A Study On Wu’s Family Of Sichuan Region In The Southern Song Dynasty

Wu’s family started to become noble since Wu Jie.Of all the family members, five became the military chief. As it were, this family reached the highest nobility and enjoyed the greatest reputation in Sichuan region. The family also was an extremely typical one in the Southern Song Dynasty.which was renowned for the meritorious military service. Previous studies have focused on Wu Jie,Wu Lin ’s personal merit and Wu Xi’s rebellion, However,a comprehensive study towards the whole family is still absent.Based on the Family’s genealogy, officialdom, marriage and politics, this paper attempts to discover the characteristics of the family from the rise and fall of development, so as to vary the research of Song family.Wu’s family lasted only three generations from Wu Jie to Wu Xi.Although what led the family’s destruction was Wu Xi’ rebellion,there were some profound political and cultural factors beneath the surface.In officialdom, Wu’s family members owned hereditary official, which made it difficult to transform to the imperial examination, moreover,their hereditary office titles were low, and the official places were dispersed. All of these factors were not conducive to family cohesion and long-term development.On the view of marriage, the family had a relatively narrow circle of marriage, and who they married always have low fame, which limited to the local officials, There were no historical records that the family married with the royal family or the high-level officials.The family ’s unstable in the official career and marriage, leading to the family would always be affected by the current situation,also making the development of the family to become a microcosm of the political situation in the Southern Song Dynasty.