The ritual of presenting a goose has been an important part of Chinese wedding ceremonies for over two thousand years from ancient times to the first half of the 20 century. By examining historical records about this custom and the process by which it came into practice, this paper combines the image of presenting a goose found in classical documents, Dunhuang documents and Mogao murals, and the biological figure of the goose as mutual verification to reveal the sociological meaning of this tradition and the function of presenting a goose as a cultural symbol in ancient wedding ceremonies.
