The Matchmaker 红娘

The Matchmaker, or Yue Lao (literally means the old man in the moon), is the god who unites persons in marriage in a Chinese legend that originated in Tang Dynasty. The figure later became a widely known image of immortal. As the legend goes, the matchmaker holds a book in his hands called "the book of fate", on which the marriage of all people are recorded. Also in his hands there is a red strand, and once he ties a man and a woman on their feet with the strand, the two will surely become a couple even if they were once irreconcilable enemies or strangers far away from each other. There is a folk custom in China to make statues of the matchmaker and build temple to pray for blessings. There is such a temple by the West Lake of Hangzhou, in which people can burn joss sticks, draw straws and vow to the god for their marriage.