This essay will seek to explore the communication cultural nuances of the Chinese people and the Bantus in Africa. When contrasted against the Chinese, the wedding ceremonies the Bantus in Africa have similar shades, but the nature and variety of foods served and eating habits in addition to the garments and ornaments worn are different. For this essay, the focus shall be on the Agikuyu, a Bantu tribe found in the African country, Kenya.

For their dressing and ornaments, the Chinese integrate a lot of red colors. Today’s modern world has been heavily influenced by English wedding traditions of wearing a suit by the groom and a white dress by the bride. However, the Chinese have not lost their wedding cultural touch. During the wedding, the bride is usually wearing a red dress or gown and she covers her face with a red veil. For the Chinese, the red colour usually symbolizes good luck, happiness and prosperity.  Some of the other instances where the colour red is used are when sending out invitations.

Food is a significant aspect of Chinese weddings. Different foods and food rituals are performed at various stages of the wedding process. For instance, to announce the engagement, the groom’s family will present the bride’s family with cakes and food. If the bride’s family consents to her getting married, both families will then send invitations to their relatives and friends along with “double happiness cakes”.  For the wedding, the Chinese have the Tea Ceremony, whereby both families will drink a Chinese tea known as the Tsao Chun tea. During this ceremony, no guests are allowed, and only family members witness the ceremony. However, after the ceremony is over, a feast is held so that all who wish to join in the celebration as guests can participate and make merry.

Later in the evening, the newlyweds will drink wine from two cups tied together with a red string to symbolize their union. They will also offer the bride raw dumplings to symbolize their good wishes to her with fertility and home care for her husband and future family. Another food ritual that the Chinese have is that on the day after the wedding, the breakfast is prepared and served by the bride to both families.  Three days after the ceremony, the groom culturally presents a roasted pig as a symbol of welcoming and integrating the bride into her new family. The pig is eaten with the rest of the prepared meals.

The dresses and ornaments used in the Agikuyu ceremony are of great importance. The bride and the groom wear traditional Agikuyu brown dressing that is usually embedded with cowry beads at the hems. These are sometimes usually worn on top of modern dressing because of the contemporary changes to society. Another wedding process that involves ornaments occurs once the groom’s family has been accepted into the bride’s compound and given food to eat. After the feast, the groom is supposed to select his bride from about fifteen girls, who are covered head to toe. The fifteen girls are split into three groups, and each group progressively comes out for the identification of the wife. If he selects the wrong candidate, he is charged a penalty fee, until when he can identify her. When he finds her, he discloses her from her coverings and displays her for all to see as he takes her to the high table.

There is a lot of food symbolism in the Agikuyu ceremonies. When the cultural wedding starts, the guests arrive at the ladies home with food items such as cooking oil, bananas, sugar, maize flour. The guests will then pay an amount of money to be relieved off these items by ladies on the bride’s side. These items will belong to the girls. Before the ceremony starts, there will be food served to all guests. The menu usually comprises a Kikuyu speciality known as mukimo, which is mashed potatoes mixed with green and fresh maize. During the ceremony, where the bride and groom will wear their traditional attire, the groom will be required to cut the shoulder of a goat. Once he cuts the goat shoulder, the shoulder will be displayed for all to see. The husband will then give the wife some parts of the ear from the goat so that she can eat them. The wife does the same in turn; she gives the husband the ear parts to eat. The symbolism of this eating ritual is to remind the wife of the need to listen to her husband in their marriage.

Another food and eating habit that is incorporated to the Agikuyu weddings is that the new bride is supposed to give the husband porridge in a calabash which is known as gukundio ucuru. This part of the ceremony involves other five couples, dressed in Agikuyu dressing. These wives will soothe their husbands to want to drink the porridge, who will pretend not to want to drink the porridge, by twisting their necks from side to side. The wives will then give the husbands presents in order to make them want to drink the porridge. Once the husband accepts to drink the porridge the parents and elders from both sides can then go in and negotiate the dowry. During the dowry ceremony, once the negotiations are complete, the bride is called to ask the father if he should accept a beer from the groom’s side in order to seal the marriage ceremony. After the father drinks the beer, the rest of the guests will also be given beers to celebrate the wedding amidst jubilation.

In conclusion, looking at both Chinese from Asia and the Bantu from Africa, it is quite clear that food and eating habits and dresses and ornaments are of great cultural importance and are used to communicate the intentions of the couples and their families during the wedding as the families come together.

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