In modern times, there are many families with the same surname of parents, and some people will think that this situation is a coincidence, but as everyone knows, the ancestors have a rule that "marrying a wife does not marry the same surname".
Because the ancients felt that marrying with the same surname would affect the qualifications of their offspringThere are even books that argue that "same-surname" marriages are no different from animals.
What's worse is that during the Tang Dynasty, anyone who violated the law of marrying with the same surname would be sentenced to two years in prison.
So why is this rule gradually disappearing now?It turns out that the ancients had a lot of knowledge about marriage!
Since the Stone Age, human beings have been aware of the dangers of intermarriage and have begun to implement some policies to circumvent them.
In the primitive system of consanguinity group marriage, marriage between lineal blood relatives was strictly forbidden.
Although it did not cover all the forbidden consanguineous relationships, it was the first step for the ancients to prevent consanguineous marriages.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period,Concerns about the impact of marriage with the same surname on the quality of offspring are also well documented.
During the Western Han Dynasty, it was clearly stated that marriage with the same surname was not allowed.
Although it is only a verbal norm, there is a consensus among the broad society.
But it didn't take long for these restrictions to be broken, and cousin-sister and cousin marriages were not only not banned, but were widely recognized and respected, and were seen as a match made in heaven.
For example, Empress Lu asked her son to marry a niece in order to consolidate the status of the royal family, and the marriage between Li Bai and her cousin Tang Wan'er is also a positive example that does not shy away from it.
In the Tang Dynasty, the law finally intervened in consanguineous marriages, clearly stipulating that marriage with the same surname was punishable by two years in prison.
This was an extremely severe deterrent at the time, and it went a long way in preventing consanguineous marriages.
Intermarriage between collateral relatives such as cousins and cousins remains legal and is not subject to legal restrictions.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, intermarriage between brothers and sisters began to be expressly forbidden.
But inside the royal family,Mismarriage between close relatives was extremely prevalent in order to protect the purity of the royal bloodline.
There were many intermarriages between the emperor and his cousins and cousins, but unfortunately, the health of the children born to them was generally very poor.
For example, all the children born to Kangxi and his cousin died early, which shows that the serious harm of marriage between close relatives has been clearly revealed.
But until **, the law of our country still allows cousins to marry.
Until the 80s of the 20th century,China has only officially amended the law to completely prohibit collateral blood relatives within three generations and prohibit intermarriage.
This marks the legal ban on consanguineous marriages.
After thousands of years of tortuous and long development, the ancients' awareness of preventing the union of close relatives finally rose to national law and became a basic national policy.
From this long process, it can be seen that the ancients' understanding of consanguineous marriage was dynamically changing.
At first, there was a sense of prevention, but later it was broken and even promoted.
It is not until modern times that this understanding has undergone a fundamental change and has risen to the level of the legal system.
So what does the old man often say about "marrying a wife without marrying the same surname" ?
In ancient society, there was a marriage Xi custom of "marrying a wife without marrying the same surname", and this Xi custom mainly has the following historical origins:
In ancient times, it was widely believed that the same surname meant the same originIn the event of intermarriage, it is easy to lead to genetically similar offspring.
For example, in the "Chinese", there is a saying that "men and women have the same surname, and they are not born".
In ancient times, when medical conditions were backward, the survival rate of offspring born of inbreeding was often very low, which was extremely detrimental to the continuation of the family.
Therefore, many clans forbid intermarriage between the same surname for the sake of their own inheritance.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Guoguo ordered that the domestic ** should not marry with the same surname, Sikong Jizi of the Jin State also put forward the idea of "different virtues and surnames".
This reflects the fact that many politicians at the time were aware of the dangers of same-surname marriage.
The children of Zhou Tianzi could only marry princes with different surnames such as Qi and Chu.
Therefore, the women hired by the Zhou room in "Zuo Biography" are all with different surnames.
In the eyes of the ancients, intermarriage between people with the same surname was equivalent to **.
Because in their concept, the same surname represents the same origin and the same ancestry, and many ancient books regard intermarriage with the same surname as an animal behavior.
For example, "White Tiger Pass Marrying" directly calls it "the same as the beast".
In the ancient ethical system, this was a taboo for human ethics and must not be committed by those who are children.
Both the Tang and Qing dynasties had laws that clearly stated that marriage with the same surname was punishable by severe punishment.
This reflects its extremely bad position in the hearts of the ancients.
Violators will not only be punished, but also condemned.
Therefore, few people dare to openly violate this Xi.
Some politicians believe that intermarriage is conducive to strengthening understanding and communication between different clans.
For example, Zheng Shibo said to Zheng Huan Gong that the first king married a different surname in order to "be harmonious", and through marriage, different clans could gather together.
This was in the state of partition at the timeIt is conducive to reducing the estrangement between princes.
There are also some ancients who try to explain the same surname and different marriages from the perspective of the Five Elements Doctrine.
They believed that the five emperors were given surnames because of the virtues of the five elements, and that the same surname was like the order of the five elements, and it was not appropriate to intermarry.
This statement may seem far-fetched and even absurd now, but at the time it also reflected the efforts of people to find the rationality of this Xi through various means.
The formation of this Xi of not marrying with the same surname had a lot to do with the social conditions, medical level, and ethical system at that time.
It had a profound impact on the ancient people's view of marriage and living Xi.
So why is the rule that "a wife does not marry the same surname" is now gradually becoming invalid?
In ancient times, in order to prevent the harm of intermarriage between close relatives to future generations, there was a marriage custom in society that "marrying a wife does not marry with the same surname".
At that time, there was often a blood relationship between the same surnameThis provision plays an important role in preventing consanguineous marriages.
With the development of society, this provision gradually lost its meaning.
First, the development of the transportation network has led to frequent movement of people with the same surname, which is no longer limited to their place of origin, and there may not be blood relations between people with the same surname, and the possibility of intermarriage between close relatives is greatly reduced.
Second, the advancement of modern medical methods can carry out genetic testing on the fetus to detect and prevent possible genetic diseases in time, which also no longer needs to rely on "marrying a wife without marrying the same surname" to avoid the risk of intermarriage.
Third, with the opening up of ideas, the younger generation is no longer bound by such traditional rules, and more importantly, the emotional compatibility between the sexes, even if there is a situation with the same surname, it does not hinder marriage.
Taking the personal experience of an old man in the 90s of the 20th century as an example, he resolutely opposed his son marrying a woman with the same surname, on the grounds that he violated the ancestral precept of "marrying a wife without marrying the same surname".
After many persuasions from his family, the old man reluctantly agreed to this family business.
However, after the 21st century, there are very few such conservative older generations, and most young people choose marriage partners without paying too much attention to the issue of the same surname, and this change has only taken a dozen years.
The harms of consanguineous marriage have also been fully demonstrated through typical cases in other countries and regions.
Japanese mythology has invented legends to glorify the practice of intermarriage within the imperial family, and the imperial family has only chosen mates among the members of the imperial family for generations, resulting in the weakening and sickness of the children and grandchildren from generation to generation.
The Habsburgs of Europe, on the other hand, openly advocated intermarriage, claiming it as the ideal mode of marriage to ensure the purity of blood.
Centuries later, however, statistics on the number of royal families with the emergence of genetic diseases and early deaths confirmed the harmfulness of such behavior.
In the current social context, "marrying a wife without marrying the same surname" has existed in name only.
However, the scientific and necessity of preventing intermarriage between close relatives is still worthy of recognitionHowever, measures should be taken based on genetics and medicine, rather than relying on these outdated rules of etiquette.
Rules are important, but what is more important is to keep pace with the times, constantly reflect and improve.
"Marrying a wife without the same surname" once had its historical origins, but whether it is still applicable today is worth our continuation**.
The development of society is often beyond our imagination, what kind of new changes will we witness?