Definition

1. Verb (archaic):
   • To throw the embroidered ball (in a traditional marriage selection ritual): A historical practice where a noblewoman, from an elevated position, would throw a decorative ball (a "cầu") into a crowd of suitors. The man who caught it would become her chosen husband.
   • (Figuratively) To choose a husband; to get married: Used in classical literature to refer to the act of a woman selecting a spouse or to the event of marriage itself.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Công chúa đã gieo cầu để kén phò mã. (The princess threw the embroidered ball to choose a royal son-in-law.)
  • Trong truyện cổ, người con gái thường gieo cầu để tìm ý trung nhân. (In ancient tales, a young woman would often throw the ball to find her destined love.)
  • Câu chuyện kể về một lần gieo cầu nổi tiếng trong lịch sử. (The story tells of a famous ball-throwing event in history.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used in historical or literary contexts to evoke a bygone custom. It symbolizes fate and chance in marriage.
• It can be used metaphorically in modern contexts to describe a selective or chance-based choice, though this is rare.

Variants and Related Words

• Kén chồng (v): To choose a husband (a more general, modern term).
• Tơ duyên (n): Marriage bond, fate in love (a classical literary term often associated with "gieo cầu").

Synonyms

• Choose a husband (in the specific, ritualistic context).
• Select a spouse (figuratively).

Related Idioms and Classical References

• Trao tơ phải lứa, gieo cầu đáng nơi: A classical literary couplet meaning "to give the silk thread to the right match, to throw the ball to the worthy place," signifying a perfectly fated and appropriate marriage.
• The practice is famously attributed to a story about Hán Vũ Đế (Emperor Wu of Han) choosing a son-in-law for his princess.

1. (từ cũ; nghĩa cũ) Throw at random a ball on one of one's suitors (and he became elegible).
2. (b) Get married