「宿命」一詞的解釋，隱含著現實的無奈與難堪，故人們往往將得不到的事物歸咎於宿命的安排。特別是在唐代知識份子所創作的傳奇小說中，「宿命」經常被用於解釋不可改變的命運與注定的結局，強調上天意志的昭炯與鬼神有靈的信仰。故使宿命思想滲透至唐人社會與日常生活當中，而宿命對於唐人婚姻的影響，則衍生出「姻緣天定」的觀念，作為解釋男女之婚姻結合，乃是前生緣分的今生實踐。故本文乃以唐傳奇〈定婚店〉為範圍，對比其它相同類型的故事，探討唐人在〈定婚店〉中，所表現的「宿命」思想，以及在此宿命思想的指導下，所形成的男女婚姻文化。

The explanation of the term “fate” implies a sense of helplessness and embarrassment in the face of reality. Therefore, people often attribute things they cannot obtain to the arrangement of fate. Especially in the legendary novels created by intellectuals during the Tang Dynasty, “fate” is frequently used to explain unchangeable destinies and predetermined outcomes, emphasizing the clear will of the heavens and a belief in spiritual entities. As a result, the concept of fate permeated Tang society and everyday life, giving rise to the idea of "marriage is predestined by heaven" to explain the union of men and women as the realization of past-life connections in this life. Therefore, this text focuses on the Tang Dynasty legend “The Marriage Shop” and compares it with other similar stories to explore the concept of “fate” as portrayed by the Tang people in “The Marriage Shop” and the marriage culture of men and women that developed under the guidance of this concept of fate.