The divine matchmaker in Chinese language mythology − Previous Man Beneath the Moon − who helps {couples} discover love

In China, folks rejoice Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14, however there are a minimum of three holidays and cultural traditions centered on romantic love. A determine that ties collectively these different holidays is the Previous Man Beneath the Moon – Yuexia Laoren in Mandarin, or Yuelao for brief – who’s believed to be a divine matchmaker.

In lots of cultures the world over, together with China, parents traditionally arranged their children’s marriages, and love was not essentially their most important concern. In pre-modern China, daughters had little say over their marriage companions. Furthermore, they have been seen as belonging extra to their future husbands’ households than to their start households. Beneath these situations, single ladies would pray to the Old Man Under the Moon for a happy marriage.

Women might both make choices at house or go to a temple the place a picture of the Previous Man Beneath the Moon was enshrined. There are different figures in Chinese language mythology, such because the “Weaving Maiden” and “Moon Goddess,” who’re worshiped for good luck in love. However the Previous Man Beneath the Moon is the preferred god of affection and marriage. As of late, the title Yuelao has even grow to be a general term for “matchmaker.”

As a scholar of Chinese religious history, I do know that understandings of gods can change over time. As of late, women and men pray to the Previous Man Beneath the Moon to search out their very own love match, whereas the Rabbit God takes care of devotees searching for same-sex romance.

The Previous Man Beneath the Moon

The Previous Man Beneath the Moon was first talked about in a ninth-century quick story referred to as “Engagement Inn,” the place he organized marriages as a divine official.

Within the story, an single man named Wei Gu set out earlier than dawn to satisfy a matchmaker. He noticed an outdated man studying a doc by moonlight and tried to get a peek, however discovered that he couldn’t decipher the script. The outdated man laughed and instructed Wei Gu that he was a divine bureaucrat in command of human marriages, and his doc was a wedding register written in an otherworldly script.

Wei Gu then requested about his personal prospects, to which the outdated man replied that Wei Gu would get married, however it could take 14 years. Wei Gu then requested a few bag the outdated man was holding. The outdated man pulled a pink twine out of the bag and defined that he used these to tie the ft of a future couple in order that destiny would convey them collectively.

Within the centuries that adopted, the Previous Man Beneath the Moon turned an more and more common determine in Chinese language literature, drama and faith. His statue was enshrined in temples, the place single folks and their kinfolk might pray and make choices within the hope of discovering a match.

Like different divine bureaucrats in command of human affairs, the Previous Man Beneath the Moon isn’t a temple’s central deity, however his icon seems in facet halls alongside deities in command of fertility and training.

Fittingly, he appears like an outdated man with an extended white beard, and he holds the pink cords that bind {couples} to one another. Individuals trying to discover a associate usually depart pink strings tied to tree branches, typically with quick prayer texts connected to the strings, outdoors shrines to Previous Man Beneath the Moon.

Heavenly romance

The Previous Man Beneath the Moon could be worshiped year-round, however he has particular ties to 2 holidays within the conventional Chinese language calendar: the Double Seventh Competition and the Moon Competition. Valentine’s Day is a brand new addition to present Chinese language holidays celebrating love and marriage.

In Chinese language tradition, crucial vacation for love is the Double Seventh Competition, which appropriately falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This pageant commemorates the story of the star-crossed lovers Weaving Maiden and Cowherd, who reside on separate constellations and might meet solely yearly.

Single ladies make choices to the Weaving Maiden in hopes of discovering a very good husband, along with saying prayers to Previous Man. In keeping with Taiwanese custom, on the Double Seventh Competition, the Weaving Maiden compiles a list of all unmarried men and women to offer to the Previous Man Beneath the Moon. The Previous Man then pairs up the one women and men in his marriage registry, binding their ft to seal their shared destiny.

The Mid-Autumn Competition, or Moon Competition, on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month focuses on household togetherness, however it additionally contains romantic themes. Single ladies historically pray to the Moon Goddess Chang’e and to the divine matchmaker Previous Man Beneath the Moon for a very good husband. The Moon Competition is seen because the birthday of the Previous Man Beneath the Moon, so temples typically have particular occasions in his honor. The moon represents each wholeness and romance, making it a becoming image for the divine matchmaker.

Even crucial vacation on the Chinese language calendar, Lunar New 12 months, could be a time to worship the Old Man Under the Moon. As celebrants set their intentions and targets for the brand new 12 months, these searching for love and marriage will make a degree of sending prayers to the Previous Man Beneath the Moon.

The Rabbit God

Other than the Previous Man Beneath the Moon, one other divine matchmaker in Chinese language mythology is the Rabbit God, who has been worshiped as far back as the 18th century as a god of affection between males.

Members of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood in Taiwan revived the worship of this deity as a same-sex counterpart to the Previous Man Beneath the Moon. The Rabbit God binds same-sex {couples}, simply because the Previous Man Beneath the Moon binds {couples} of the alternative intercourse.

Identical-sex {couples} in Taiwan can go to Wei Ming Tang temple, which is devoted to the Rabbit God, to hunt lasting romantic love and marriage. Worship of the Rabbit God could be finished extra brazenly in Taiwan, which is the one place in Asia the place same-sex marriage is legal. LGBTQ+ relationships are frowned upon in mainland China.

The Previous Man Beneath the Moon has lengthy sustained the hope for love and love in organized marriages. Now that most individuals in Chinese language tradition discover their very own marriage companions, he presents hope that folks will have the ability to discover their match in a sea of potentialities. The Rabbit God presents the identical hope for the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, particularly in Taiwan.