Wedding Customs
01 · Historical Records
The marriage customs of the Kazakh people originated in the ancient Wusun; since the Kazakh ethnic community took shape in the mid-15th century, customary laws such as the Code of Qasim Khan, the Customary Law of Esim Khan, and the Code of Tauke Khan were successively enacted, and these customary laws regulated the Kazakh rites and customs of marriage, funerals, and wedlock.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the Kazakh language, the "wedding" is called "Keler Tusu Rutoyi" (克勒恩吐苏入托依). As a people of the horse, the Kazakhs' marriage customs also display the legacy of an ancient nomadic people. The Kazakh wedding ceremony includes a series of strict procedures, mainly the matchmaking ceremony, the engagement ceremony, the bride-price presentation ceremony, the bride's departure ceremony, and the bride-fetching ceremony. When Kazakhs marry within the same clan or tribe, marriage is forbidden within seven generations. The prohibition on marriage within seven generations is calculated primarily on the basis of the man's clan blood relations. Since then, Kazakh weddings have circulated among the people through their distinctive ceremonial procedures; even today the ritual procedures of Kazakh weddings are preserved relatively completely, and they have developed and evolved into a folk phenomenon with the character of a nomadic people. Calling a Kazakh wedding keler tusu rutoyi — the phrase itself carries the old sounds of the grasslands. The marriage customs originated in the ancient Wusun; since the Kazakh ethnic community took shape in the mid-15th century, customary laws such as the Code of Qasim Khan, the Customary Law of Esim Khan, and the Code of Tauke Khan were successively promulgated, stipulating marriages, funerals, and weddings one by one, so the ritual order gained a written basis; it is still preserved relatively completely today and has developed and evolved into a folk phenomenon with the character of a nomadic people. The breath of a horse-riding people can be felt throughout the entire ceremony: beyond the five gates of matchmaking, engagement, presenting the bride-price, the bride's departure, and fetching the bride, the most important rule is that marriage within seven generations is forbidden within the same clan or tribe; this prohibition is calculated on the man's clan blood relations, setting up two lines of defense — blood and ritual order — at once.
The proposal
The first stage of the wedding: the man's family sends word of the proposal before any question of gifts can be discussed.
The betrothal
The two families settle the match and exchange promises, after which the two households begin to treat each other as kin.
Presenting the bride price
Horses, livestock and household goods pass to the bride's family by agreement, a transaction that shows at a glance the wealth of a pastoral household.
The bride leaves her home
The bride's family feasts and bids her farewell with song, and the procession departs accompanied by gifts and relatives.
Fetching the bride
The groom's party rides out to meet the bride, answering with song and ritual, and the wedding feast runs for days.
No marriage within seven generations
Within one clan no marriage may be made within seven generations, counted through the male line and written into customary law.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
"Kazakh marriage customs" are mainly distributed in the Tacheng and Altay prefectures and the ten directly-administered counties and cities under the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; in the two Kazakh autonomous counties of Mulei and Barkol; in the Urumqi area; in the counties of the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture; and within the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Kazakh marriage customs encompass the history, culture, life rituals, aesthetic tastes, and value orientations of the Kazakh people; they bear strong characteristics of grassland culture and are the most prominent form of expression of Kazakh traditional culture, touching every aspect of Kazakh food, clothing, shelter, and transport, rich in strong local character and distinctive ethnic character. They are an important carrier of Kazakh traditional culture and of important scholarly value for the study of Kazakh culture, history, and folk customs. At present, the older generation who have mastered traditional Kazakh wedding rites is steadily dwindling, while the younger generation is enthusiastic about modern wedding ceremonies; as a result, a shortage of successors has arisen in transmission, leaving the inheritance and development of traditional Kazakh marriage customs facing crisis.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Anfucheng 04-1986
- Mojinghai 05-3058
- Lan Yugen 05-3059
- Lei Qisong
- Wu Yumei
- Fang Weihua
- Guojinglin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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