re: Same surname intermarriage

["Dylan Sung" <dylanwhs@ukgateway.net>]

Hi folks,

It is not unheard of that cousins marry, even between Chinese, who are of
DIFFERENT surnames, for instance both the guy's mother and girl's mothers
are sisters, and therefore they have the same maternal grandmother. "People
of the same surname shouldn't marry" because they may have close relational
links through lineage, is therefore a patrilineal argument. Why no one
considers that matrilineal links  being just as legitimate a prohibition to
"kissing cousins", is probably a traditional prejudice.

"People of different surnames should not marry" is also a case which
arises. The surname can be changed. People can adopt to keep a surname
alive, or as I have previously mentioned before the case of the 'guo4 mun2
long2' or 'fellow who crosses the threshold'. Guo mun long are men who get
married, who propagates the surname of the bride's family with the eldest
son. All his other offspring will be of his own surname. Consequently, you
have siblings who will be of different surnames, even though they have the
same mother and father.

Now there is a village near Shataukok, Hong Kong, from my mother comes
from. My mother is surnamed Zen1 (Cantonese:Tsang, Tsang Mandarin:Zeng) and
not far from her village is
a village whose inhabitants are primarily surnamed Sim3 (C. Sam, M. Shen).
Folks in that village call my mother, "great-aunt, tai4-gu1-po2 / gu3-po2",
"aunt, tai4-gu1 / a1-gu2" or "sister, a1-jia3 / a1-moi4", because one of
their ancestors was a Zen1, and each generation, the Sim3 village names one
of their clan Zen1 to remind them of that fact. They cannot intermarry as a
consequence.

Dylan.