As we all know, the current "Marriage Law" stipulates that direct blood relatives and collateral blood relatives within three generations are not allowed to marry, and in ancient China, there was a taboo that was "the same surname does not marry", regardless of whether the two parties are related by blood, but all those with the same surname are not allowed to marry each other. Why?
The first dynasty of "same surname and no marriage" was in the Zhou Dynasty, and the Wei Shu Gao Zu Ji once recorded: "Xia Yin did not feel that the marriage of the same surname, the Zhou system began to never marry with the same surname." Later, the Zhou Dynasty not only stipulated this taboo for marriage, but also passed it on from generation to generation, so that it was later created by the etiquette, and in the Tang Dynasty, the taboo was written into the legal provisions.
So why did the Zhou Dynasty ban marriage with the same surname? The first is that the ancients believed that marriage with the same surname was not conducive to genetic inheritance. During the Zhou Dynasty, people felt that marrying with the same surname would affect the health of their descendants, and it was recorded in the "Zuo Chuan": "Men and women with the same surname are not born." The "clan" here means that men and women who marry with the same surname will affect the reproduction of their children and grandchildren.
The second theory is that the ancients believed that marrying with the same surname was immoral. In ancient times, China was an agrarian society, the mobility of the population was not large, and people with the same surname in a place generally came from a family. Two people who marry are generally about the same age, and if they marry with the same surname, it will cause the brothers and sisters of the concubine or the elderly person to marry, which is against morality.
The ancient book "White Tiger Tong Marriage" once recorded: "Do not marry the same surname and, heavy human morality, prevention of adultery, shame and animals." It can be seen from this sentence that the ancients regarded the problem of "marriage with the same surname" as very serious, so in ancient times it was very opposed to "marriage with the same surname" and was therefore prohibited.
China's Zhou Dynasty was a clan society, and in the clan, according to the blood relationship with the ancestors, it would then be divided into superior and inferior ranks in turn, and enjoy the corresponding social status. If it is married with the same surname, it is easy to disrupt the order of concubines, elders and children between the original same surname, so the ancients practiced "the same surname does not marry", and the difference between different surnames can be very good.
The last theory is that the ancients were more superstitious, believing that marriage with the same surname would invite disaster. The ancient book "Chinese JinYu" records that "intermarriage with different surnames can make men and women compatible with each other, so that the people can also live", and they believe that marriage with the same surname will bring disaster, so there is a saying that "marrying a wife avoids her surname, and is afraid of disasters and chaos".
In fact, the above several statements, if standing in the current society, also have a certain truth, but why the Zhou Dynasty will "the same surname and do not marry" historical materials do not have a specific statement. However, it is worth mentioning that in ancient times, the same surname must be the same sect, and with the continuous development of ethnic integration, the qing dynasty deleted the "same surname and no marriage" clause.