Research On The Kinship And Clanship During The Period Of The Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, And Northern & Southern Dynasties

Kinship and clanship were among the fundamental relationships in the ancient Chinese society. An investigation of the relations between the kin and clan and the social life during the during the Period of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern Dynasties will not only aid the overall research on China's history of kin and clan systems,but also help to expand and deepen the breadth and depth of the research of the dynastic history of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern Dynasties. This paper provides a comparatively comprehensive,objective,in-depth and systematic investigation of the basic status of the kinship and clanship during the period of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern Dynasties from five aspects,namely,household structure,residential relations,kinship and social life,clanship and social life,the impact of kinship and clanship on society. This paper consists of five chapters:Chapter â…  Household Structure during the Period of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern DynastiesThis chapter investigates the household structure of this particular period based on typical cases recorded in unearthed documents and historic literature and on statistical information on nationwide household registration. The investigation leads to the conclusion that the small five-member nucleus family was the fundamental form of household structure during this period and that trunk households and united households where people lived together and shared the property were rare in the actual social life.Chapter â…¡ The Clustered Inhabitation of the Kin and Clan within the Village Community and the Mixed Inhabitation of Residents with Different SurnamesThis chapter analyzes the inheritance of the property of each family and each group of people of the same surname who resided in the village community and the trend of multiplication of the kin and clan on the basis of the evidence from the distribution of surnames in the village as recorded in historical literature and tablet inscriptions and unearthed household registration documents. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the residential form in the village community during the Period of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern Dynasties featured the co-existence of the clustered inhabitation of the kin and clan members and the mixed inhabitation of people with different surnames.Chapter â…¢ Kinship & Social Life during the Period of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern DynastiesThis chapter analyzes the kinship system in terms of the ritual system and laws and decrees. Through the analysis and classification of the numerous cases recorded in literature,this chapter holds that the interactions in social life of the kin members during this particular period were manifested in the following areas:providing for the aged,widowed and orphans,helping the poor,giving up riches,distributing riches,supporting and assisting each other in political life,assigning kin members to key military and political positions,providing favors to relatives,political immunity,cultural and educational instructions,and admonishing the young generation. The chapter concludes that kin activities during the Period of the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern Dynasties were largely influenced by kinship conceptions,indicating that the majority of the people in that society had deep-rooted kinship conceptions and a tiny percentage of the people had superficial kinship conceptions.Chapter â…£ Clanship & Social Life during the Qin,Han,Wei,Jin,and Northern & Southern DynastiesThis chapter expounds the social functions the clanship. Compared with kinship,clanship did not have obvious manifestations in social economics,politics and cultural life,and the connection between the clan members in social life was not as close as that of the kin members. The chapter concludes that in that society,clanship conceptions were not generally profound,the relations between the clan members were superficial and that in certain cases,they even treated each other like stra...