China Customs: Healthy Development of Tibetan Marriage and Family

Marriage and family develop and change with social progress, and at the same time have an impact on society. The development and change of marriage and family in Tibet and its influence on population reproduction are the problems to be discussed in this paper.

The evolution of Tibetan marriage customs

Tibetans practice strict inbreeding. All men and women of paternal blood are absolutely forbidden to get married and have sex outside marriage, otherwise they will be severely punished. Marriage between aunts and uncles is also forbidden. Monogamy is the basic marriage form of Tibetans, but there are also remnants of ancient marriage customs. The traces of the evolution of Tibetan marriage customs are obvious.

(A), the husband and wife premarital system

Herdsmen in northern Tibet, male seventeen or eighteen years old, female sixteen or seventeen years old began to make friends. There are two ways to make friends: one is for men and women to socialize while grazing or on other occasions. It is agreed in advance that the boyfriend will ride to the woman's house at night, and the woman will prepare or sleep outside the tent to see the cattle and sheep and wait for the man's arrival. The other is that without an agreement, while the girl is sleeping outside the tent to look after the cattle and sheep, the man rides a horse to find the girl. As a couple, when the man goes to the woman's house, he often takes a piece of meat with him and throws it to the woman's dog to eat, so as not to disturb the woman's house by barking, so this activity is commonly known as "beating the dog". Nights at festivals, horse races and other occasions are good opportunities to make friends. Young men and women from all over the world get together to sing and dance. When they fall in love, young men seize the opportunity to take their girls to uninhabited fields. The establishment of this relationship between lovers is also called "beating dogs". Tibetan herders in Sichuan also have a similar husband-wife system. Men bring meat or glutinous rice balls to feed their aunts' dogs. For this kind of activity, they don't call it "beating dogs" but "drilling tents". Men who have established relationships live a polygamous life, while women live a "dove" life. All the children born are raised by the mother, and the man has no responsibility. Children born by husband and wife are not discriminated against by society.

(2) Marriage without the groom's wedding and visiting relatives.

When a Tibetan girl in Qinghai reaches the age of 15 or 16, her parents will refit her clothes and hold a wedding without a groom-"Dai Tiantou", which is a perfect match. According to Professor Yan Ruxian's investigation, Dai Tiantou's ceremony was grand and full of guests. After the Lama held a religious baptism for the girl wearing the celestial head and recited the message, the mother, mother ant, etc. changed the girl's single braid into many braids and inserted them on the two "friends" on her spine, symbolizing that the girl has grown up and has the right to pair up in the future. When the girl changed her clothes and combed her hair, the women gathered around her and came to the center of the main room to hold a wedding ceremony without the groom. The ceremony includes worshipping heaven and earth first, then ancestors, then parents, and finally imaginary spouse; Sing "Song of Worship of Heaven and Earth", the lyrics are:

As soon as I worship heaven and earth,

Second, thank our ancestors for their blessings.

All three parents are very kind.

After the girl wears it, her parents will prepare a separate room for her to receive visiting lovers.

Under the principle of strictly prohibiting intermarriage and sexual relations, the girl left a satisfied visitor to live together, thus establishing a husband-and-wife marriage. The two sides of this relationship call each other "Zhesang", which means friends and lovers, not husband and wife. Mulberry marriage has no economy. The two sides work and live in their respective families, live together by men's night visits, and have only simple sexual relations. Mulberry marriage is based on the feelings of both parties, which combines voluntary and divorce freedom, not exclusive cohabitation. The child born in Mulberry belongs to the woman, and the man has no obligation and right to the child. Children and children born in wedlock enjoy the same status. In this kind of temporary residence, men and women can live together freely, and there are many differences. The number of mulberries does not involve moral issues. In real life, men married by Mulberry often live a polygamous life, while women live a Madoff life. This marriage custom was very popular in Tibetan areas of Qinghai in 1950s. The popular "Hezhu" marriage of Naxi people living in Yongning, Yunnan and Yanyuan, Sichuan is very similar to the mulberry marriage of Tibetans.

It is not difficult to see that Dai Tiantou ceremony is a changed "rite of coming of age", and it is a ceremony to provide qualified productive workers and participants in marriage and childbearing life for the society. In Tibetan areas in * * * and Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, girls should hold a "head ceremony" like adults. At that time, parents would divide girls' hair styles from single braids into double braids, or comb them into many small braids; And tie a "belt" on the girl's robe. Modification can easily mark the maturity of girls, and then girls can "have sex with heterosexual friends." The ceremony on the head is also a legacy of the "rite of passage".

(3) The marriage system in which polygamy and monogamy coexist.

Young Tibetan men and women often establish feelings through the relationship between lovers and mulberries before marriage, and then conclude marriage relations. However, some formal marriages are based on the wishes of the parties and some are based on the wishes of parents. Some marriages are based on parents' wishes, while others refuse the requests of the parties and parents choose another spouse for them; Some parents made up through the matchmaker and formed the friendship of Qin Jin. No matter how you get married, all parts of Tibet generally follow the following principles: consanguineous marriage must be forbidden, pay attention to the right family and ask for a bride price. The wedding was held on an auspicious day, and the man asked the Lama for divination. The wedding ceremony is grand and warm, and both men and women have to kowtow in front of the Buddha statue before the marriage is established.

The coexistence of polygamy and monogamy is another major feature of Tibetan marriage. Polygamy includes polygamy and polyandry. Polygamous families account for a small proportion of families, which varies from place to place.

According to the investigation of 1987, among the existing 104 households in Budian Township, Doma District, Amdo County, northern Tibet, there are 2 polygamous households, accounting for about 2% of the total households; There are 1 polygamous families, accounting for about L% of the total number of families. Tang Wujiu pointed out in the article "Analysis of the Remains of Duofu and Polygamy of Tibetans in Deqin County" that in the nearly 30 years from 1950 to 1979, there were 490 people in 156 households in the county. Polygamy: 79 families, 229 people. From 1980 to 1984, 124 households have polygamy of 4 10, and 109 households have polygamy of 337. 1984, 468 households in the county, 1466 people. Polygamy is not a special phenomenon among Tibetans.

Polygamy marriage.

According to the investigation and statistics of 1958, there are 103 households in Zhanang County in * * rural areas, including 6 polygamous households; Accounting for 5.8% of the total number of households. According to the investigation in 1960, there are 13 polygamous families among all 367 families of Aba tribe in Heihe county. 3.5% of the total number of households. Through the empirical analysis of Aba tribe, the formation of polygamous marriage can be summarized into three categories.

First, five younger sisters * * * husband; Mostly. First, my sister adopted my husband's wife, and then my husband and sister lived together, thus forming a polygamous sister and husband's family.

Second, three cases of mother and daughter husbands; Usually, a widow marries her husband with her daughter. When her daughter grows up, her husband lives with her, which leads to the marriage of mother and daughter.

Third, other ***5 cases; Most men marry their first wives, and then they marry their second wives for various reasons. According to the class, there are 10 poor herdsmen in the polygamous families of Aba tribe, accounting for 76.9% of the total number of polygamous families; 1 household, accounting for 7.7%; There are 2 middle class households, accounting for 15.4%. Most of the above-mentioned polygamous marriages are not for the sake of wealth, but naturally formed. Here, it cannot be said that it is a privilege enjoyed by a few rich and powerful people. The types of polygamy in Aba tribe show that both sister husbands and mother-daughter husbands have traces of matriarchal clan marriage. A man's polygamy is very similar to the polygamous life in a husband-and-wife marriage, but the marriage relationship is much more stable than the husband-and-wife marriage. Although a married woman has only one husband in name, it does not rule out that she can secretly live Madoff's life. These phenomena also have the color of pairing marriage. Polygamy marriage, a man takes a wife first and then concubines, is the head of a polygamous family, and the property is inherited by his son. These contents also have the characteristics of monogamy. Therefore, polygamy came into being in the historical transition period from pairing marriage to monogamy.

Polygamy marriage.

At the same time as mentioned above, there are 10 households in * * * rural areas, and there are10 households in polygamous families; Accounting for 9.7% of the total number of households. Among the 367 households of Aba tribe in pastoral areas, 28 are polygamous families; Accounting for 7.6% of the total number of households. According to the investigation and statistics of 1962, there are 104 households and 26 polygamous households in Shaniru area of Kangma County, which are semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas. Percentage of total households. According to the investigation of Luose 1982 in Ren Zhen, there are 227 households in Laima Township, Ganzi County, and there are 14 households with polygamy; 6. 16% of the total number of households. Shadui Township, Xinlong County 133 households, polyandry 3 1 household; Accounting for 23.3% of the total number of households. There are also polygamous families among the cadres and workers in White County. There are two main types of polygamous families: brothers' wives and friends' wives. In addition, there are women's redundant Madoff and other types. In the sister-in-law family, usually after the elder brother married his wife, the two brothers grew up and had sex with his sister-in-law one after another, forming a wife family. Some brothers marry wives at the same time. In Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, the wedding of two brothers marrying their wives at the same time is quite unique: on the wedding night, the groom should avoid all of them, only take off his coat, and a third party will put it on the bride in order of age, which is regarded as the same room. The bride stays at her husband's house for three days, that is, goes back to her family, which lasts for several months to several years. Later, she was taken back by several brothers, and then started a formal polyandry family life in her husband's family. In a friend's wife's house, most of them are married. Foreign friends have a close relationship with their hosts and have sex with their wives, thus forming a friend's wife's house. There are 28 polygamous families among the tribes in Na Ba before, including brothers and wives 13, accounting for 46.4% of polygamous families; There are 9 wives of friends and 2 wives of relatives, * * * 1 1, accounting for 39%. %。 The two types account for 85.70% of polyandry families. The other four families belong to father and son wives and uncle wives, accounting for 14.3% of polygamous families. There are roughly two situations, a father and son and several daughters-in-law live together to form a * * * wife; One is that the mother died young, the father married a young wife, and the son grew up and lived with his stepmother, forming a wife relationship. The traditional concept of Tibetans holds a negative attitude towards the latter kind of wife relationship. Judging from the class composition of polyandry families, there are 28 polyandry families in Abayin, with 0/7 poor herdsmen, accounting for 60.7% of polyandry families. Owner's agent 1, accounting for 3.6%; Middle class 10, accounting for 35.7%. "

In a polygamous family, the wife usually lives in a room alone and has the initiative to live with her husband. As long as she hangs her husband's keepsake outside the room, it means that she wants to live with her husband that night, and other husbands should avoid it. Because the wife has the ability, she can control the income and expenditure of the family, maintain the harmony of her husband and maintain the stability of the family, thus winning the respect of the whole family. Therefore, in a polygamous family, the wife's status is generally higher.

Brother * * * wife family, with eldest brother as mother; Children born treat their parents as fathers and their brothers as uncles. In the family of a friend's wife, the first husband is still the parent, although the friends who participate in his wife are also the masters and even inherit the family property. The children born to parents are fathers, and the friends of parents are uncles. Even if the mother knows that the father of the child is really not a parent, the kinship and appellation cannot be changed.

According to the traditional Tibetan concept, if several brothers marry a wife, it will not only increase the labor force at home, but also enable them to cooperate in various production and become rich more easily. Others explain the existence of polygamous families from another social sense, that is, they think that the burden of servitude and apportionment under serfdom is heavy, and the members of the ruling class practice polygamy, the consequence of which is to avoid the separation of brothers, which not only disperses their property, but also increases their servitude and apportionment. However, in today's patriarchal society, the status of women is very low, while the wives of polygamous families are dominant in the family and openly enjoy polygamy in a legal way. Especially public opinion is in favor of this kind of marriage, and times have changed. By the early 1980s, there were still polyandry marriages among cadres and workers. This reminds people of the historical picture of motherhood. Only in the era of motherhood can women have the right to be rich in society and the dominant position in the family. As Engels said: Polygamy in * * * area, "there is no doubt that it originated from group marriage and needs further study". Therefore, polygamous families appeared earlier than polygamous families.

Monogamous families.

With the progress of social history, monogamy has become the basic marriage form of Tibetans. This kind of marriage can be divided into two forms, namely, taking a wife and being married. The new house system after marriage is a family form separated from parents after marrying a wife or husband; Not the third form of marriage between husband and wife. The general situation of this kind of marriage is that Tibetan one-child families adopt the practice of daughters marrying husbands; Inherit the family business and support parents. In a family with many children, there is only one son or daughter left, who is married or adopted; Inherit the family business and support parents. The rest of the children, let the son become a monk or become a husband of another family; Daughters get married, or temples are called mothers. It is worth pointing out that there is no gender preference for sons or daughters to inherit the family business in families with many children. In this monogamous family, the husband is the master and the wife is the master. In the adopted family, the husband not only inherits property, but also inherits parents and family after the death of his father-in-law. Therefore, some scholars have long pointed out that Tibetans "have a family continuity, and there is no family name genealogy system, which can be used by both men and women." Its far-reaching influence cannot be ignored.

"illegitimate child" status and kinship terms.

In Tibetan areas, the so-called illegitimate children are not an individual phenomenon. According to incomplete statistics, 367 tribes in Aba have 76 illegitimate children, including 29 males and 47 females. All classes have illegitimate children. Zang county capsule color forest * card 1 14 households; Have illegitimate children. The phenomenon of illegitimate children is closely related to Tibetan marriage customs. Tibetan women prefer freedom before marriage, and giving birth before marriage does not prevent women from getting married; The suitor also mainly chooses the woman's housekeeping skills and looks, while the rank of nobility depends on the woman's background. As for whether a woman is chaste, it is rarely considered. Regardless of polygamy after marriage. Polygamy, or monogamous family, the society is also tolerant of the wife's extramarital sexual relations, and they still have relative freedom in sexual life. As for men, this is even more true.

This marriage custom and the habit of extramarital sexual relations of Tibetans determine their attitude towards the consequences of extramarital sexual relations, that is, "illegitimate children". Tibetan society does not discriminate against children born out of wedlock, just like children born in wedlock. Children born out of wedlock can marry their mothers and grow up with their uncles. You can either inherit the family business or become a monk and nun in the temple. Children born out of wedlock enjoy the same status as those born in marriage, whether in family or in society. This is a long-standing social phenomenon and an ancient tradition. The reason is that, as Engels pointed out in The Origin of Family, Private Ownership and State, this strange thing is a general rule based on matriarchal clan system and group marriage system. Because at that time, people only needed to hold some form of "adult ceremony" when they became adults. Bian Geng's participation in group marriage is not divided into married and unmarried in the modern sense, nor between married and illegitimate students.

It should be pointed out that although illegitimate children are a concept of modern people, some Tibetan marriage customs are only some remnants of the ancient marriage system and a lagging phenomenon in the evolution of marriage customs. Relatives in Ganzi Tibetan area of Sichuan are called Wei, which is recorded as follows: in Tibetan families, grandfather or above is commonly known as Anie, but there is no great-grandfather or great-grandfather name; Children and grandchildren are generally called' Cao Cao', and there are no great-grandchildren or great-grandchildren names. The appellation of several generations of relatives can be traced back to five generations. 40 years later, the investigation in the late 1980s showed that the kinship terms of herders in northern Tibet had the following characteristics: the paternal terms of the travel generations all had proper names, starting from the ID, going back four generations, and extending from four generations to nine generations; There are no titles outside this range. The matriarchal appellation goes back three generations to great-grandfather and great-grandmother, and extends from three generations to seven generations, with proper names; There are no titles beyond this range. Gender differences in appellations, within the above-mentioned kinship appellations, male and female appellations of each generation are different. But the appellation of age is different, except for brothers and sisters of the same generation, the rest are called the same. The difference between direct and collateral appellations only appears in the same generation, the previous generation and the next generation; Other generations are not direct or collateral. In-laws' kinship terms other than daughter-in-law. A few people, such as a son-in-law, her husband's sister, and her husband, have proper names, while the other in-laws use subordinate names (such as wife follows husband and husband follows wife) or call them by their first names. There are also brothers, sisters, uncles, nephews, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters, mothers and daughters, grandchildren and other close relatives.

(4) The influence of traditional marriage customs.

As mentioned above, although monogamy is the basic marriage form of Tibetans, there are still more or less remnants of ancient group marriages such as husband-wife system and even marriage system in Tibetan areas. It shows important traces of the evolutionary history of marriage development. Tibetan men and women have freedom of sexual relations before marriage, and social tolerance of sexual relations outside marriage after marriage. Polygamy, many of which are polygamous families recognized by their relatives and society after the fact that married men and women have sex outside marriage. All these indicate the loose state of extramarital sexual relations. The society's relaxed state of extramarital sexual relations will inevitably lead to non-discrimination against illegitimate children (illegitimate children).

Tibetans are a patriarchal society, but the patrilineal inheritance is mainly manifested in the children's blood relatives' ideas and feelings towards the paternal line; In fact, the inheritance of patrilineal family property and social status is that children are treated equally, children born out of wedlock are treated equally with children born in wedlock, and son-in-law is no exception. The basic feature of this kind of marriage and kinship is the looseness of blood relationship.

The lag of Tibetan kinship terms is a reflection of loose blood relationship in concept. The characteristics of Tibetan marriage customs and kinship have great influence on family structure. Its main performance is that the function of family as meeting emotional needs and having children is seriously weakened.

The influence of traditional marriage customs and kinship on the reproduction of Tibetan population cannot be underestimated. This influence can be summarized in three aspects: First, adopted sons who inherit regardless of sex, especially those who are not paternal, also enjoy the right of inheritance, which reduces the importance of biological children and makes it a serious problem to have children. Therefore, the concept of having more children or preferring sons over daughters is weakened. The negative concept of fertility has a negative impact on population reproduction. Second, the freedom of premarital sexual relations, de facto marriage leads to the early age of first marriage for young men and women, and early marriage is common. Therefore, women's first childbearing age is earlier, their childbearing age is longer, and their reproductive opportunities are increased. The relative freedom of sexual relations outside marriage also increases women's chances of pregnancy and childbirth. On the surface, these seem to be beneficial to population growth. However, people's connivance attitude towards extramarital sexual relations will inevitably lead to the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in society, thus destroying women's reproductive function and increasing the number of infertile women; And lead to an increase in infant mortality. Therefore, it is actually unfavorable to population growth. Third, premarital sexual freedom makes young men and women enter the reproductive period prematurely, and their physical and economic abilities are not mature enough. After giving birth to a child, it is raised unilaterally by a young mother. In addition, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in society is not conducive to the healthy birth of the population.

Second, the healthy development of family structure.

According to the survey, the family structure of Tibetan serfdom society has obvious particularity, which is mainly manifested in the fact that incomplete broken families and deformed families account for a considerable proportion in ordinary families. As can be seen from the following Table 2, ordinary families in dege county, Sichuan, single male families, that is, families composed of father and son, brothers and uncles, account for 5% of the total number of families surveyed; Single female families, that is, families composed of mothers, daughters and sisters, or families composed of any generation or three generations of women, accounted for 27.6% of the total number of families surveyed; Families with men and women but no marriage relationship, that is, families composed of mother and son, father and daughter, brothers and sisters, accounted for 22.8% of the total families surveyed; Families composed of married couples or cohabitants account for 44.6% of the total families surveyed. We can see that the first three kinds of incomplete families can actually account for 55.4% of the total number of households, even without considering the data of abnormal unmarried cohabiting families, which is amazing. And the proportion of abnormal families in rural areas is higher than that in pastoral areas. Because of single men and women, it is easier to live in the countryside than in the pastoral area.

The above facts show that in the serfdom society, incomplete families account for a large proportion of ordinary Tibetan families. This is a special phenomenon that does not exist in other ethnic groups and other regions in China. The existence of this kind of incomplete family reflects the seriousness of the morbid Tibetan serfdom society; It will inevitably curb the growth of Tibetan population and affect the improvement of population quality.

From the negative influence of Tibetan Buddhism, this paper explains the special reasons of Tibetan family structure. We believe that it may be more appropriate to explore the origin of Tibetan marriage customs. Of course, the extravagant Buddhism in Tibet encourages a large number of men to enter temples and become monks, which has caused a serious imbalance in the sex ratio of married people of childbearing age. However, it is not difficult to see from the above table that single men and families with men and women but without marriage account for 27.8% of the total number of households in dege county, and single women account for 27.6% of the total number of households. The imbalance of sex ratio, here, is not the main reason. Because the negative influence of a large number of men entering the temple as monks cannot explain why single men and single women do not form nuclear families through marriage, thus reducing the surplus of married and childbearing women and reducing the proportion of incomplete families. Nor can it explain the prevalence of children born out of wedlock and the equal society they enjoy. Therefore, we believe that a more reasonable explanation for this problem is that the traditional Tibetan marriage custom has caused the defect of family function, which has led to the existence of a large number of incomplete Tibetan families.

As we all know, family is a dynamic factor in society, and its function changes with the change of society. The function of family in medieval society is mainly the function of production and consumption, satisfying emotional needs and carrying on the family line. As mentioned earlier, in Tibetan society under serfdom, there is a tradition of free sexual relations before marriage and relatively free sexual relations after marriage. Marriage customs. In terms of inheritance, families with many children usually leave a son or a daughter to inherit the family business, and the rest enter the temple to become monks and nuns or get married. Surplus; Son-in-law, illegitimate children inherit the family business, just like their own children. As some scholars have pointed out, in Tibetan society under serfdom, 16-and 17-year-old women can formally marry men or freely take over men. Both men and women can cross the line; Their unmarried children have no difference in social status from married children. We believe that since the non-marital relationship can also meet the emotional needs, solve the problem of carrying on the family line, and thus complete the family function, then the importance of people getting married and starting a family is reduced, and it becomes dispensable in life. Therefore, things have happened, and a large number of incomplete families have appeared. Its existence is related to the remnants of Tibetan traditional marriage customs and marriage group system.

What I want to emphasize here is that Tibetan families have various forms and special structures, which have not shaken the stability of internal relations and the close family ties. However, it is worth noting that the existence of traditional marriage customs and special forms of family structure is not without influence on children's education and rationalization of family structure. Young people follow the lifestyle of their predecessors, doing the same things consciously or unconsciously, and their families are incomplete. Form becomes accustomed and reasonable. This kind of influence is far-reaching, and it is slower than the social and economic changes.

(2) The current Tibetan family structure.

Family is a basic social unit composed of blood relatives, married members and a few adopted and unrelated members, who live together in production and life. The differences between family members in marriage, consanguinity and intergenerational relations constitute different family types. Due to the differences in social and cultural background, religious customs and economic development level, the types of households of 56 ethnic groups in China also show significant differences. Here we also list the data of the number of Yi families in Sichuan, but the following focuses on the change and influence of the number of Tibetan families, rather than the data basis for comprehensively comparing the types of Tibetan and Yi families and studying Shantou.

In the fourth census, the head of household was selected. 8. Investigation on spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, other relatives and non-relatives. According to the original data sampled by L% in the fourth population census, taking the head of household as the center, the eight elements of the survey are processed by computer, arranged and combined, and the current family structure types of Tibetans and Sichuan Yi people are counted. See the attached table in Note 17 for details, which is the basic data of our analysis and research. According to the quantitative distribution of Tibetan and Yi family types, we can see that: 1. The number of standard nuclear families consisting of heads of households, spouses and children is the largest. It shows that the nuclear family is the main type of Tibetan and Yi families, but its proportion is nearly 15 percentage points. 2. Among the top five households, there are three types of Tibetan families without husband and wife, accounting for 23% of the total number of households; Yi people are divided into two categories, accounting for 1 1% of the total number of households, which is the fundamental reason for the great difference between the nuclear families of the two ethnic groups. Third, the second type of family households, the second generation of Tibetan households composed of heads and children, and the Yi people composed of heads, spouses and children. Parents are it runs in the family's family. This difference shows that the social and economic development level of Tibetans is higher than that of Yi people. It is also the embodiment of the differences in support customs. In the Yi family with many children, all the eldest sons are separated after marriage, leaving only the youngest son to live with his parents and inherit the rest of the family business. This is why there are so many such families in Yi people. See table 3 for details. 4. There are 67 Tibetan family types, including * * Tibetan 6 1, Sichuan Tibetan 40, Qinghai Tibetan 5 1. There are only 32 species of Yi people in Sichuan. Family households are diverse, complex, scattered and fragmented, which is a major feature of Tibetan family households.

There are many forms of classification of family households in academic circles. Here we divide Tibetan Yi households into two generations, three generations, four generations, a couple, one generation and other relatives, two generations and other relatives, three generations and above, and single households. It should be noted that the second-generation household refers to the family composed of the head of household, spouse, children or head of household and grandchildren, head of household and parents, head of household and grandparents.

From Table 4, we can see that Tibetan and Yi families composed of immediate relatives, including Xi 'ou, account for 72.86% and 88.45% of their total families respectively; The number of Tibetan lineal relatives is less than that of Yi people 15 percentage points. Tibetan and Yi families with other relatives and without relatives account for 20.59% and 7.8 1% of their total families, respectively. Tibetans are higher than Yi people by 12 percentage points. The proportion of unrelated families listed in Table 5 is so low that Yi people can be ignored, while Tibetans account for 2.45% of the total households. This fact is related to the level of social and economic development, and it is also a reflection of blood relationship. The Yi people in Sichuan attach great importance to the blood relationship between people. Here, a strict consanguineous family system is implemented. Families based on paternal consanguinity and linked by genealogical ties of father-son naming system are divided into several branches, families and households because of consanguinity. Family is a monogamous small family, which is not only a social production unit, but also a family cell. The proportion of households with Tibetan immediate family members is low, while the proportion of households with other relatives and non-relatives is large, reflecting the loose blood relationship of Tibetans. This is completely consistent with the marriage customs mentioned above. Second, in general, the more social and economic development, the higher the proportion of second-generation households and the lower the proportion of third-generation households. The high proportion of Tibetan and Yi families reflects the underdevelopment of social economy. The proportion of second-generation households in Tibet is low, which is consistent with the level of social and economic development. But the proportion of Yi people is high, which is made by traditional families. Therefore, it is inconsistent with the level of social and economic development.

Regarding the analysis of family types, "joint households" are not listed here for two reasons: first, in Tibetan families with many children, because one son or one daughter is usually left at home, married or adopted, and the rest of the brothers and sisters are monks and nuns, or redundant and married. Most men and women are independent families after marriage. The Yi people carry out strict patrilineal inheritance, and all their daughters are married. When the son grew up, he separated after marriage, leaving only the youngest son to live with his parents. Therefore, this traditional custom conflicts with the joint family system in which married brothers and sisters live together. Second, Tibetans have the remnants of polygamy, and Yi people live with their parents after marriage. Therefore, in a polygamous marriage and a family where parents live with young children, it is inevitable that two or more people will be married, which makes it difficult to separate common families. For the above two reasons, we don't use joint family's proposition for analysis in the following. In the fourth census, the brothers and sisters of the head of household were listed as "other relatives". According to the statistics of L% sampling data, there are 930 households composed of heads of households, spouses and other relatives, accounting for 1 1.38% of the total households. There are 675 Yi households, accounting for 5.48% of the total households. If we regard the above data as the number of Tibetan-Yi households, it will be a distorted and exaggerated judgment. According to the fourth population census

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