This is different from Liu throwing colored balls in Wang's play, who doesn't trust people and only resigned himself to fate. There are also women who have a crush on a man and throw the ball to choose a husband. For example, Chen Guangrui, the father of the ninth monk in The Journey to the West, married Princess Xiangfu.
Has this kind of marriage ever happened in the history of Han nationality? Historians and folklorists have their own opinions, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion so far.
Existentialist scholars believe that the custom of throwing the ball to get married is left over from primitive society. "Zhou Li Zhou Guan Marriage" describes: "Mid-spring makes men and women meet, and runners can't help it." Although this statement is vague, it is not like the grand occasion described in literary works after the Yuan Dynasty, and may be the embryonic form of this custom.
As for why this custom is rarely mentioned in later history books, local chronicles and notes, it is because this custom has gradually declined with the progress of social material and the complexity of marriage etiquette. In the Ming Dynasty, Qian Miao Ci, Volume I of Shuo Qiu, noted: "Meng Yuye married a man and a woman, named Yue Yue. Men play lusheng, and women ring holiday bells. I couldn't help running away ... "Another cloud said," Unmarried people, white feather jumps over the moon; It also uses five-color cloth to make balls, called' flower balls', and people who like it throw them. "
Although what Liang described is the custom of Miao nationality, it is similar to what he said. Perhaps this custom was introduced into Miao nationality from Han nationality.
Gao Qi, a poet in the Ming Dynasty, saw a painting depicting the grand occasion of throwing the ball and son-in-law in the Southern Song Dynasty. Gao Qi's poem "Song of the Song Dynasty in Phnom Penh" describes in detail the situation of the new China Jinshi wandering the streets and the rich throwing the ball to choose their son-in-law. There is a poem in the poem that "the sky goes straight to the flowers and the colored balls fall". Jin Tan's Record of the Number One Scholar in the Song Dynasty quoted Gao as saying: I tried to be a scholar for twenty-one years, such as Zhao Kui, who was born in poverty.
Dismantle the number in the imperial hall, sing the name of the scholar, and give him a green robe, white stripes and yellow shirts; Give five glasses of wine and food to the champion and other three people. The three of them ... galloped away, ... from Donghuamen to the meeting place, Jia Hao and Guidi competed for colorful curtains. Those who have teenagers and no families often choose husbands here. "Another note," The high-colored ball falls on the building of the husband ",says:" Su Shi's poem:' Looking at the husband's eyes is erratic'. "It seems that the Han nationality had this custom in the Song Dynasty. What he said is very similar to the situation in the novel script.
Some scholars believe that the Han nationality in history did not have this custom of throwing the ball to get married. They pointed out that if this marriage custom existed in the history of China, why is it difficult to see it in history books, local chronicles and notes, but only in literature and opera works?
In feudal society, many people believed in fate. If Liu Neng in the king's play "Broken Kiln" did this, I don't know how many people threw the ball, but these are just what the officials said.
Besides, this way of getting married is too clever and unreasonable.
Since ancient times, marriage has been regarded as a major event in life, and it seems incredible to throw colored balls for a while. If a man and a woman are married, or a woman has a crush on a man, but it is inevitable that they will throw themselves at each other when they quarrel, then what is marriage? Reject it? What should I do if the person who was thrown is married or unwilling?
It seems that this was conceived by literati. If there are, there are many ethnic minorities in southwest China, but they are different from the colorful buildings described in novels and operas, where women throw balls.