Ming marriage - What is the Chinese custom of "ghost wedding" with the creepy separation of yin and yang?

What is a ghost wedding?

Ming marriage, also known as yin kiss or ghost wedding, is a popular custom from feudal China. The ancient fanatics believed that if they died unmarried, it was a bad thing, plus believing in grave feng shui, according to them, lonely graves would affect the prosperity of the next life. So they have the thought that in order for the deceased to rest in peace and the living to be at peace, they must do a marriage ceremony.

According to some legends, Cao Cao's son, Cao Chong, unfortunately had a short life and died unmarried. As a parent, Cao Cao loved his son, so he wanted to find a dead noble family lady to marry Cao Chong. Some time later, when he heard that the Chan family had a daughter who died prematurely, Cao Cao immediately came to talk. Two families choose auspicious days and months to hold a "ghost wedding" like the real thing, then have a funeral, bury the lady surnamed Chan in the same place as Cao Chong.

Ming marriage flourished most during the Song Dynasty. However, this custom was officially banned after 1949. Currently, yin marriage only exists in some remote rural areas in China.

Why do ghost weddings?

The Chinese believe that girls are not their children, so when their daughter dies and is still single, there will be no one to worship and love her, so that family will find another deceased person in the same case. to make a marriage ceremony and then the groom's family will take care of the incense for his daughter. There are also cases where the girls have passed the marriage age but no one has picked them up yet. The family is afraid that people will laugh at them, so such girls have to marry a deceased person, then move to the groom's house to live and take on the role. act like a real daughter-in-law.

As for men, Minh kiss is when they die and are still single, in the afterlife they are still lonely so they will "catch" a member of their family to go to the underworld to make friends. The old custom also holds that young men who die suddenly after having a previous engagement, the family must hold a ghost wedding, otherwise their spirits will disturb the family. In particular, young people who have been engaged but unfortunately die suddenly, their family members must organize a "ghost wedding", otherwise their souls will disturb and cause the family to have a lot of bad luck.

Some other families marry for their dead son's wife for the reason of wanting to own property. When they are married in name, the husband's family looks for a young grandson to adopt as the deceased's son in order to inherit the property. produce and take care of the ancestral smoke. In Chinese culture, younger brother cannot marry before brother. In the case of the brother's death, the family must do a "ghost wedding" for the brother first and then hold the wedding ceremony for the younger brother to avoid the unsatisfied brother's spirit, causing chaos in the family.

Another reason given to legalize the Ming marriage is that the ancients often believed in grave feng shui, they believed that lonely graves would affect the prosperity of their descendants later. Therefore, dawn is a way to neutralize bad luck and bad luck for posterity.

Today's dawn and corpse trafficking

The custom of yin marriage still exists in some remote rural areas in China. Some well-off families in the countryside still believe that they are willing to spend money to buy a "ghost bride" for their dead son. For money, many criminals have killed innocent women and sold them to marriage partners.

The more beautiful the woman, the higher the price, the price of a "ghost bride" who has just died on the black market can be up to $ 30,000 (about 630 million). Traders find ways to make a profit, asking skilled doctors to perform orthopedic surgery on newly dug "ghost brides" or dyeing their hair for a higher price.

The most developed Ming marriage is in Shanxi province, China. They believe that unmarried maidens who die will not be buried in their ancestors' graves, will anger their ancestors. In Son Tay, as long as there is an unfortunate son who dies young, the parents will find a ghost bride "for marriage" to marry, bring two bodies to the same place, that is. for two people in the underworld to become husband and wife...

Ghost brides are divided into two categories: fresh corpses and dried corpses. Merchants often set up stakes in hospitals. Suppose there is a girl with a serious illness that is about to die, they will gather in the hospital from all directions to wait, fighting to buy a girl. The great war to rob the ghost bride took place extremely fiercely, often the girl who had not yet died was married out. The person who succeeded in robbing it was safe to return to wait for the news of the girl's death.

Because the number of ghost brides was limited, countless eyes were fixed on the hospital. Inside the hospital, staff will bring information of the sick or dying patient to those in need. According to the information of China News Weekly: "When the transaction is successful, you can get 2000-3000 yuan red envelopes, unsuccessfully receive 500 yuan, next time remember to keep reporting."

If it is not possible to buy ghost brides or ghost grooms on a regular basis, those in need will turn to the black market, underground transactions. Most of the supplies are grave robberies or robberies. According to media reports, in 2015, in Hong Dong district, Lam Fen town, Son Tay province, people reported that 14 female bodies were stolen. It is not difficult to guess that most of these female corpses were transferred, then became "Demon Wife". Except for the underground transaction, many thieves also switch to the public transaction. They pretended to be folk archeologists, on the face of selling antiques to hide their eyes and ears, in fact, they were distributing ghost brides. Even if the buyer knows the identity of the female body is unknown, because of the marriage, they also close their eyes and let it pass. Needs and interests further promote the dawn movement. Currently, the Chinese government is still looking for ways to eliminate this evil.

Concubines in the past had a terrifying "privilege" that even the main wife did not have. Minh Lợi17:19:18 19/03/2025In feudal Chinese society, concubines were seen as mere commodities, bought and sold without any significant rights, and did not even have an official position in the husband's family tree.