Young Master Wei Rode His Proud Dappled Steed, No Official Was He, but a Jade-Bright Groom

Young Master Wei rode his proud dappled steed, no official was he, but a jade-bright groom.

Children sang their rhymes, cheers filled the city, and the street became a sea of people.

The bridal sedan swayed gently, passed through the West Peace Gate into the lane, and stopped before the Small Courtyard of the Wei Residence.

The lane seldom saw such grandeur on ordinary days. Today, eminent guests arrived in an unending procession, their splendor lighting up the walls.

The last moments of the hour of the Rooster passed; the hour of the Dog began.

The evening drums had fallen silent, and Zhong's night bells had just begun to toll.

Along the long street, ten thousand household lights shone like a river of stars pouring down from heaven.

"The bridal sedan is here! The bridal sedan is here!"

The bridal sedan slowly settled before the gates of the Wei Residence.

The bearers lowered the poles, and at the very instant the sedan's base touched the ground-

Granny Zhou hurried out through the gates, carrying a bronze basin filled with grains and beans.

This was the rite of "scattering grains and beans."

Legend traced it to the Han dynasty, when Jing Fang's daughter married Yi Feng. Feng scattered the five grains at the gate, saying they could dispel baleful influences and ward off evil.

Later, Dongjing Menghua Lu recorded the wedding customs of the Song:

"When the bride alights, a diviner holds a measure filled with grains, beans, fruit, and grass, scattering them toward the gate, while children scramble to gather them."

The three baleful spirits were believed to stand at the gate, preventing the bride from entering. Grains and beans were therefore scattered to repel them, and grass offered to feed them, so they would not harm the