What to Prepare for Worshiping the God of Marriage on Qixi Festival
To worship the God of Marriage on the Qixi Festival, you need to prepare gold paper and incense sticks. In addition, you should also prepare copper coins, red silk threads, and happy candies.Generally, you can go to the counter in the God of Marriage Temple to buy the offerings for worshipping the God of Marriage. However, you only need to buy it for the first time, and you can leave the gold paper at the counter.
After obtaining the offerings, you should go to the incense area in the temple courtyard to light incense and worship the God of Marriage. Be sure that all three incense sticks are completely lit. Then, bow before the Heaven's Official stove, and introduce yourself to the Heaven's Official briefly, such as silently reciting your name, age, and address, asking the Heaven's Official to protect you from all dangers and ensure smooth progress. Finally, perform three bows with the incense stick.
Steps to Worship the God of Marriage on Qixi Festival
First, prepare a pair of red candles and nine incense sticks, symbolizing long-lasting happiness.Second, cut 36 small red flowers from red paper, and prepare a red rope, along with fruits and some gold paper and yuanbao offerings.
Third, single women should prepare a box of their usual powder or rouge, and offer it together with other offerings.
Fourth, light three incense sticks, ensuring that all three are completely lit.
Fifth, introduce yourself to the God of Marriage, detailing your name, age, address, occupation, and other basic information.
Sixth, perform three bows with the incense stick.
Where Does the God of Marriage Come From?
The Moon Elder, abbreviated as "God of Marriage", is also known as Chai Dao Huang. He is the Red Joy God who is in charge of marriage in Chinese folk legends, that is, the god of matchmaking. There were no records about the God of Marriage before the Tang Dynasty.The earliest written record about the God of Marriage comes from Li Fuyan's "Continuation of Strange Tales: The Wedding Shop" in the Tang Dynasty. It says: Du Ling's Wei Gu, in the second year of Yuanhe, was traveling in Songcheng when he met an old man leaning on a cloth bag, sitting on the steps, and reading books under the moonlight. Wei Gu asked him what book he was looking for, and he replied, "It's the records of marriages in the world." When asked what was in the bag, he answered, "It's red ropes. They tie the feet of couples, and when they are born, they secretly tie them together. Even if they are enemies, of different social status, separated by thousands of miles, or living in different places, this rope will tie them together and they cannot escape it." Later, it became a term used to refer to matchmakers. This elderly man, who leaned on a bag under the moonlight, sat on the steps, and read books, is the later popularized God of Marriage in the folk. As long as he ties the feet of men and women in the world with the red rope in his bag, even if they face "enmity, differences in social status, separation by thousands of miles, or living in different regions," it will eventually lead to them becoming a couple.
