Two months ago I attended Pei Han's brother's wedding. He asked me to take the pictures of the engagement (a month previously) and the wedding, which meant that for the first time since I have been in Taiwan and all the Taiwanese weddings I have been to, I was able to see, and photograph, the whole experience. From the groom leaving his house to go pick up his bride at her house, her teary departure from her house and nervous arrival at her in-laws' home, to the wedding reception attended by innumerable guests, the wedding day is dictated by tradition and ceremony, all aimed at bringing luck to the couple.
In Chinese culture, red is the traditional colour of luck, so in the past when people got married they wore red clothes, not white like we do in the West. White in Chinese tradition is the colour of death and is worn for funerals, not black like we are used to. These days more and more Taiwanese women are wearing the traditional white Western wedding gown for their wedding ceremony, but they usually change out of it into a more traditional, non-white dress after the first part of the ceremony is complete.
It is also traditional to give the bride and groom red envelopes with money in them. Again, the red colour of the envelopes is important and absolutely no other colour is ever used. Not only is the colour of the envelope important, but the amount of money in the envelope is also very significant. Only even amounts of money are given, usually about 1200 Taiwanese dollars. Again, the even numbers mean good luck.
But, even numbers with 4 in them are not lucky, because the number 4 in Chinese culture is bad luck, like our number 13. The reason for this is that the Chinese word for 4 sounds like the Chinese word for "die"! So, in places like hotels and, especially, hospitals, there are no fourth floors, only first, second, third, then fifth floors and upwards. Even in some banks, there are no number 4 counters, because if you deposit your money at counter 4 who knows what might happen to it!
Luck is central to the culture in Taiwan and finding ways of being lucky has become a big business. Everywhere you go there are fortunetellers who are more than ready to tell you how and when you will be lucky and where your fortune lies. They read your palms, use your birthday to discover what your fortune is, make you draw lucky sticks that will tell you where your luck lies and even use trained birds to draw the lucky sticks for you (though why this is lucky for you and not for the bird is beyond me!). So, of course, when a couple wants to marry they go to a fortuneteller who will tell them the best day for their wedding. Afterwards, the couple will pay the fortuneteller by giving him a red envelope with his payment inside.
Then the red wedding invitations are sent out in red invitation envelopes, which if you are lucky enough to receive, you return the good luck by attending the wedding reception and giving a red money envelope.
Quite honestly, for me, I would consider myself lucky just to meet and marry a red-blooded woman who would love me despite who I am!
Dion Marc Delport
18 March 2007