In ancient times, it was popular for cousins to marry cousins. Why are there so few deformed childre

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-01-31

In ancient times, it was popular for cousins to marry cousins. Why are there so few deformed children?The reason is simple

The rules of the ancient marriage system are not as arbitrary as some people think, in fact, it involves various considerations such as social stability and population reproduction. Especially in large households, although there is a relatively high degree of freedom, it is still subject to the regulations of the government.

There are indeed some differences between different dynasties when it comes to age regulations. In the Tang Dynasty, men had to be at least 15 years old and women at least 13 years old, while in the Ming Dynasty, it was raised to 16 years old for men and 14 years old for women. This setting is not simply to promote early marriage, but more to consider physical development and social needs.

The official age requirement was relatively precocious, and given the level of medical care and living environment at the time, it was likely that a person would be more likely to produce healthy offspring at a younger age. This regulation also reflected the desire of society at the time for population growth, as a large population was considered a symbol of national prosperity.

When both men and women reach the government-mandated age for marriage, they face pressure to get married. This is not a simple personal choice, but part of social responsibility, and late marriage is not advisable for the government.

The regulation of marriage in ancient society was not limited to the age of marriage, but was more deeply reflected in the policy of forced marriage for unmarried women. In order to ensure population reproduction and social stability, a series of punitive measures have been introduced.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaohui of the Han Dynasty, a system of fines was formalized that set the age of marriage for women. If the daughter of the family is not married between the ages of 15 and 30, then the family faces a fine of 600 yuan. This provision exerts direct financial pressure on the family and is a coercive instrument aimed at encouraging women to marry at an early age.

In the era of Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty, the treatment of 17-year-old unmarried women was further stipulated. According to the Book of Jin and Emperor Wu, once a woman reaches the age of 17 and is not married, it is the responsibility of the local governor to find a suitable husband for her to ensure that she enters the state of marriage as soon as possible. This reflects the state's active involvement in single women to meet the urgent needs of society for marriage.

There have also been some constraints on the implementation of the policy. Although ** urges women to marry, when choosing a husband, it is still necessary to follow the ancient principles of marriage, such as "the same surname does not marry". This provision shows that the ancients had long recognized the problem of consanguineous marriages and adopted a clear policy on this.

Despite the fact that there are a series of regulations and penalties for marriage, the actual registration of marriages is not as strict as in modern society.

In ancient times, the principle of non-marriage with the same surname mainly related to cousin relations, that is, it was not possible to marry a man or a woman who had the same patrilineal ancestry. However, there are no equally strict rules regarding maternal consanguinity, i.e., cousin relationship. This led to the fact that in ancient societies, marital relationships such as cousins marrying cousins and cousins marrying cousins were very popular.

This type of marriage is seen as a harmonious choice because both parties have a common family background and are more familiar with each other. The ancients believed that such a kinship would ensure mutual understanding and make the marriage stronger. In addition, ancient societies paid more attention to the continuation and inheritance of the family, and marriages between cousins were also believed to help maintain the lineage of the family.

Even in the royal family during the feudal period, marriage between cousins was quite common. Taking the Western Han Dynasty as an example, Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty's empress Zhang was the daughter of his sister Princess Lu Yuan. Such a marriage was not considered an anomaly at the time, but rather a kind of intra-family marriage that helped to consolidate the family's power and position.

Similarly, the marriage of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also reflects the marriage between cousins. His first queen, Chen Ajiao, was the daughter of his aunt, Princess Guantao, and belonged to a typical situation where a cousin married a cousin. This kind of marriage between cousins was seen as a natural arrangement, which helped to maintain the pure blood of the royal family, and also played a certain role in the political marriage.

Marital relationships between cousins seem to be quite common, especially in classics such as Dream of the Red Chamber and Dragon Babu, where this phenomenon is vividly depicted.

In Dream of Red Mansions, the relationship between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai shows the complex connection between cousins. Xue Baochai is the daughter of Jia Baoyu's aunt and Jia Baoyu's cousin;And Lin Daiyu is the daughter of Jia Baoyu's aunt and Jia Baoyu's cousin.

This kind of complicated marital relationship within the family seems to be quite common in the royal family and even in the commoner family. Curiously, however, despite the consanguineous nature of these characters, few have been heard of in the case of deformed children.

Similarly, in "Dragon Babu", the relationship between Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan's cousins also shows this trend. Although Murong Fu was concerned about the great cause of restoring the country and turned a blind eye to Wang Yuyan's beauty, this close relationship failed to bear fruit in the end. This turn of events instead brought an opportunity for Duan Yu, and he was finally able to marry a beauty.

This phenomenon makes people wonder why marriages between relatives in ancient times appear so frequently in literary works, but there are few questions about deformed children caused by the marriage of close relatives.

The rules on kinship and marriage seem to focus more on differences in surnames, while the perception of blood is relatively vague. Although the ancients generally followed the principle of not marrying with the same surname, there were no clear regulations on the marriage of close relatives. As a result, the marriage between cousins and cousins was not explicitly regarded as a consanguineous marriage by ancient society, which seems to be a bit of a self-deception.

However, the scientific point of view tells us that whether it is a cousin or a cousin, as long as there is a common blood relationship within three generations, it is a consanguineous marriage. The dangers caused by consanguineous marriage are too great to ignore, and even if the ancients failed to understand science, it is difficult to escape its inevitability.

It is worth noting that the probability of a deformed child born to a parent after marriage in ancient times is not small, and may even be higher than in modern times. However, the reason why we think that ancient deformities are rare may be because these unfortunate beings have not been written down in history and have not left enough records. The taboo and closed-mindedness of the ancients made them reluctant to publicize the birth of deformed children, and this social concept makes it difficult for us to know the real historical situation.

The ancients have always paid attention to the ugliness of the family, and the birth of a deformed child is regarded as a kind of family misfortune and shame, and naturally becomes an unspeakable secret. In this cultural context, families often choose to hide the truth, so that the number and existence of ancient deformed children are not publicly recorded.

Due to the limited level of medical care and people's understanding compared to today, deformed babies are often destined for a shorter life after birth. This was not only because of the lack of effective medical treatment for birth defects at that time, but also because the cognition of deformed children was greatly limited. In those days, these babies could have been treated like yokai by their parents, and their differences were often seen as mysterious and terrifying beings.

Due to the lack of medical care, parents may feel helpless and panicked when faced with the birth of a deformed child, and then make extreme decisions. In some cases, parents may choose to discard the deformed child or even adopt more frustrating behavior. This harsh reality may have something to do with the incomprehension of anomalies and the overemphasis on family honor in ancient societies.

Commoners are often difficult to go down in history, and the royal nobles who can go down in history are reluctant to let the world know about the existence of deformed children in their families. This involves not only the protection of the dignity of the family, but also the protection of the royal majesty. As a result, detailed accounts of deformed children are rarely found in historical records, making it more difficult for ancient societies to understand this group.

In this context, consanguineous marriage was not completely prohibited in ancient times, but the potential problems associated with this form of marriage can lead to birth defects in babies and increase the unfortunate experiences of this group. In a society where men are inferior to women, even if marriage between close relatives is prohibited, women's happiness is not fully guaranteed.

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