Ruth and the Matchmaker

Matchmaking services, an ancient tradition, are once again on the rise.

Honestly now. If you're a parent with marriageable kids, there are times when you wish you could just pick a spouse for your child and be done with it. You know the perfect person!

And why not? In many places in the world, this is exactly what parents do! In fact, some sources say that 54 percent of marriages worldwide are arranged marriages. In India, the figure may be as high as 89 percent.

Visit People's Square in Shanghai on any Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and you may wander in on the Shanghai Marriage Market. Here, parents gather to find just the right person for their unmarried child, factoring in such attributes as income, job, home ownership, age, education and so on.

This information is posted on a placard or sheet of paper and then dangled from clotheslines strung from lamppost to lamppost or tree to tree. The child's photo appears, too. The parents, many of whom do not have their child's permission to do this, then walk around chatting with other parents. Their ultimate...