媒人

Matchmaking has a long institutional history in China — the classical phrase 父母之命,媒妁之言 ('parents' command, matchmaker's word') summarized the traditional marriage system. Modern equivalents include 红娘 (Hóngniáng, lit. 'Red Lady', referring to the matchmaker character from the play 《西厢记》 The Romance of the Western Chamber) and the contemporary 相亲角 (xiāngqīn jiǎo) — 'matchmaking corners' in city parks where parents post their adult children's profiles.

The character 媒 has 女 (woman) on the left and 某 (mǒu, 'a certain one') on the right — the person who connects 'a certain woman' with someone. The 女 radical signals that traditional matchmakers were often women.