According to historical records, there was a marriage phenomenon at first that “the couple had to share the same family name, and the bride had to be carried by the bridegroom on his back instead of sitting in a bridal sedan chair”, and then it was changed into “making a match by parents’ order and match-maker’s words”. There were such impressive customs on the wedding day as “crying marriage” (the ritual acts of crying and singing performed by the bride before and at her wedding), “blocking the door”, “stepping threshold” and “racing for bed”.
The historical development of marriage customs of the Miao people in Xiangxi bears many similarities to that of the Tujia people. A large number of the Miao people could seek true love by singing songs. The custom of “jumping in the moonlight” (on a moonlit night in early spring or late spring, unmarried young men and women gathered in the field, singing and dancing) has been recorded in historical books. After the bureaucratization of native officers, marriage customs were changed, and “making a match by parents’ order and match-maker’s words” became the mainstream. However, quite a few stockaded villages of the Miao people still adhered to seeking true love by singing songs. The custom of “bian bian chang” was still widely spread until the 1980s.