It was only in the Ming Dynasty when red became the auspicious colour for weddings - largely because the Chinese character for the founding Emperor’s surname (朱) literally meant “crimson”, and was supposedly his favourite shade. His concubines were often beautifully dressed in red, and noble ladies often wore this colour as a sign of their status. But even prior to this, the colour had been closely associated with love and romantic attachment. Beautiful ladies were referred to poetically as “红颜知己”，“红粉佳人” (rouged beauty / companion) by their admirers, and myths describe couples as being bound together by a red cord, predestined to be lovers for eternity.

In the early years of the Ming dynasty, wearing red was more likely to bring danger than good fortune, however; donning a colour reserved for the nobility was considered taboo, and regarded as an offense of ambition. But these strict laws regulating dressing were relaxed in the later part of the era, where marriage became increasingly enshrined as an important Confucian ideal. Couples, even those from non-aristocratic families, were allowed to dress above their status on their big day. Grooms could don the robes of officials of the 9th grade, and brides could wear phoenix coronets with embroidered garments. While the quality and workmanship of these items varied according to the family’s wealth, one thing was clear - the newly-weds were to be regarded with the greatest respect and admiration on this special occasion.

As such, girls from wealthy merchant families often enjoyed the same luxuries as royalty on their wedding day. Their hair was often worn in a high conical top-bun, supporting an opulently decorated phoenix crown crafted from gold and other precious materials. More elaborate crowns had tassels and gems incorporated into the design, with diancui and other heritage crafts topping off the incredibly intricate metalwork. Clothes wise, ladies wore red robes heavily embroidered with gold auspicious motifs, belts with jade or gold embellishments, and embroidered skirts with multiple pleats.

For the men, their outfits were relatively simpler as they donned an official’s formal court dress and wore a red sash across their bodies. Like the women, they also wore heavily decorated belts, and ornamented their hats with flower accessories. Given the material costs of such a lavish outfit, the wedding dress, together with the rest of the wedding ceremony, was meant to be a proclamation of the family’s wealth and status, as much as it was about celebrating the happy union of two lovers.

This transition from fan to veil, though seemingly inconsequential, reflects a more sobering change in the social status of women from the Tang to Ming dynasty. In the fan-lowering ritual of earlier periods, the groom would have to recite a short poem requesting for the bride to put down her fan, whereupon she would agree if the performance was up to expectations. However, with the bride being veiled in the Ming dynasty, her face (and unique identity) was completely hidden from view according to the Confucian standards of female propriety, and instead of having the agency to decide if she wished to reveal herself, she passively participates in the groom’s act of unveiling her.

In certain cases, the tool used by the groom to raise the veil even formed part of the bride’s induction ritual into the family – using long wooden chopsticks would imply that the bride was expected to quickly bear children (快生贵子), while using one hand to remove the veil would suggest that the groom expected her to obey his authority. If the man were to lift the veil with both hands, the bride was considered lucky, as it suggested he was warmly receiving her into the family.