Eerduosihunli
01 · Historical Records
The Ordos wedding ceremony originated in ancient Mongolia and took shape during the Mongol Yuan period. The Ordos region still preserves the ritual procedures of the Ordos wedding quite completely today, and has developed them into a folk-cultural phenomenon that is formalized, standardized, customary and suffused with song and dance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the 15th century, as the Ordos tribe of the Mongols entered the Ordos region, the "Eight White Rooms" (the shrine for worshipping Genghis Khan) were enshrined on the Gandeer Ovoo within Ordos territory, and the Mongolian Ordos wedding ceremony thereupon spread among the Ordos people with its distinctive ritual procedures. The Ordos wedding ceremony has a series of specific ritual procedures and activities: betrothal with a khadag (ceremonial scarf), the groom's party wearing bows to fetch the bride, blocking the door to welcome the groom, presenting sheep and toasting, asking the bride's name and age, removing the sheep's neck, the bride's departure procession, the mother's blessing, snatching the hat, baptism by sacred fire, kneeling before the parents-in-law, lifting the veil, the bride serving tea, and the greater and lesser return visits to the bride's natal family. These ritual procedures and activities differ from the wedding procedures of other ethnic groups, and also from those of Mongols in other regions; they are the most distinctive, attractive and grand form of Mongolian wedding, concentrating the essence of Mongolian etiquette and custom, and constituting the most completely preserved and richest panorama of Mongolian folkways to this day. The Ordos wedding ceremony takes the groom's fetching of the bride as its main thread, concentrating the finest elements of the Mongolian bride-fetching process; feelings are conveyed through song and dance, the scenes are warm and cheerful, humorous and festive, the content is wholesome and the character refined, prominently expressing the rugged, bold, warm and ceremonious national character of the Mongolian people. The Ordos wedding ceremony is a grand synthesis of the traditional Ordos Mongolian culture of worship, sacrificial culture, court culture, food culture, costume culture, etiquette and custom, and ethnic song and dance; it is permeated from beginning to end by feelings of happiness, auspiciousness, joy and warmth, displaying national charm and expressing people's fine wishes for the pursuit of a happy life, with rich and profound cultural connotations.
Betrothal by khata and marriage with bow
The sequence opens with betrothal by khata and a bow presented by the groom, joining marksmanship to betrothal gifts.
Blocking the door and asking the name
Gate-blocking, sheep offering and the asking of names follow in turn, each stage marked by song and dance.
Shoulder-cutting, parting gifts and the mother's blessing
Cutting the sheep's shoulder, the distribution of parting gifts and the mother's blessing carry the family feeling of the rite.
Hat-grabbing, fire-baptism and bowing to the parents
Hat-grabbing teases the groom, fire-baptism brings good fortune, and bowing to the parents admits the bride into the family.
Lifting the veil and the bride's tea
After the veil is lifted the bride serves tea, and the first and second return visits extend the rite across days.
The eight-white shrine on Gandel ovoo
When the Ordos branch settled the region in the fifteenth century, the shrine of the eight whites was placed on Gandel ovoo and the rite took its distinctive form.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The spread of the Ordos wedding ceremony coincides with the range of activity of the Ordos tribe of the Mongols, and its ritual procedures have been preserved intact on this grassland. After the Ordos tribe of the Mongols entered the Ordos region in the 15th century, the Eight White Rooms for worshipping Genghis Khan were enshrined on the Gandeer Ovoo within the territory, and the wedding ceremony has continued among the people with this distinctive set of ritual procedures. This ritual order takes the groom's fetching of the bride as its main thread and gathers in together the culture of worship, sacrificial culture, court culture, food culture, costume culture, etiquette and custom, and ethnic song and dance: betrothal with a khadag (ceremonial scarf), the groom's party wearing bows to fetch the bride, blocking the door to welcome the groom, presenting sheep and toasting, asking the bride's name and age, removing the sheep's neck, the bride's departure procession, the mother's blessing, snatching the hat, baptism by sacred fire, kneeling before the parents-in-law, lifting the veil, the bride serving tea, and the greater and lesser return visits to the bride's natal family — link following upon link, different from the wedding procedures of other ethnic groups and also from those of Mongols in other regions. In transmission, collecting and organizing materials runs parallel with the collecting of physical objects: Cao Namu has organized the ritual forms into volumes, authoring and publishing 27 monographs, and has also collected more than 500 physical items related to the Ordos wedding; his son Saiyin Bayaer and his disciple Naren Manduhu are both thoroughly familiar with the complete set of ritual procedures.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mongolian Hunli · Mongolian Hunli · Mongolian Hunli.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Cao Namu (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Mongolian ethnicity, born in September 1934, from Otog Front Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He has collected and organized the ritual forms of the Ordos wedding ceremony, forming rich and complete documentation; he has successively authored and published 27 monographs, and has also collected more than 500 physical items related to the Ordos wedding. In the late 20th century, he co-wrote the play "The Ordos Wedding" with the scholar Chen Yuning and others, and participated in the filming of the television documentary in the capacity of folklore consultant and actor. He is a representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Ordos Wedding Ceremony. His son Saiyin Bayaer and his disciple Naren Manduhu are both thoroughly familiar with the ritual procedures of the Ordos wedding ceremony.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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