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The origin of Chinese matchmakers

As to the origin of “méi pó”, a Chinese term for matchmakers, there is a popular folktale in Shaanxi Province. Long time ago, people from the two banks of the Wei River seldom communicated with each other, lat alone forming marriage alliances. One year, a young man coming from the north of the Wei River happened to go on business to the south of the Wei River, he took a fancy to a girl there. An old granny read his mind and helped them to become husband and wife. A year later, the wife gave birth to a healthy boy. Her husband said to her with a big smile: “we used to be strangers, yet we have become a married couple thanks to that granny’s kind help. What a wonderful experience!” she replied, “Yet it’s a pity that the granny had died. It’s too late to requite her for her kindness.”

Therefore, the couple made a sculpture of her with rice flour and worshipped her at home. Being afraid of becoming the laughing-stock of their neighbors, they burnt incense before the sculpture at night and hid it in a cabinet at daytime. Several days later, it went moldy. So they called the moldy sculpture Moldy Sculpture (霉婆méi pó) and continued to worship her as usual. As the story spread far and wide, young girls who wanted to be married a man from the north of the Wei River and young men who wanted to marry a girl from the north would first try to find an old granny as good-hearted as Moldy Granny to help them. Later people changed “Moldy Granny霉婆” into “matchmaker媒婆”.

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