The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

passed on to his children. When a person turns sixty, his land and house are transferred back to the kingdom. If he wishes, he may hold onto it for the entirety of his life, yet it cannot be left to anyone upon his death. Only accumulated savings can be bequeathed to a spouse, but only because it was wealth generated by the both of them. And when the spouse dies, it is all transferred back to the kingdom. In turn, no matter how poor a person might be, it becomes the kingdom's responsibility to feed them if they can't feed themselves."
    "Well, then, why have children in the first place?"
    Enho smiled. "Tentei looks to the hearts of the parents and gives them children accordingly. In other words, becoming parents is Heaven's way of recognizing their qualities as human beings. At night, it's said that the souls of children slip away from their bodies and fly to the Five Sacred Mountains, where they tell Tentei how their parents are treating them. After death, that is how people are judged."
    "Could that perhaps be seen in religious terms?"
    "Better to view it in ethical or moral terms. The rearing of the child given you brings you closer to virtue, closer to the Way. In fact, there is no profit in having a child. It takes time and money."
    "So that is why a child leaves home at the age of twenty."
    "That is the case. And that is why parents devote themselves to their children. To despise a child is to despise Heaven. By serving their children, they are serving Heaven."
    "I see."
    "It must seem strange to you. So it would be to anybody who speaks of pedigree in terms of bloodline. The closest thing to a pedigree is a surname. A marriage may be registered under either spouse's census records. Your own name doesn't change, but the records are unified under one or the other's name. The child thus inherits the name registered under that unified record. The significance of this is that when the incumbent emperor is found lacking in moral virtue and a change of dynasties is carried out, a person of the same surname cannot accept the Divine Mandate."
    "Huh."
    "The originally registered name of the previous Royal Kei, the late Yo-o, was Jo. And your parents did not have the surname of Jo. In the case of Kou, the surname of the previous king was Chou. Therefore, the next king will not carry the surname of Chou. The king of Hou has fallen. His surname was Son. You can be assured that the next ruler of Hou will not be a Son."
    "I see. So that means that my friend Rakushun could never become king of Kou."
    "If his surname is Chou, then throughout all history I know of no case when it has ever happened. It is the unalterable Reason of the World. You cannot change the name you were born with. Even if your parents divorce, it does not change. When you marry, it does not change. That is why people have what is called an inherent family name. It is the only real function and meaning of the family name."
    "That is completely different from common practice in Japan."
    "Indeed," Enho laughed. "In Japan, it seems that once people get married, they're determined to stick it out one way or another. Here, people get married and divorced on quite a regular basis, with no qualms about raising other people's children. In fact, remarrying with stepchildren is highly regarded. Perhaps because the more children you have, the more blessed you must be. To become a parent in the first place you must have a certain quality of character."
    "I see."
    "At the end of the day, there are also people who don't wish for children. Because there is no necessity for them to marry, they settle for a common law marriage. Because getting married does involve a vexing amount of paperwork, those who have given up on children accept the situation and make do with a common law marriage. It's not uncommon for such arrangement to take place even while maintaining separate households. But if you're unwise enough to take as a partner someone who doesn't live in your general vicinity, you're unlikely to meet except during the winter."
    "Right."
    "It's more complicated when a couple are also civil servants. When you work for the government, obviously you have to move. You wouldn't get married to get split apart, so the road to advancement would necessarily be limited. To prevent such a disagreeable outcome, many avoid marriage."
    "Really?"
    If that was true, then there must be a lot of single people amongst the ministers. Those deciding to marry would be unlikely to choose a