In ancient China, what were people's views on mate selection?

In fact, under the ancient feudal social system, most women's marriages were involuntary. Usually, what we know about women's marriage is mostly "parents' orders and matchmakers' words". Even if you are as expensive as an imperial princess, you can usually only accept political marriage, or accept marriage from other countries, or marry a meritorious nobleman. The famous Zhaojun in history is a typical representative. What about ordinary women? In fact, the marriage fate of ordinary women is not necessarily so free, and most of them have to listen to their parents' opinions. Moreover, ancient women rarely went out and paid attention to three obedience and four virtues. Therefore, the fantasy of treating future husbands mostly comes from parents' words and books.

There were many rules for finding a partner in ancient times. Nowadays, people are relatively open and free to fall in love, but not in ancient times. Because people's average life expectancy is relatively short, people are the primary productive force. In the farming era, more and more labor means more and more productivity, which is directly related to the national economy. For the prosperity of the country, all previous dynasties tried their best to increase the population. The matchmaker came to the woman's house to introduce the situation. If the woman's parents agree, the man can go to the woman's house for a blind date. In the conversation, the young man tried his best to show his own characteristics, such as communication ability and knowledge.

Yan value is the first factor. In ancient times, when women chose their spouses, Yan value was still the first modern standard. Just like Yang Guo in The Condor Heroes, you can feel what it means to be "as crowned as jade". I think everyone has heard a famous saying that can best express Yang Guo's high value: "Love at first sight, lifelong nostalgia for Yang Guo". In addition, there is the famous Stephen Chow movie "Chou-heung in Tang Bohu Hall". In order to see Chou-heung only, Tang Bohu can give up fame and fortune and become a servant in the yamen. And I don't know if I can catch up, which shows how high the value of Chou-heung was at that time. It also proves that ancient Yan value is the first choice for women's mate selection criteria.

Girls are generally not allowed to show up. Although they can't show up in public, they usually hide upstairs or behind the door to secretly observe the boy. If girls think boys are good, they will nod to their parents to show their satisfaction, and girls' parents also think boys are good, then marriage will probably have a chance. In other words, if the girl shakes her head to express her dissatisfaction, the woman's parents will reject the man.