Jiao gan, stirring the swill
On the third day after the wedding the bride goes to the kitchen and stirs the swill vat, the household’s pig feed.
Pronunciation jiǎo gān｜Rites of passage｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
The vat is a big coarse jar in the kitchen, into which the water rice was rinsed in, the water the pot was washed in, and the leftovers all go, kept to feed a pig; one layer floats and one sinks, and the bride takes a wooden ladle and stirs from the bottom up.
A pig was part of a household’s living here, and the swill vat was the housewife’s to manage. Stirring it is taking that over.
When you see it
On the same day as opening the well and pounding the first rice, and done last. All three are done as gestures; that the thing is done is the point, not how many turns of the ladle.
Words easily confused
This is not feeding the pig: one is keeping the vat, the other is feeding the animal. Nor is it washing the kitchen, which happens before the new year; this is done once only, on the third day after the wedding.
Read next: Marriage here: from the six rites to opening the well on the third day.
See also: Rites of passage: five thresholds.
Same group: pounding the first rice, opening the well.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026