At engagements, when the two families exchanged horoscopes of the bride and groom, the boxes in which the horoscopes were placed customarily contained a pair of Chinese dates (tsao) and a pair of chestnuts (li), meaning "bear (li) a son soon (tsao)."
例如：兩府合婚，裝雙方生辰八字的盒中要放進棗子和栗子各一對，表示「早（棗）立（慄）子」，也就是希望早生貴子。