ETHNOLOGICAL NOTE S. 
186 
Marriages among the poorer classes of Chinese in Sarawak. 
At the outset it must be said that the Chinese mar¬ 
riage ceremonies, of the Hakka and Kay nations in 
Sarawak will be very much the same as those in China ; 
but the Chinese here in Sarawak, being very much 
mixed up with other nationalities, it is quite probable 
that they have taken over some of the rites of other 
nations indigenous to Sarawak. It is for this reason 
that the writer publishes the following article, which 
will be divided under three headings, namely : Court¬ 
ship—The Engagement—The Marriage feast. 
Courtship. 
As in every business transaction, so also for Ending 
a future wife, the Chinese must have a go-between 
or middle-man (moi nun). Suppose a young man, being 
independent of his parents and having independent 
means to live upon, wants to settle down in the mar¬ 
riage state, the first thing he does is to look for a 
good, trustworthy go-between—as a rule they do not 
take a relation, but a friend or any person who is a 
good spokesman. To this man he explains his idea of 
his future wife, and he generally tells him that she 
should be active, good-tempered, able and willing 
to look after the management of the house in general. 
It seldom happens that he speaks about beauty or love. 
After he has explained the desire of his heart he asks 
his middle-man to look for such a wife and to let him 
know the result, at the same time promising him 
a present (generally in hard cash) if he fulfills his duty 
properly. 
This middle-man now goes round looking and in¬ 
quiring where such a wife could be got; and when he 
thinks he has found one, he speaks with her parents 
but does not reveal by whom he has been sent or for 
Avhom the daughter might be destined. Everything is 
kept quiet until the young man has approved of the 
choice of his go-between. It sometimes happens that 
the parents try to get a husband for their daughter and 
that the same go-between is asked to do the work ; in 
