仲媒人과 唐代의 婚姻

Abstract

In the Tang Dynasty, the establishment of marriage must be introduced by the matchmaker. There were no special qualifications for the matchmaker. A person who wanted to be a matchmaker would be permitted to be a matchmaker. However, because some persons liked to communicate with people more than the others, so they were more apt to be matchmaker than the others. The work of matchmaker often began with the request of a party who often provided something for the matchmaker as a gift. When the matchmaker was working, he often excessively praised the persons whom she hoped to become a couple. Sometimes the matchmaker maybe take part in some unlawful activities and the Tangs government made some measures to control the matchmaker. The work of matchmaker was not gratuitous. If matchmaker succeeded in urging a man and a woman to be a couple, he would get some rewards from the two persons or their families. Although in the Tang Dynasty the establishment of marriage must be introduced by the matchmaker, the statute law had on request like that. The source of the request was the Li a customary law in the traditional China.