Why do northerners pay more attention to family and clan than southerners?

In ancient China, the patriarchal clan system was attached great importance from the Zhou Dynasty. The so-called patriarchal clan system is an inheritance system under blood relatives, especially in the north. So why do northerners attach so much importance to family and clan? The main reason for this phenomenon lies in the regional differences between north and south and the influence of the concept of blood relationship passed down from generation to generation.

First, the geographical conditions between the north and the south are very different. As we all know, the geographical environment in the north is not dominant compared with that in the south. Because the north is mostly land, there are few water resources and relatively few hills and mountains, while the south is densely covered with rivers and lakes. The farming of northerners is mostly collective farming, mainly because the geographical location of the fields they farm is relatively remote, some on terraces and some on mountains. Northern tribes live together in order to enjoy the beauty of life and improve the living standards brought by many people. The housing design in the north is also different from that in the south. Many of its buildings gather the whole clan in a geographical location in the form of quadrangles, which is also easy to control.

Second, the influence of blood relationship For northerners, wars were frequent in many areas in ancient times, and fleeing became their most accustomed thing. At this time, the whole clan is often dispatched collectively, and the management of the members of each clan when they flee has become the necessary duty of the patriarch. For northerners, the only place to escape is the south. In the case of strangers in the south, we can only get together with people of our own clan to enhance our sense of security, unite as one and not be bullied by outsiders. Because of this, some northerners changed their names with the help of the whole nation and paid more attention to the clan.

Since ancient times, the differences between the north and the south in China have been reflected in the concern for their own clan culture, which is caused by the influence of geography and blood. In clan management, northerners are indeed stronger than southerners, which is also the result of long-term accumulation based on years of ideological differences.