Matchmakers have a long history. There is a poem in The Book of Songs, "How to get a wife? A bandit can't be a matchmaker, which shows that as early as the Zhou Dynasty, the matchmaker has become an important element of marriage. In the etiquette system and laws of later generations, it is clearly stipulated that marriage must have the words of a matchmaker. For example, the Tang law stipulates: "For the law of marriage, there must be a matchmaker." According to the ancient etiquette system, a standardized marriage should go through six links-six ceremonies, namely, receiving gifts, asking names, Naji, receiving gifts, inviting parties, welcoming relatives and so on. Basically, every link needs a matchmaker to go through the needle.
Matchmakers can be divided into official media and private media. There was a media official in the Western Zhou Dynasty. After the Han dynasty, the state no longer established this official position, but the official media always existed. For example, there are many official media records in A Dream of Red Mansions in Qing Dynasty. The matchmakers registered and recognized by the government are also classified, and some are responsible for the marriage of the royal family and nobles, and their status is quite prominent. Private media is a folk matchmaker. At least since the Song Dynasty, professional matchmakers for profit have appeared in society.
The income of ancient matchmakers was considerable. In the folk, the agency fee as an agency fee is basically 10% of the gift, which is more than the rental fee for selling land and houses. As the saying goes, "It's good to wear a new suit if you are well matched", which also reflects the income of the matchmaker.