There is still a saying that the steppe tribes practiced the "young child inheritance system", because the ancient grassland area was low productivity, and the range of grazing of a family was limited - that is, there was no way to feed too many people, so the older son had to go out to rely on himself, while the younger son could stay to inherit the father's family property and property, and was responsible for the end of the pension.
This explanation seems to have some truth, but this statement has been questioned for thousands of years, because historically the steppe tribes did not exactly pursue the "younger son inheritance system", which was also mixed with a lot of "brother and brother system" and "firstborn child inheritance system".
In any case, since there is such a statement, it naturally has a reason for its existence. Today we will introduce the story of two tribes in the ancient Xianbei people when they occupied the northern steppe, Murong Bu and Tuoba Bu, because of the "young son inheritance system".
One
Speaking of Murong Shi, I am afraid that many people are most familiar with Murong Fu in the novel "Tianlong Babu", and the "Yan Kingdom" that he wants to revive is one of the countries established by the ancient Xianbei Murong Clan in the Central Plains. Before Murong Shi entered the Central Plains, Murong Xianbei had a chief named Murong Shigui, who had two sons, one was Murong Tuguhun, the eldest son of Shu, and the other was Murong Shu (慕容廆) (wěi).
According to historical records, during Murong Shigui's lifetime, he divided up 700 herdsmen to his brother Murong Tuguhun, and the rest were inherited by his younger brother Murong Xi. During a grazing trip, the horses belonging to the two men fought and caused Murong Xi's horses to be injured.
When his younger brother Murong Xi saw this, he said very angrily, "My father separated us, so why don't you let the horses go away and let them fight and hurt each other?" ”
The elder brother Murong Tuguhun was also very angry when he heard this: "Horses are beasts, eat grass and drink water for a living, and the spring weather is launched, so how can the horses fight and be angry with people?" It's easy to separate completely, leave you ten thousand miles now! ”
When it came to doing so, Murong Tuguhun really led his herders and cattle and sheep away from home, and they moved west to Longshang (present-day northern Shaanxi, Gansu, and the area west of them), where their descendants multiplied and established the historically famous "Tuguhun" state. The descendants of his younger brother Murong Yu established the famous "Former Yan", "Later Yan", "Western Yan", "Southern Yan" and other states in the Central Plains.
Two
Speaking of the Tuoba clan, we are most familiar with the Northern Wei they established during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and this Northern Wei later unified the North and became a great power that stood in constant opposition to the Southern Dynasty. Before tuoba entered the Central Plains, Tuoba had a leader named Tuoba Jiefen, who also had two sons, one was The eldest son of Tuoba Pigu, and the other was The Son of Tuoba Liwei.
After Tuoba Jiefen's death, his younger brother Tuoba Liwei inherited his father's family business, so the indignant older brother Tuoba Piguo decided to lead his own people to flee - from the Saibei region (north of the Great Wall) south to the Hexi region (posterity known as Hexi Xianbei).
Later, the elder brother Tuoba Pigu changed his son's surname to "Bald Hair" (a different translation of Tuoba), and his descendants also established the famous "Southern Liang" state during the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms period, while the descendants of his younger brother Tuoba Liwei established the famous Daiguo (the predecessor of Northern Wei) and Northern Wei.
Three
Perhaps the grassland tribe once really practiced the "young son inheritance system", but in the process of contact with the Han people, it was gradually influenced by the Han people's "firstborn son inheritance system", so this became an important reason for the above two "eldest sons" to run away from home.
It is more interesting that they not only had similar experiences, but also achieved the same achievements – their descendants have successfully established themselves and established new states through tireless efforts.
Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered a classic line in the movie "Nezha" - my fate is up to me! Although fate made these two "eldest sons" unable to inherit the "family business", they broke out of a new world outside and worked hard to create a "family business" of their own.
References: New Book of Tang, Book of Jin, Zizhi Tongjian