Yue Lao – The Matchmaker

Yue Lao, The Matchmaker, is the god who unites persons in marriage.

Yue Lao translates as The Old Man in the Moon.

According to Chinese legend Yue Lao, 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.

In China lovers make statues of The Matchmaker and build temples 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.