Brothels are the legal sex trade places in ancient China, and most of the women engaged in the skin and meat business are to support their families and make a living. The female bosses who run the brothel are called "old ducks" or "old bustards".
Originally, the "bustard" was a terrestrial bird, the largest standing height of more than 1 meter, weighing 10 kg. Legend has it that the bustard is a bird with no males, only females. They mate with other species of birds and then breed, much like "human", so they call the prostitute lady "old bustard", but later it was pointed out that the bustard is actually male, but the difference in appearance and size between the male and female is too large, so it looks like two different species.
The earliest association of bustards with prostitutes began with Song Quan's "Treatise on Mr. Danqiu" in the Ming Dynasty:
"The old man of the prostitute is called the bustard." The bustard is goose-like and large, with no hind toes and tiger stripes. Delight in adultery and insatiable, and the birds will do what they want. ”
In fact, in this part of western Liaoning and eastern Inner Mongolia in China, the old hen who incubates the chicks is also called "old duck", because "chicken" and "prostitute" are harmonious, and the old hen leads a group of chicks, which makes people think of the owner of the brothel leading a group of prostitutes.