Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/27

Rh saying is, "The man's horoscope is never false; the woman's never true." A fortune-teller is called in to examine the girl's horoscope, and if he finds it is an unlucky one it will be falsified before being reported to the family with whom a marriage is sought.

It is said that in the time of Han Wên Ti 漢文帝 a barbarian chief wished for marriage relationships with the Chinese. The Chinese professed willingness, but warned the barbarian Man-tzŭ that it would be unlucky for them if marriages were made with unsuitable horoscopes. They were then able to decline marriage on the ground that 八字不合 pa tzŭ pu ho, the horoscopes do not agree. To this day, in refusing a proposal of marriage the people almost always say jên k‘ên hun pu k‘ên 人肯婚不肯 "We are willing but the horoscope is not."

The parents who seek a bride for their son first find a middleman, or more likely he finds them. They ask him to take presents to the home of a certain girl and to beg that her horoscope may be sent them for examination. The middleman has probably already paved the way, and he soon brings back the horoscope, which is put on the family altar for from 3 to 8 days to see if anything happens, good or bad. If a bowl is broken during this time, or something lost, or a cat or dog dies, the horoscope is promptly returned as being unlucky. This is called t‘ui hung kêng 退紅庚. If on the contrary some piece of luck befalls during this period, an astrologer is called in to examine the two horoscopes and see if they agree. The comparison may show upper, middle or lower degree of suitability. If the boy's parents are satisfied with the horoscope they send the middleman to the girl's parents to say they feel quite unworthy to be related to such an exalted family, but since there was such condescension they were willing to fix the agreement hsia p‘in shu 下聘書, hui hua 囘話, or ch‘a hua 插花. Much depends on the go-between, and as it is difficult to prevent bribery there is great need for caution and private enquiry.

The girl's parents reply 寫允書 hsieh yün shu, generally saying their daughter is weak and useless, but they are willing