A famous Ming Dynasty story and opera in which a judge resolves a complex legal case by rearranging several couples into happy marriages; metaphorically used to describe a person (usually an official) who makes well-intentioned but arbitrary or unconventional matchmaking decisions to resolve a mess.

The Governor of the Southern Bough, a Tang Dynasty story by Li Gongzuo about a man dreaming of a life in an ant kingdom, used to illustrate the illusory nature of fame