What do "Guagu" and "Yapo" among three aunts and six grandmothers do or what do they mean?

Tooth girl is one of the traditional female occupations.

"Three aunts and six grandmothers" is a traditional female occupation in China (it should be noted that this "female occupation" refers to the occupation formed by women's natural advantages). It can be divided into three professional categories: religious belief, medical maternity and buying and selling intermediary. Nuns, Taoists, Guagu and Shipo belong to religious and folk practitioners. Medicine women, medical women, stable women and teacher women are female medical staff in traditional society; Prostitutes, prostitutes, matchmakers and devout women are the people who buy and sell and act as intermediaries.

In religious belief, nuns and Taoists are both female believers who become monks and Taoists. Guagu and Shipo (also known as "Shi Niang", that is, witches) are witches, women who help others, pull baskets, predict divination, draw spells and receive surprises for a living.

In terms of medical fertility, medical women and medical women are folk women who are familiar with technology and secret recipes. Medicine girl, that is, catching tooth worms today, selling abortion, abortion drugs and so on; A stable woman is a midwife, but helps women have children.

In terms of buying and selling intermediaries, Yapo sells rouge, pollen and other women's products for a living, but also introduces buying and selling in the middle, and is responsible for the intermediary of buying concubines, prostitutes and dancers in large families, and often buys and sells people; Matchmaker, "knowing the words of the second surname will determine the way to get married" ("Book of Rites Quli Shang"), that is, people who agree to get married considering the second surname; Qianpo refers to the women who run the A Qin House and Chu Yuan and engage in pornography, that is, "prostitutes".

Judging from their occupations, these women are different from ordinary rich women and concubines, and also different from ordinary women. They must seek their own financial resources to make a living. However, due to the bondage of women in China's traditional society, there are not many occupations they can engage in. They can only wander the streets as women, do some small businesses, or engage in such trivial things as delivering babies. But they are very active in society, and their work is closely related to women's daily life, which also reflects considerable social needs.

However, it is worth noting that in the ethnic group of elder sister-in-law, the occupational classification is quite mixed, and it is often the case that one person holds several positions. For example, in Jin Ping Mei, Wang Po said, "It turns out that this old lady who runs a tea shop is not doing her duty. It is I who have been diligent over the years, being a matchmaker, selling women and being a tooth girl. I can also accept small ones and hold my waist tightly (note: the midwife's assistant holds the woman's waist tightly during childbirth), and I am good at letting go. There is another thing that can't be said. The bun is green, and the wax is poured into the head. You can't see the woman's skill! " (The second episode of Jin Ping Mei Hua Ci)

Tooth girl sells rouge, pollen and other female products for a living, but also introduces business in the middle, and is responsible for mediating large families to buy concubines, prostitutes and dancers, and often buys and sells people.

Grandma: Also known as Sister-in-law, this is a kind of woman who specializes in human trafficking. This kind of tooth girl not only runs away from official positions, but also woos rich people privately. In Song Dynasty, Wu's Dream once said: government officials, rich children, want to buy concubines, singers, dancers, cooks, needlework, ladies-in-waiting, officials, private wives and guides. Remember clearly the professional characteristics of her sister-in-law. Later, until the Qing Dynasty, it was still very popular for old ladies to buy maids and concubines for others. In A Dream of Red Mansions, Jia's maid made a big mistake and asked a "human tooth" to take it away and sell it.

Literally explaining "tooth" means accusing the introducer between the buyer and the seller, which means "mutual", or "tooth" means "mutual". Tooth wives generally run the profession of matchmaker, and matchmakers often do the business of tooth wives, so that they can work part-time with each other and greatly improve economic benefits.