“The bride-fetching challenge” is one of the wedding customs in China. According to this tradition, the bride’s family sets challenges for the groom and his party to complete, and if they fail, they cannot bring the bride home.
Different regions have their own ways of playing, but there are also many cases where the games are excessively complicated, making it difficult for the groom and affecting the wedding ceremony.
Recently, a clip showing a groom in China being put in a tough spot by the bride’s family caught attention on social media.
On the wedding day, the groom and his party happily arrived at the bride’s house to perform the important ceremony. Just when they thought everything would go smoothly, harsh reality slapped the groom in the face as he witnessed the challenge set by the bride’s family.
The steps in front of the bride’s house were covered with a red carpet and two rows of tiles were laid out. At this point, the groom sensed that the journey to fetch the bride might be quite challenging.
The bride’s family demanded that the groom kneel on the two rows of tiles and simultaneously use his knees to break them. Each step had 2 pieces of tile, and the groom had to kneel and break all of them to meet the requirement to bring the bride home.
Upon hearing such a challenge from the bride’s family, the groom was very angry, feeling that his bride’s family was not giving him any face on this important day. The act of kneeling in front of so many people, becoming a laughingstock, was something the groom could not accept.
Though dissatisfied, partly because he did not want to make a scene and partly out of fear that prolonging the matter would cause him to miss the auspicious hour, the groom agreed to compromise.
The groom knelt on the tiles but could not break them. Under the cheers of the crowd, he had to grit his teeth and endure the pain to exert more strength. In the end, the tiles broke. The groom’s knees ached to the point where he could not stand steadily, his legs shaking continuously, and he had to rely on others to help him walk.
The journey to fetch the bride was successful, but that day likely became a “memorable” moment for the groom.
After the clip was posted on social media, netizens criticized the bride’s family for being “cruel” and making it difficult for their future son-in-law.
“The groom’s physique isn’t that big, so why set such a difficult challenge? The bride’s family really went too far!”.
“A little fun is okay, but going overboard makes it no longer enjoyable. Customs and traditional concepts have their limits. Making it hard for others like this just becomes a bad habit that society will reject.”.
“These challenges are supposed to be fun, but I don’t see any enjoyment in this! Although I understand that some challenges aim to help the groom appreciate his bride more, such excessive demands backfire.”.
(Source: 163)