TO ancient Chinese poets, four occurrences were the happiest things in life that ought to be expressed in poems - a good rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a distant land, the wedding night in a room lit with red candles and the moment that one's name appears on a public billboard as having passed a government examination.

In feudal society, the harvesting of crops, to be always closely related to one's hometown, to get married as a symbol of becoming an adult and to gain a position in the government were the most important things by which a man was judged as being a success.

Among them, the wedding night was an impressive experience because of the special custom called "nao dongfang" in which relatives and friends of the newly weds made fun of them in their room on their wedding night, asking the couple to act out the suggestions contained in hints being made to them.

The jokes and general behaviour had sexual connotations and they would make the newly wed couple shy with one another as they didn't have any previous sexual experience or intimate behaviour of any kind with a member of the opposite sex.

Embarrassing tricks

Traditional Chinese cherished virginity greatly and it was only on the wedding night that they could have sex. Therefore, "nao dongfang" became a funny feature of Chinese weddings.

However, "nao dongfang" was not considered to be a tradition in good taste because it often involved dirty jokes.

The custom originated during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and it has continued up to today.

The most common item on "nao dongfang" programmes for the newly-weds to act out was to get them to munch on an apple hanging on a thread which was held in the hand of one of their friends.

When they tried to get close to the apple, the friend would move the apple out of the way and their lips would touch.

This kind of behaviour was considered suitable by traditional Chinese but in modern times new and sometimes embarrassing tricks have been devised.

For example, the couple may be asked to lie on the bed and to form the letters B, O or W, or the groom may be asked to put a cell phone inside one trouser leg and move it up and over to the other leg. While the groom is struggling to do this, someone among the guests will dial the phone and set it off vibrating inside the trousers.

At the end of the "nao dongfang", the couple were required to take off 18 items, sometimes 36 items, of clothing while lying under the quilt.

If they were not sufficiently prepared and wearing plenty of clothes, they would end up naked and all the guests would then leave. Smart couples would have put on several pairs of pants and underwear for fear of ending up naked.

People have long considered "nao dongfang" to be the most interesting part of a wedding celebration. A lot of links on the Internet detail numerous new tricks to have fun with new-weds.

Usually, unmarried friends of the couple will not "overdo" it when making fun for fear of "revenge" later at their own weddings.

Devil banishment

Two viewpoints were given for the beginning of this custom.

The first was that it could drive evils away.

Getting married in ancient times was a little complicated - a man would first make his proposal to the parents of his intended bride and they would become engaged, then the wedding and then the "nao dongfang".

It's said that long ago an Immortal found out that a devil had followed the wedding parade of a bride who was being carried in a sedan chair. The devil had then hidden in the couple's room and threatened their lives once all the guests had gone away.

The Immortal said that the only way to drive the devil away was with people's laughter. So the couple had to bring a lot of friends into their room after the "baitang." (the formal wedding ceremony).

In ancient times, people didn't register a marriage but the couple would bow to the God, the man's parents and to each other in front of their guests as a proof of their marriage.

The groom would spend a whole night in the nuptial room before the wedding.

Sometimes, the groom would go into the room first and shoot arrows into its four corners or wave a knife at the corners. The red candles lit in the room were also used as a protective measure against devils.

The second viewpoint about "nao dongfang" is of northern origin and involves the beating of the groom with sticks on his wedding day.

Men from the north in those days came from nomadic tribes and were supposed to be strong and brave. Being able to withstand a beating with sticks proved they qualified as husbands.