Hanfu Wedding: 5 Key Elements of a Timeless Chinese Traditional Wedding
A Hanfu wedding, rooted in the Yili·Shihunli, is a breathtaking Chinese traditional wedding that celebrates Han ethnic heritage through Hanfu wedding attire in 2025. Inspired by Zhou dynasty rituals, this ceremony blends ancient Chinese cultural rituals with modern elegance, emphasizing the sacred bond of marriage. As the Zhouyi states, marriage is the “foundation of human ethics,” uniting couples and lineages. From solemn Zhou-style rites to ornate Ming-style Fengguan Xiapei, here are five essential elements that define a Hanfu wedding’s enduring charm.
A Hanfu wedding, rooted in the Yili·Shihunli, celebrates Han ethnic heritage through Hanfu wedding attire. To explore the evolution of these traditions, see this overview.
The Zhouyi states: First there is heaven and earth, then all things arise; with all things, there are men and women; with men and women, there are husbands and wives; with husbands and wives, there are fathers and sons; with fathers and sons, there are rulers and subjects; with rulers and subjects, there are hierarchies. In other words, all human relationships begin with the relationship of husband and wife. Thus, ancient people considered marriage the “foundation of human ethics,” the basis of ethical relationships, the origin of all things, and the root of principle.
Among the five rites, a wedding belongs to the jiali (auspicious rites), marking the second milestone in life after the guan/jiali (coming-of-age ceremony). A wedding is like the evening sky filled with sunset clouds, serene and profound. Weddings in the Xianqin period did not involve lavish music or excessive celebration, being simple and pure, emphasizing the righteousness of husband and wife and the grace of binding hair together. Both bride and groom wore dignified xuanhong-colored ceremonial clothing. Heaven and earth unite, and the couple binds their hair. From then on, they depend on each other in life and death, and the family lineage continues.
Zhou-style weddings adhere to Zhou dynasty rituals, with couples wearing xuanduan wedding attire, classically elegant, solemn, and dignified; Tang-style weddings follow Zhou rites but are grand in scale, and due to the nation’s openness and increased international exchange at the time, the overall form is relatively lively. Ming-style weddings inherit Ming dynasty rituals, with the bride wearing fengguan xiapei, splendid and ornate.
Zhou-Style Hanfu Wedding: Serene Rituals
The Zhou-style wedding ceremony includes procedures such as jiaozi, qinying, fuzhi chenli, and jian jiugu, presided over by several people including zanzhe, siyi, and zhishi. Zhou-style weddings do not use music or celebrate extravagantly, emphasizing the righteousness of husband and wife and the grace of binding hair, not considering it an occasion for clamor and noise.
It is said that China’s earliest marriage relationships and wedding ceremonies began with Fuxi establishing marriage and Nuwa setting matchmaking agreements.
The Tongjian Waiji records: “In ancient times, men and women were not distinguished; Taihao first established marriage, using lipi as a rite.” From then on, lipi (paired deer hides) became one of the classic wedding betrothal gifts. Later, besides the “lipi rite,” it was required to “inform parents”;
in the Xia and Shang dynasties, ceremonies like “qinying at the courtyard” and “qinying at the hall” emerged. The Zhou dynasty was the culmination of ritual systems, gradually forming a complete set of marriage rites, detailed in the Yili, collectively known as the “six rites.” The six-rite wedding system became the template for traditional Huaxia weddings, passed down to the present.
Zhou-Style Basic Procedures:
Six Rites: Nacai → Wenming → Naji → Nazheng → Qingqi → Qinying
This is the classic six-rite structure, though later generations sometimes expanded or simplified it. Expansions added secondary rites and customs to the “six rites,” such as cuizhuang, songzhuang, and pufang; simplifications often merged several pre-wedding rites, such as in the Song dynasty, where Zhu Xi’s Jiali combined the six rites into “nacai,” “nabi,” and “qinying.”
Wedding Structure: Pre-wedding rites → Main wedding ceremony → Post-wedding rites.
Complete Wedding Procedures:
Pre-wedding rites [Nacai → Wenming → Naji → Nazheng → Qingqi]
Main wedding ceremony [Qinying → Fuzhi chenli → Hejin → Yuyu shemie]
Post-wedding rites (Chengfu rites) [Fu jian jiugu → Jiugu li fu → Fu kui jiugu]
Three Documents: In later generations, marriage discussions often paired the “six rites” with the “three documents,” which are not part of the Zhou-style hunli:
Pingshu: A betrothal letter, created by both families, used during naji (formal engagement).
Lishu: A gift letter, listing the types and quantities of gifts in detail, used during nazheng (formal betrothal).
Yingqinshu: A letter for welcoming the bride, used when receiving the bride on the wedding day (qinying).
Zhou-Style Wedding Attire:
The Zhou ritual wedding system valued elegance and dignity, imbued with a profound sacred feeling and symbolic meaning, so even in the Song dynasty, weddings for officials above a certain rank strictly followed Zhou rites in both attire and ceremony. The color of hunfu adhered to the “xuanhong system,” using the noblest colors between heaven and earth.
Tang-Style Hanfu Wedding: Grand Festivities
The Zhou Liji·Hunyi stipulates six rites: nacai, wenming, naji, nazheng, qingqi, and qinying, which were generally followed by later dynasties. The Tang dynasty was no exception.
Tang nazheng gifts included hehuan, jiahe, ajiao, jiuzipu, zhuwei, shuangshi, mianxu, changminglü, and ganqi. Ajiao and ganqi symbolized enduring stability; hehuan and jiahe symbolized shared happiness; jiuzipu and zhuwei symbolized a flexible heart; and so on.
Tang-Style Wedding Procedures:
On the day of qinying, the groom personally led a drum and music band, a ceremonial guard, and a decorated carriage to the bride’s home, with music playing along the way.
The bride’s family filled a mortar with three sheng of grain, covered a well with a mat, stuffed windows with three jin of hemp, and placed three arrows on the door to ward off ghosts and evil.
Before boarding the carriage, the bride dressed up in her boudoir, accompanied by cuizhuang and cuizhuang poems, typically sung by the groom or guests on his behalf. Examples of cuizhuang poems include: “It is said that under candlelight, rouge is applied; before the mirror, a new spring is crafted. No need to fully remove the makeup, leave the brows for the painter”; “In past years, I traveled to Yujing, the first immortal promised a grand match;
Today, fortunate for the Qin-Jin union, let the phoenixes descend the makeup tower.” Some recited a zhangchewen after the cuizhuang poems. After leaving her boudoir, the bride stepped over a saddle, symbolizing her family’s wish for a safe journey to the groom’s home. Halfway, the procession held a zhangche, where the bride’s and groom’s escorts drank and made merry, with the bride’s side demanding gifts.
Upon arriving at the groom’s home, everyone below the parents exited through a side door and re-entered through the main gate, symbolizing following the bride’s footsteps. After entering, the bride first paid respects to the pig stove and kitchen, then to the gods of heaven and earth and the ancestors, followed by the couple bowing to each other. In the Tang dynasty, the bride not only paid respects to her in-laws and the groom’s elders but also to the attending guests, called “baike.” Three days after the temple visit, the bride began “zhifu gong,” with her first task being to cook in the kitchen to honor her parents-in-law.
After the baitang, there was naodongfang, called “xi fu” in the Tang dynasty, followed by the couple entering the bridal chamber (the groom walking backward), drinking hehuan wine, later known as “jiaobeijiu,” symbolizing mutual respect and unity, then called “hejin.”
After hejin, the couple bowed to each other again, then sat on the bed, male on the right, female on the left, while a group of women scattered money, called “sazhang.” The scattered money was typically six-zhu coins inscribed with “changming fugui,” tied with colorful ribbons every ten coins, marking the end of the wedding ceremony.
In the wedding rites, after entering the bridal chamber, there were several additional considerations.
First, quesha, as ancient brides often covered their faces with fans, removed after the mutual bows. Tang dynasty brides used wanshan and zheshan, so the romantic term “quesha” referred to this moment in the bridal chamber. Like cuizhuang poems, the groom composed quesha poems:
“No need to fully remove the makeup, leave the brows for the painter.”
“Wind rises on the city, chilling the wax torches; the brocade curtain opens, revealing soaring phoenixes. Knowing the Qin lady’s immortal grace, no need to hide the peony with a round fan.”
“Do not bring the painted fan out from the curtain, hiding the spring hills delays great talent. If the round fan resembles the full moon, let the osmanthus bloom within.”
Second, heji, also called “jiefa,” symbolizing marital harmony and eternal unity. In the Qin and Han periods, “jiefa” involved the groom personally removing the bride’s betrothal ribbon from her hair, tied at her natal home, re-combing her hair, and tying it anew. From the Sui and Tang onward, “jiefa” meant both parties cutting a small lock of hair, tying it into a “heji,” usually given to the bride for safekeeping. Tang dynasty poet Chao Cai’s Ziye Ge states:
“Having cut my cloud-like hair, my beloved also parts his silk hair. In a place with no one to ask, we tie it into a concentric knot.”
Tang-Style Wedding Attire:
Tang-style wedding attire—grand and majestic
The groom wore a jiang gongfu for qinying, which some believe is the origin of red wedding attire. The bride’s attire was “huachai qingzhi lianshang, qingyi gedai xuelü (matching the shang’s color; if the husband held office, the wife followed his rank’s attire).” This refers to a qing-colored shenyi adorned with gold, silver, or glass hairpins. The bold color contrast reflects the splendid Tang atmosphere, giving rise to the idiom “hongnan lünü” (red men, green women).
Han women’s ceremonial attire often used the shenyi system, symbolizing a woman’s “ libs to “de gui zhuan yi” (virtue values singularity), and the “qingzhi lianshang” wedding attire also refers to a qing shenyi.
However, in the prosperous Tang, ruqun-style ceremonial attire began to flourish, and the open, splendid Tang atmosphere greatly developed this beautiful xingzhi. Chaiqian liyi was a ruqun-style ceremonial attire.
The layered, structured attire compensated for the ruqun’s liveliness lacking in solemnity, achieving dignity like shenyi attire while possessing a more splendid charm.
Chaiqian liyi thus became a highly elegant and grand ceremonial attire popular in the Tang dynasty. In the seventh year of Wude (624 CE), Tang Gaozu Li Yuan’s “Wude Ling” stipulated three types of attire for empresses: huiyi, juyi, and dianchai liyi; three for the crown prince’s consort: yudi, juyi, and dianchai liyi; and six for noblewomen: diyi, dianchai liyi, liyi, gongfu, banshou qunru, and huachai liyi. Commoner women could also wear dianchai liyi for weddings.
Ming-Style Hanfu Wedding: Ornate Elegance
Ming-style wedding procedures mainly include: nacai to qinying, baitian di, entering the bridal chamber, a banquet, and paying respects to parents the next day.
Characteristics: Held in the morning, noisy and luxurious, large-scale banquet, picking the veil (some say a Manchu custom), naodongfang (a Khitan custom), wearing hanfu.
Ming-Style Wedding Attire:
For a scholar’s wedding, if the groom wore shenyi, the bride wore a true red beizi and red luo qun with a false jiabin and huadian; the groom could also wear a ninth-rank official uniform (Ming ninth-rank official uniforms were qing green, with quail patches for civil officials and seahorse patches for military officials. Note: This is a mythical sea horse, not the familiar marine animal seahorse.), and the bride wore fengguan xiapei or huachai libs wear fengguan xiapei or huachai, true red dasao yi or yuanling female mangfu (matching the husband’s rank) and a red pleated qun.
Ming-style weddings inherit Ming dynasty rituals, with the bride wearing fengguan xiapei. For a detailed guide on planning a Ming-style Hanfu wedding, see this article.
Preserving Hanfu Wedding Traditions
In 2025, the Hanfu wedding revival reflects pride in Chinese cultural rituals, fueled by media and education. Unlike the Republic era’s Western dress dominance, young couples embrace Hanfu wedding attire, with Fengguan Xiapei leading trends on platforms like Weibo. Preserving crafts like xiapei embroidery ensures this Chinese traditional wedding thrives. Join the movement—share your dream Hanfu wedding look in the comments and celebrate the timeless beauty of Chinese cultural rituals!(source: https://ctext.org/)
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