flstandardbreds Chapter 154 The Dangers of Consanguineous Marriage
Chapter 154 The Dangers of Consanguineous Marriage
"And these two dynasties, or other dynasties, have something in common in raising their princes and princesses: none of these children were raised by their biological mothers."
"Most children in the Qing Dynasty were adopted by foster mothers. This system was designed to prevent relatives of the empress from interfering in politics. As a result, the blood mothers and children were not close, while the foster mothers and children were close but not related by blood."
"However, I think that capable monarchs wouldn't take the interference of maternal relatives in politics seriously. Moreover, the problem with the Qing Dynasty in the end wasn't the interference of maternal relatives in politics at all, but that the later emperors were so incompetent that the dynasty got worse and worse!"
"Therefore, some people think that since most of the princes during the Kangxi era were outstanding, perhaps all the outstanding princes were born in this era and that the luck had run out, so the generation after Qianlong was not as good as the previous one."
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty: ...
"What I really want to say is that compared to breastfeeding by wet nurses or other similar providers, breast milk from the biological mother is the healthiest, as it contains the nutrients and antibodies that infants need for growth."
"It can effectively prevent infections and chronic diseases, enhance the bond between mother and child, and stimulate the brain and mental development of infants and young children."
"Perhaps there is a reason for the death of infants. In addition to having children too early and then being adopted, the most important reason is consanguineous marriage."
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty: !!!
"Let's start with the Qing Dynasty, which is a more serious issue. The Later Jin Dynasty was the predecessor of the Qing Dynasty. They were relatively free in terms of marriage. For example, if the father died, the wife would marry the mother; if the brother died, the wife would marry the sister-in-law. This custom was considered against human nature by the Han people, but it was very normal for the Manchus."
"For example, in the harems of Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, there were instances of concubines remarrying. In particular, Huang Taiji, who had not yet become emperor, took the wife of Lin Qahan in order to win over the various Mongol tribes. There were also Empress Xiaozhuang and her niece, and so on."
"It was not uncommon for two aunts and nieces or sisters to marry one person; it seems that most emperors of the Qing Dynasty did the same."
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: ??? Remarriage isn't that unusual, but it feels strange that an aunt and niece are marrying the same person!
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: "It's probably their custom! Didn't Li Shimin take his brother's wife as a concubine?"
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: ? ? ?
……
"During the Shunzhi period or even earlier, intermarriage between Manchus and Han Chinese was possible, but non-Manchu women could not be selected for the imperial harem. Therefore, during the Qing Dynasty, the imperial harems of figures like Nurhaci and Huang Taiji mostly prioritized Manchus and Mongols."
"What he restricted was the relationship between Manchu and non-Manchu people. Even if a Han woman married a Manchu, she could only be a concubine."
"At the same time, the Qing Dynasty also engaged in intermarriage between Manchus and Mongols, as well as between close relatives. For example, the deposed Empress Borjigit of the Shunzhi Emperor was the niece of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and the Shunzhi Emperor and she were cousins."
"During the Kangxi era, his concubine, Lady Tongjia, was his mother's niece."
"It is said that in Manchu culture, this was done to maintain the legitimacy of the bloodline, but this practice may have been one of the reasons for the decline of offspring in the late Qing Dynasty."
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: Damn, the Qing Dynasty is really chaotic!
"Generally speaking, close relatives are related by blood. Biologically speaking, each of us has genes, and people who come from the same source often have similar genes. If they are forced to get together, they will be accompanied by recessive genetic diseases."
"As a result, the probability of children getting sick will be greatly increased. In other words, such a union between cousins not only makes it difficult to have children, but also makes it more likely that the offspring will die young or be sickly."
"Later studies have shown that in areas with a high rate of consanguineous marriage, the probability of infants with intellectual disabilities and congenital defects is greatly increased, as are the probability of miscarriage and infant mortality."
"Therefore, later laws also stipulated that marriage between direct blood relatives or collateral blood relatives within three generations is prohibited."
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: ...
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: Thank goodness I don't have a cousin! That would be terrifying!
A noblewoman from a prominent family in the Tang Dynasty: No wonder...
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty: So my cousin's child died because of this...
A young girl from the Ming Dynasty, who was just watching the drama unfold, exclaimed: "How tragic!"
……
Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty
At this time, Emperor Kangxi was only in his twenties, but many of his children had already died.
Hearing this, he was filled with grief. Were the deaths of his dozen or so children really due to an accident?
Is it because of inbreeding and lack of breastfeeding that the child is weak and cannot grow up?
My cousin's child died because of him, and perhaps letting my cousin enter the palace was a mistake in itself.
He dared not think about it further, as if once he did, he would fall into endless unease.
Kangxi slumped on the dragon throne, closed his eyes and opened them again, his eyes reddening. After a moment, he took a few deep breaths.
He decided to implement intermarriage between Manchus and Han Chinese. Although this policy had always existed, it had not been put into practice much. But this time, he wanted to make the Manchu-Han unity a reality.
Would it be better if all newborns were sent back to their birth mothers to be fed?
In any case, princes begin their education at the age of three or four, and when they reach around six or seven years old, they live together in the princes' quarters. It's no different from being adopted, except that they stay with their birth mother until they are seven.
……
"With such pure bloodlines, by the late Qing Dynasty, the problem of offspring had become very serious."
"Perhaps it could also be due to premature physical damage or other diseases."
"All of the above factors led to the extinction of the three emperors of the late Qing Dynasty. This would be a very serious problem for any family, let alone one where there was still an imperial throne to inherit. This problem was not limited to the Qing Dynasty; it also existed in the Song Dynasty and the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty."
"Everyone would want to have their own biological child and leave their family property to an adopted child."
All the emperors of the Qing Dynasty: !!!
Emperor Zhao Zhen, the greatest benevolent ruler of all time: Alas! That's what I thought too!
A wealthy merchant from the Song Dynasty: Of course, my own child is the best!
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: I never imagined that our Zhu family would later adopt children like the Song Dynasty!
……
Upon hearing this, the people of Wanchaozhong fell silent, a rare occurrence for them, as intermarriage between close relatives was not uncommon.
Especially for high-ranking noble families, marriage alliances between families of equal social standing were merely a means to consolidate their family's power and ensure its prosperity.
They never considered that the deaths of their offspring were due to blood ties, but how could they accept such a truth?
……
Lin Ke was also afraid that these few words would not be enough for them to understand the dangers of incestuous marriage, so she searched for pictures to show them.
People from different time periods saw faces appear on the screen, but these faces were so strange, they looked like monkeys!
Then they saw a series of deformed faces, with protruding foreheads and even most of their faces deformed, making it hard to look directly at them!
In an instant, the fear in the hearts of the people of Wanchao was magnified infinitely. They could accept the death of a child, as they could always hope for another child. But how could they bear the deformity? Wouldn't the child be ruined from birth?
How is he supposed to face the world's opinion now?!