周衍平

如今，江浙一些地方舉行婚禮仍有敬“三道茶”的習(xí)俗：第一道敬神靈，感謝神靈庇佑;第二道茶敬父母，感謝養(yǎng)育之恩;第三道茶夫妻互敬，表示恩恩愛愛、白頭偕老。

中國是茶的故鄉(xiāng)，在許多重要場(chǎng)合，中國人習(xí)慣以茶為媒介，傳情達(dá)意。比如在中國傳統(tǒng)婚禮上，“以茶為禮”始終貫穿在各個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)，體現(xiàn)著茶與婚禮習(xí)俗間的人文之美。

茶禮

據(jù)《藏史》記載：唐太宗貞觀十五年（公元641年），藏王松贊干布到大唐請(qǐng)婚，唐太宗遂將宗室養(yǎng)女文成公主下嫁于他。文成公主入藏時(shí)，帶去了陶器、紙、酒還有茶等物品作為嫁妝。顯然，在唐代，已經(jīng)把茶葉視為了嫁妝之一。

唐宋時(shí)期，飲茶之風(fēng)盛行，茶葉不僅是女子出嫁時(shí)的陪嫁品，而且還逐漸演變成一種特殊的婚俗禮儀——茶禮。宋人吳自牧《夢(mèng)粱錄》卷二十《嫁娶》記述了當(dāng)時(shí)杭州的婚嫁風(fēng)俗：“若豐富之家，以珠翠、首飾、金器、銷金裙禙，及緞匹、茶餅，加以雙羊牽送?！笨梢姰?dāng)時(shí)，茶與金銀珠寶、綾羅綢緞一起，成為聘禮中的重要之物。從此，民間即稱送聘禮為“下茶”“行茶禮”或“茶禮”;女子受聘，謂之“吃茶”或“受茶”。在一些地方的婚俗中，若男女相見后中意，男方就送來聘禮，女方接受了，這門婚事也宣告定了，這女子就是“吃過茶”的人。

清代鄭燮（鄭板橋）《竹枝詞》：“湓江江口是奴家，郎若閑時(shí)來吃茶。黃土筑墻茅屋蓋，門前一樹紫荊花?！背圆璞硎厩蠡?。舊時(shí)漢族不少地方，未婚少女是不能隨便到別人家去喝茶的，因?yàn)橐缓染鸵馕吨庾鲞@家的媳婦了，故有“好女不吃兩家茶”的說法。

“茶禮”作為男女確立婚姻的重要形式，在一地方一直沿用至今。

茶俗

“三茶六禮”是中國古代傳統(tǒng)婚姻嫁娶過程中的一種習(xí)俗禮儀，舊時(shí)多流行于江南漢族地區(qū)。

“三茶”一般是指訂婚時(shí)的“下茶”、結(jié)婚時(shí)的“定茶”和洞房時(shí)的“合茶”;也有特指婚禮時(shí)的三道茶儀式——即第一道百果，第二道蓮子、棗子，第三道才是茶。

“六禮”指由求婚至完婚的整個(gè)結(jié)婚過程，即婚姻據(jù)以成立的納采、問名、納吉、納征、請(qǐng)期、親迎等六種儀式。在古代，男女若非完成“三茶六禮”的過程，婚姻便不被承認(rèn)為明媒正娶。幾年前，筆者在家鄉(xiāng)浙江省寧?？h西南山區(qū)進(jìn)行婚俗文化和茶文化調(diào)查時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一本清代民間文書范文手抄本，其中《男家行聘帖式·禮目》中就記錄了“喜茶喜果”等聘禮清單。

如今，江浙一些地方舉行婚禮仍有敬“三道茶”的習(xí)俗：第一道茶敬神靈，感謝神靈庇佑;第二道茶敬父母，感謝養(yǎng)育之恩;第三道茶夫妻互敬，表示恩恩愛愛、白頭偕老。敬完三道茶后，夫妻雙雙進(jìn)入洞房。

在浙江嘉興、湖州一帶，由媒人將男方茶葉等聘禮送往女方，女方受禮，稱為“受茶”，則不可再允配他人，同時(shí)女方托媒人將茶、米等禮帶回男方家，公布婚約。

在金華，男方請(qǐng)媒人“出媒”，倘女方應(yīng)允，則泡茶、煮蛋以待，稱之“食茶”或“湊雙”;到結(jié)婚那天，送新郎新娘入洞房，賓客散去，會(huì)送上蛋煮糖茶，俗稱“子茶”，新郎新娘吃完就寢，寓生子之意。

在溫州，新人入洞房時(shí)，喜婆會(huì)向新娘獻(xiàn)茶，新娘茶畢才進(jìn)入鬧洞房程序。

過去，在寧波鎮(zhèn)海一帶還流行“送茶”的婚禮茶俗，即結(jié)婚次日，男方送食物于女家，女家也要回送，有錢人家送參湯或燕窩湯，一般人家回送茶。

在浙江寧海一帶，結(jié)婚第二天，要舉行隆重的“吃茶”儀式——前來參加婚禮儀式的長(zhǎng)輩端坐在廳堂，新娘在伴娘和姑嫂等人的陪同下，依次向長(zhǎng)輩們敬茶以示孝敬，也借此和各位長(zhǎng)輩見面認(rèn)識(shí)。長(zhǎng)輩們?cè)诮舆^新娘遞上的茶后，回贈(zèng)紅包。

“吃茶”禮儀是婚禮中的重要環(huán)節(jié)，新娘要同時(shí)向多至數(shù)十位長(zhǎng)輩敬茶，一般的茶壺?zé)o法滿足敬茶所需，因此，嫁妝中就有了相應(yīng)的朱紅木制大茶壺。這個(gè)茶壺個(gè)頭巨大，一次沖泡就可滿足敬茶所需的茶水。相應(yīng)數(shù)量的茶盤、茶杯和盛茶點(diǎn)的木盤等，也是“吃茶”典禮中的必備，是女兒出嫁必不可少的嫁妝。

在蘇州一帶，婚禮中還要表演“跳板茶”。新女婿和其舅爺進(jìn)門后，稍坐片刻，女家即撤掉臺(tái)凳，留下空間，在左右兩邊靠墻處各放兩把太師椅，椅背襯好紅色椅帔，新女婿和舅爺坐頭二座，另兩位至親坐三四座。然后由“茶擔(dān)”（即燒水泡茶敬茶的人）托著茶盤，表演“跳板茶”，向四位賓客獻(xiàn)茶。表演者身段柔軟，腳步穩(wěn)健，節(jié)奏輕松，手托茶盤茶水不會(huì)濺出。托著木板茶盤跳舞獻(xiàn)茶，故稱跳板茶。每逢舉行“跳板茶”，親朋鄰居都會(huì)來觀賞，精彩處滿堂喝彩，增添了婚事歡樂氣氛。

茶器

過去，無論是平民百姓還是皇家貴族，婚嫁時(shí)都要送茶葉、茶具。相傳光緒皇帝大婚的禮品中，就有很多精美的茶具，如金海棠花福壽大茶盤、金如意茶盤、金福壽蓋碗、黃地福壽瓷茶盅和黃地福壽瓷蓋碗等。

舊時(shí)江南地區(qū)嫁女講究排場(chǎng)，人們常用“十里紅妝，良田千畝”來形容嫁妝的豐厚。所謂“十里紅妝”，是舊時(shí)嫁女的場(chǎng)面。紅色在中國代表著喜慶、吉祥，是民間婚嫁中約定俗成的色彩。尤其在浙東寧波紹興地區(qū)，明清時(shí)期大戶人家女兒出嫁，嫁妝用朱砂涂漆，黃金裝飾，朱金木雕、泥金彩漆，工藝精湛，流光溢彩。結(jié)婚那日，櫥、箱、桌、椅、凳、桶、盆、盒、盤等生活所需的家具、用具從女方家抬到男方家，組成一支浩浩蕩蕩的抬嫁妝隊(duì)伍。

江南茶禮之風(fēng)盛行，紅妝家具中自然少不了茶器的身影。這些紅妝茶器，從大件的茶桌、茶幾以及與之配套的椅子、凳子，到小件的茶盤、茶杯等，一應(yīng)俱全。

由于各地婚禮習(xí)俗和生活習(xí)慣的不同，紅妝茶器的形制也不盡相同。過去一些大戶人家，喝茶非常講究，嫁妝中自然也少不了日常喝茶所需的各種用具，如茶箱、茶桌、茶幾、茶壺桶、茶葉罐、茶碗桶、泡茶桶、茶盤等，品類繁多，從廳堂、書房到臥室，無不存列。茶箱、禮擔(dān)是裝茶葉和禮品的的器具，過去提親、結(jié)婚等環(huán)節(jié)都少不了它。茶壺桶、茶壺套是比較常見的茶器，內(nèi)襯棉花、鵝毛等物，用來保溫茶水，每當(dāng)丈夫外出歸來，妻子就會(huì)拿出在茶壺桶里準(zhǔn)備好的茶水遞上，解渴暖身，傳達(dá)濃濃情意;茶碗桶是寧波紹興地區(qū)家庭必備的泡茶用具，形狀為一個(gè)帶蓋的大圓桶，蓋上有四個(gè)鏤空的吉祥圖案，每當(dāng)家里來客，女主人會(huì)拿出茶碗桶來洗茶、泡茶，招待客人，其功能類似于現(xiàn)在的茶海;茶道桶也是舊時(shí)喝茶、洗茶的用具，分上下兩格，上格放茶杯，下格倒茶葉渣和廢茶水，既可招待客人，也適合獨(dú)品怡情。

舊時(shí)有“一兩黃金三兩朱”之說，朱金家具是中國民間家具中的精品。“十里紅妝”寄托了父母對(duì)女兒難以割舍的愛，豐富的紅妝家具，足以滿足女兒今后在夫家的生活所需，其中的紅妝茶具更是父母表達(dá)愛意的細(xì)節(jié)體現(xiàn)。

茶樹四季常青，茶葉清心怡情，是永久和純潔的象征。明藏書家郎瑛在《七修類稿》中認(rèn)為：“種茶下子，不可移植，移植則不復(fù)生也。故女子受聘，謂之吃茶，又聘以茶為禮者，見其從一之義”。這種認(rèn)識(shí)也體現(xiàn)了人們對(duì)婚姻忠誠的愿望。

Tea plays a crucial part in important ceremonies across China. The tradition has been around since ancient times. Specifically， tea is a ceremonious part of weddings， featuring the cultural beauty of tea.

Tea as Gift for Proposal and Engagement

In history， tea was part of the dowry Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty （618-907） brought to Tibet when she was to marry Songts?n Gampo， the king of Tibet. Also among her dowry were pottery， paper， and wine. Apparently， tea was a wedding gift in the Tang Dynasty.

In the centuries of the Tang and the following Song （960-1279）， tea became a key part of gifts for engagement. Among gifts from rich families were gold and silver， jewelry and silk and tea cakes. In many cases， engagement gifts were simply called “gift of tea”. In many folk customs， when a young man wanted to propose marriage to a woman， he would send over gifts including tea. The sending of the gifts was generally labeled “the sending of tea”. If the woman agreed to the proposal， it was known as “tea has been sipped or accepted”. In some regions， an unmarried woman never drank tea outside her own home unless she had already agreed to be a daughter-in-law of another family.

Tea in Wedding Ceremony

In Jiangnan （the southern part of Yangtze River Delta） in good old years， tea was part of a wedding ceremony. When a marriage was proposed， tea must be among the gift. Tea was served and sipped during a wedding ceremony. When the newlyweds went to the bridal chamber， tea must be also served. Even today in some places in Zhejiang and Jiangsu， tea must be served three times during a wedding ceremony： the first cup of tea is served in honor of gods for their blessings. The second cup is served to honor their parents for everything they have done for them. The newlyweds honor each other with the third cup of tea. In Ninghai in eastern Zhejiang， a tea party is held ceremoniously so that the newlyweds can meet all elderly relatives. The bride serves tea to several dozens of elderly relatives one by one whereas elders give cash envelopes as gift. In order to make adequate amount of tea at one time so that all the tea cups can be filled， a colossal teakettle is a must. In fact， such a large tea set is a necessary part of the dowry. An adequate number of tea cups must be prepared. In Suzhou， a tea dance is held at the wedding ceremony. A dancer serves tea to all the VIPs at the ceremony. Such a skillful and ceremonious dance always attracts relatives and friends and neighbors to watch.

Tea Sets

In the long-past centuries， wedding gifts sometimes would include a complete tea set and tea. History has it that there were sophisticatedly made and decorated tea utensils among the wedding gifts when Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty got married.

In Shaoxing and Ningbo in eastern Zhejiang during the Ming （1368-1644） and the Qing （1644-1911）， a bridals dowry would include a complete series of tea utensils if the bridals family was rich. A tea set could vary from place to place. If a tea set was from a rich family， it might contain a variety of artifacts such as a tea table， a tea cabinet， a tea kettle， a tea canister， a tea plate， cups， and a big thermos flask made of wood that keeps tea drink warm.