Why did the ancients have to have a matchmaker to get married? What's so embarrassing about getting married?

Ma Guangzu was a famous minister and a grass-roots official in the Southern Song Dynasty. The survival pressure of the Southern Song Dynasty was great, and history left it few opportunities for reform. There is no vigorous reform movement, only an official with political achievements, Malik Guangzu, has some reform measures in specific administrative practice.

Ma Guangzu, whose real name is Hua Fu, is from Dongyang. In the second year of Guangzu, he was a scholar of a famous family, turned to Sun Shuxin, and went straight to Uighur to move to Jiangxi to learn about Taiping House. Baoyou moved the household registration book for three years. I once knew the prefect of Lin 'an and the ambassador of Anfu in western Zhejiang. The straight bachelor, the commander along the river and the fortune teller in Jiangdong all know that the Jiankang mansion and the palace stay and restrain themselves. He is the ambassador of Zhou, Wuwei Army and Anqing House, and Jia Huan seeks a bachelor's degree. Today, Ma Guangzu can be found in cities along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.

In the Yuan Dynasty's unofficial history in the Three Dynasties of Wu Lai, a legendary story of Ma Guangzu's trial was recorded: a scholar secretly climbed over the wall and ran into the boudoir of a girl he liked. This is not a question of love, nor a simple ethical issue, but an illegal issue involving rape and theft, so the scholar was arrested by the government.

Ma Guangzu questioned the case and felt that it would be a bit wrong to convict the young man. So, the question is over the wall, let the scholar answer it. The scholar took the topic and made a big fuss about it: "Consumption has depressed the debt of life and made you sad for a while. On the other side of the wall, the virgin has a heart to hug. Build by laying bricks or stones should be hidden, and Korea steals it. Love and lust, silence and shyness, don't live up to Qin Lou's promise, you know you are in prison. Li Yan is like this. What are you studying for? "

This scholar has a good writing style, and the story is clear and reasonable. Ma Guangzu was full of praise after reading it, and filled in a song minus the word Magnolia: "I paid off my debts for a lifetime with deep affection." A good Tan Lang will make a room girl your wife. I will give you three hundred and twenty pieces of silver. The candle is flashing red. Remember that the Iceman is a knight. "

Mazu decided to let the woman marry the man on the spot, and even the bride price and dowry were settled. For a time, this story spread in Beijing, and the love story was recorded as a beautiful marriage. Ma Guangzu, a Yuan drama, said this.

This legend should be true. Ma Guangzu's "Song Jian Yu Lan Hua" can be found throughout the Song Dynasty, but it is not an invention. But the story has become the theme of the play, which also shows that it is very abnormal for Ma Guangzu to judge the case like this. Things that are too ordinary are not readable as story material.

Ma Guangzu's judgment obviously violated the provisions of the Marriage Law of the Song Dynasty, or it was a reform in his judicial practice, or a flexible treatment. Ancient laws were not strict, and judges had great discretion. The law on marriage in Song Dynasty is mainly family marriage law. The relevant provisions of the Family Marriage Law were formulated on the basis of the Criminal Code of the Song Dynasty. Year: "If a man and a woman want to get married, they must have the orders of their parents and the words of a matchmaker."

"Parents' orders, matchmakers' words", the requirement of this traditional ceremony, became a legal provision in the Song Dynasty. The "matchmaker" in Song Dynasty cannot be simply understood as "matchmaker". The establishment of the marriage relationship in the Song Dynasty explained the next step as "hiring a wife", that is, the man paid the money to the woman and the woman accepted it. This marriage is legal. If one party reneges on the marriage, it should be dissolved according to law, otherwise it is illegal.

Corresponding to the "dowry" of the man, the woman needs to pay the "dowry", which is what the people call "dowry". Both "engagement money" and "marriage money" are economic issues, and the amount of property needs the coordination of a third-party intermediary. "Matchmaker" is such a third-party intermediary organization, equivalent to the current "lawyer", not as simple as a marriage "introducer".

In Song Dynasty, there were a series of specific regulations on marriage, all of which were carried out through "matchmakers", and the last step was the wedding. As the saying goes, "when a couple enters the house, the matchmaker climbs over the wall." When the wedding is over, the matchmaker's mission is completed. Marriage has changed. The Marriage Law stipulates that marriage is rash: "If you marry a woman, you have already reported your marriage and agreed in private. If you regret it, you will get sixty sticks. If people repent, they will not sit down and seek wealth. " These legal provisions will be controversial in practice, and all need the help of "matchmakers".