A marriage did not have to be a love match. Often marriage was a means for acquiring wealth, position, or fame. Parents in the Song Dynasty were keen to marry their daughters to men of high office. So the days upon which were posted the results of public service examinations were important days in the age old traditions of courtship.

The candidates whose names appeared atop the examination lists achieved immediate status as "most eligible bachelors". These worthy gentlemen eagerly were pursued by the matchmakers, of which encounters there are numerous accounts. One tells of Han Nan, a man whose exceptional achievement on the examinations placed him at the forefront of those ardently desired by the finest young women of the era. Han was unmoved by the flattering attentions, and answered the matchmaker with two lines of verse revealing himself to be of advanced years.

Not easily dissuaded, the matchmaker pressed Han to be clear. The old man answered her in words that made his meaning as clear as could be, "I was 33 years old - 40 years ago."

(HK Edition 09/13/2013 page4)