Chapter 19 Section 5 Ethnic Marriage

Unlike the Tang Dynasty, which regarded "marriage harmony" as a grand event, in the Song Dynasty, when it was "poor and weak" and the country was not prosperous, the policy of "marriage harmony" was regarded as wrong, and it was believed that the Han Dynasty was the beginning, and "real monarchs and ministers" were "a great shame" (Ouyang Xiu etc.: "New Book of Tang Turkic Biography").Therefore, there was no act of marriage in the Song Dynasty.Among the people, the cases of intermarriage between the Han nationality and ethnic minorities in the Song Dynasty were also significantly reduced. Song Taizong even issued an edict to prohibit the intermarriage between the people of the northwestern fringe states and the internal Rong people.

The Yuan Dynasty was a dynasty with strong ethnic discrimination.In order to ensure the consolidation of their regime and the superior status of the Mongolians over other ethnic groups, the Mongolian rulers established a social hierarchy based on ethnic discrimination.However, the Mongolian rulers did not suspend the historical process of ethnic intermarriage, and there was no legislation prohibiting intermarriage between Mongols or Semu people and Han people.There are many examples of intermarriage between Han people, Mongols and Semu people in historical records, a total of 232 cases, including all social classes.The imperial court's requirements for intermarriage among ethnic groups are: for intermarriage within the same ethnic group, the marriage etiquette should follow the customs of the ethnic group and region; if it is intermarriage between different ethnic groups, it should follow the custom of the man.In this way, the Han nationality and the ethnic minorities complement each other and absorb each other's culture and customs, which has played a great role in the integration of nationalities.

The Ming Dynasty also allowed intermarriage among people of various ethnic groups.In the early Ming Dynasty, in the fifth year of Hongwu (AD 1372), Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty issued an edict to the whole country: "Mongols and Semu people, who live in China, are allowed to marry Chinese people." , "The offender sticks eighty".This is probably a measure taken to prevent their race from growing prosperous and posing a threat to the new regime. Among the feudal dynasties of all dynasties, the Qing government was the most adept at using the method of marriage with relatives to consolidate the rule or achieve certain political goals.The Qing army entered the customs and competed in the Central Plains. A group of Han generals who surrendered to the Qing were relied on as an important force.In order to win over these old generals of the Ming Dynasty, the fourteenth daughter of Huang Taiji, the seventh daughter of Prince Su Haoge, the eldest daughter of Beizi Subutu, the daughter of Prince Anjun Yuele, and the daughter of Prince Chengze Shuosai married Pingxi respectively. The sons of Wang Wu Sangui, Jingnan Wang Geng Jimao and Pingnan Wang Shang Kexi.In the early Qing Dynasty, some Han army bannermen were recruited as Efu (son-in-law of the Qing clan).

After the Qing regime was consolidated, it devoted itself to frontier defense. For this reason, it implemented a policy of frequent marriages with nobles from various tribes in Mongolia. It reached its peak during the Qianlong period. At that time, more than half of the daughters of princes and princes were married to Outer Mongolia.According to the records of the Qing royal genealogy "Jade Document", in the Qing Dynasty, there were 306 royal women employed by Mongolian nobles, including 28 princesses and 278 clan daughters.This number exceeds the sum of the number of dynasties and relatives of all previous generations.The Qing royal family not only married the daughters of the royal family, but also married the daughters of Mongolian nobles as concubines and Fujin.The initiative of the Qing rulers to remarry and marry has played a role in stabilizing border defense and strengthening ethnic relations.The imperial family of the Qing Dynasty often used Han flag throwers as their concubines. For example, among the concubines of Emperor Kangxi, there were Nian Jia, Wang Jia, and Chen Jia, and Emperor Jiaqing's biological mother Xiaoyi Empress Wei Jia. Their fathers and brothers were all Han bannermen. . "Jia" is a homonym of "home".

The rulers of the Qing Dynasty adopted a policy of ethnic segregation while pursuing noble marriages. First of all, the so-called "Manchus and Hans do not marry".Before the founding of the Qing Dynasty, Manchuria outside the customs was still in the stage of slavery.The Manchu nobles plundered a large number of people outside the pass as their slaves, and of course intermarriage between Manchu and Han was prohibited.After entering the customs, the Manchu rulers implemented "Manchus and Hans not to marry" as part of the ethnic discrimination policy.It was stipulated that if a Manchu married a Han, his privileges would be revoked, and he would not be able to register, receive red rewards, or receive money and food; if a Manchu girl married a Han, not only would her privileges be revoked, but she would also criticized by public opinion.In the early Qing Dynasty, Emperor Shunzhi issued an edict allowing Manchu and Han officials and people to enter into marriages among themselves. However, the policy of "Manchus and Hans not marrying" was still implemented for a long time.As the Manchus and Hans lived together, ethnic integration between Manchus and Hans was an irresistible trend, and there were countless cases of folk Manchus intermarriage.Faced with this fact, the Qing government had no choice but to say that "Manchu-Han intermarriage should be effectively implemented" (Vol. ban on intermarriage.

In addition to implementing the policy of "no marriage between Man and Han", the Qing government also prohibited marriages among Mongolian tribes, and prohibited marriage between Han people and Mongolians.For a long time after the founding of the Qing Dynasty, intermarriage between Han people and Miao people was prohibited. It was not until the 26th year of Qianlong (AD 1761) that this prohibition was revoked.The purpose of the Qing rulers' implementation of the ethnic segregation policy was mainly to prevent the possible adverse effects of ethnic intermarriage on the rule of the Qing government.