife and children back to his own home. During the Ming and Qing periods, influenced by Confucian thought, the Joseon dynasty strongly promoted the "personal escort" (qin ying) form, in which the bride was brought to the groom's home on the wedding day itself, but this proved difficult to carry out in the face of traditional custom, so the "uxorilocal" form and the "personal escort" form were combined to create the compromise "half escort" (ban qin ying) form: the groom held the wedding at the bride's home and stayed only two days, returning with the bride to the groom's home on the third day. Thereafter the "half escort" form became the principal marriage form of the Korean people. Marriages among Koreans in China before the 1950s adopted both the "half escort" and "personal escort" forms, with the "half escort" form predominant; after 1950 the "personal escort" form was adopted uniformly and has been followed to this day. The traditional Korean marriage form comprises three major stages — the marriage negotiation (Yihun), the main ceremony (DaLi), and the subsequent rites (HouLi). The negotiation includes checking the compatibility of the birth charts (GongHe, comparing the eight characters of the couple's birth dates), writing the marriage letter, and selecting the auspicious date (JuanJi, fixing the wedding date). The main ceremony includes the groom's family presenting the gift chest (LiZhuanghan, the betrothal gift box) to the bride's family, the wild-goose-presenting rite (dianYanLi), the mutual-bow rite (JiaoBaiLi), the nuptial-cup rite (HejinLi), and the groom's receiving of the great table (Dazhuo). The subsequent rites include the bride's going to the groom's home to receive the great table and, on the following day, the rite of the new wife meeting her parents-in-law (FuJianjiu guLi). The traditional Korean wedding is a concrete manifestation of Confucian culture; its form bears distinct ethnic characteristics and can provide reference for the study of the spread and development of Confucian culture and of Korean folk culture.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Hong Meishu is anchored in the documented technical standards of Korean Chuantonghunli in Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin. Within the documented technical tradition of Korean Chuantonghunli in Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin: The wedding of the Korean ethnic group is laid out in the three major stages of marriage negotiation, main ceremony, and subsequent rites, each with its own named items and procedures. The negotiation begins with checking the compatibility of the birth charts, that is, comparing the eight characters of the couple's birth dates to see whether they match; if they match, the man's side writes the marriage letter, and having chosen an auspicious day, performs the date-selection rite (JuanJi), engaging someone to fix the wedding date. The main ceremony takes place on the day of fetching the bride: the groom's family sends the gift chest to the woman's side, containing gift money and colored silks; the wild-goose-presenting rite uses a wooden goose as the pledge, taking from it the meaning of keeping faith. The mutual-bow rite follows, groom and bride bowing to each other before the table, then the nuptial-cup rite, eating together from the same sacrificial share, and the ceremony closes with the groom's receiving of the great table. The subsequent rites begin the day after the wedding, when the bride goes to the groom's home to receive the great table; the following day the rite of the new wife meeting her parents-in-law is held, the new daughter-in-law bowing to her husband's parents, who respond with red envelopes or clothing — only then is a marriage deemed to have joined the two families. The banquet must include tteok (pounded rice cakes) and rice wine, and during the feast the couple must toast each elder at the table in turn; once the elders have drunk, they bestow their blessing on the marriage, and the order of observance is never disrupted from beginning to end. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Matching the birth characters": The eight birth characters are compared first; without a match the marriage stops before it begins. "The marriage letter and the naming of a day": A written marriage paper and a day chosen by a ritual expert turn talk into a binding compact. "The wooden geese of the offering rite": Wooden geese are offered as a token of trustworthiness, before the couple have even met. "The mutual bow and the shared cup": A mutual bow sets the duty between them, and one shared cup makes two households one.
Matching the birth characters
The eight birth characters are compared first; without a match the marriage stops before it begins.
The marriage letter and the naming of a day
A written marriage paper and a day chosen by a ritual expert turn talk into a binding compact.
The wooden geese of the offering rite
Wooden geese are offered as a token of trustworthiness, before the couple have even met.
The mutual bow and the shared cup
A mutual bow sets the duty between them, and one shared cup makes two households one.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Hong Meishu was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Korean Chuantonghunli, with Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Korean Chuantonghunli in Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin as its declared area, and Yanbian Culture Art Research Center (Yanbian Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The Korean ethnic group long practiced "uxorilocal marriage" (男归女家婚), in which the groom held the wedding at the bride's family home and stayed there for a number of years before taking his wife and children back to his own home. During the Ming and Qing periods, influenced by Confucian thought, the Joseon dynasty strongly promoted the "personal escort" (亲迎) form, in which the bride was brought to the groom's home on the wedding day itself, but this proved difficult to carry out in the face of traditional custom, so the "uxorilocal" form and the "personal escort" form were combined to create the compromise "half escort" (半亲迎) form: the groom held the wedding at the bride's home and stayed only two days, returning with the bride to the groom's home on the third day.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Meishu | Yanbianchaoxianzuzizhi, Jilin | — | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。