The Xiongnu are a relatively old ethnic minority, which originated in the foothills of the Yin Mountains on the Mongolian plateau and is a northern nomadic people that has lasted for thousands of years. It can be said that from the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, the Xiongnu formed a feud with the Central Plains regime and were defined by historians as a nation that interfered with the development of ancient history.
In ancient times, the living customs of ethnic minorities were very rough, especially the Xiongnu people lived a nomadic life of "chasing water and grass". Therefore, their personalities are very tough, and they will not hesitate to fight with other nationalities in order to survive. The Xiongnu were regarded as fierce enemies by successive Central Plains regimes, and claimed that their people did not understand etiquette and had not yet been civilized.
There are records about the Xiongnu in the "Records of History" and "Book of Han", among which, the "Records of History" once recorded the Xiongnu tribes, and there was a custom that made the Central Plains Dynasty disdainful, that is, "the father died to marry the mother, and the brother died to marry the sister-in-law".
Why did this kind of behavior, which was contrary to human morality, circulate among the Huns? Listen to what experts say, the brain circuits of the ancients are indeed very strange.
First, "The father dies and marries the mother, and the brother dies and marries the sister-in-law"
Literally understanding these eight words can be interpreted as a father who dies and a son can go to his mother, and a brother who dies and a brother who can marry a sister-in-law. Is this really the case?
Anyone who knows history should know that the ethnic minorities in ancient society, although they created a steppe civilization, have never received ritual indoctrination. So in their minds, there is no concept of treating each other with courtesy at all, which has to be said to be a cultural backwardness.
According to expert analysis, it is impossible for the Xiongnu not to understand blood relations and the way of human morality, so "father dies and marries mother" does not mean that the son who inherits his father's family business marries his own birth mother, but says to marry his father's concubine.
"Brother dead sister-in-law" is not only the younger brother can marry the sister-in-law, in the Xiongnu family, if the younger brother dies the brother can also marry the younger sister, in short, the fat water does not flow to the outsider's field.
According to the "Chronicle of the Xiongnu", the ancestors of the Xiongnu were one of the descendants of Xia Qi, so they were also veritable Chinese. But later, in order to survive, he came to the grassland, and in the nomadic life of generation after generation, he formed unique national characteristics, as well as living habits and folk customs.
Experts say that if we deduce according to this method, the Xiongnu, as a member of a large Chinese family, may not be unique in their special marriage customs at all.
Second, why does this marriage custom appear?
According to the marriage customs of the Central Plains people, men and women must abide by the "orders of their parents and the words of the matchmaker" before they get married, and then they must determine the marriage through the "three books and six rites", and finally they can marry in the chapel and be sent to the cave. After marriage, a woman must abide by the "three from four virtues", even if her husband dies unfortunately, she must be widowed for him.
And this marriage custom of the Huns not only did not meet the requirements of etiquette, but also was a little too open. As everyone knows, the meaning behind this marriage custom is to keep the family property for their husbands or sons.
This feeling is a bit similar to that of brother and brother, after the death of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, his younger brother Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, the purpose is to stabilize the hard-won Great Song Jiangshan.
Third, the ancient marriage custom of "retribution for marriage"
In the "Zuo Zhuan" written in the late Spring and Autumn period and the early Warring States period, there are records of marriage customs such as "transfer house" and "inheritance", which is actually the same as the Xiongnu "father dies to marry mother, brother to death to marry sister-in-law".
The ancients referred to these two kinds of marriage as "烝報୍", the word "烝" refers to the daughter marrying the stepmother, and the word "烝" means that the brother marries the sister-in-law.
During the Spring and Autumn Period of Confucius's life, due to the deep influence of Confucianism, under the influence of the idea of heavy names and "the difference between husband and wife", there was no such thing as "retribution for marriage".
However, in the Warring States period, due to the serious collapse of lilly, the marriage customs of "烝" and "newspaper" began to appear, but they did not become a social consensus.
As a kind of ancient marriage custom, it broke through the Confucian school of advocating the idea of attaching importance to human morality, so that the marriage of "烝" and "newspaper" was accepted by the public, which shows that "烝報 marriage" is not the patent of the Xiongnu.
Fourth, the reasons for the emergence of marriage customs
Because there were many large families in ancient society, even if there were thousands of people in charge, they could only choose from men. Because the status of women at that time was relatively low, whether it was the royal family or the ordinary people's families, they must take the blood of men as the foundation of the continuation of the family.
At this point, in order to ensure the prosperity of the extended family for generations, a generation of patriarchs unfortunately died, so his brothers, sons, and nephews will be in charge of the family again. A man is the life of an ancient woman, and once the man in the family dies, then the woman may be swept out of the house.
As a former family member, she may take away children and property after she leaves, so in order to protect the interests of the family or family, women will be allowed to marry other family men.
Conclusion
In modern people's thinking, "retribution for marriage" is an ugly marriage vice. However, in ancient times, when the productivity was relatively low, people still obeyed the principle of how many people were powerful when working, so under the influence of this special living environment, this very special marriage custom was formed.