Clan and social change: A case study of the Dihua Zhou Clan of Jian, Jiangxi (Chinese text)

The present dissertation is an analysis on the Dihua Zhou Clan, a traditional Chinese family that resided in the central part of Jiangxi Province for over nine centuries. The author seeks to answer how it could survive and develop during the flow of time by investigating the geographical and social-economic conditions of the place they lived, the civil examination they participated in and the local marriage networks they established. The changes and formation of the Zhou clan are also examined.; For a long time scholars tended to pay attention to large-scale or well-known clans. However, common sense reminds us that small and ordinary families are the majority in society. Jiangxi region, where the Zhou Clan dwells in, is known for large number of traditional Chinese clans. Many families there are not famous and wealthy, but they have been witnessing political, social and economic changes over the centuries. A case study of one of them, especially on a clan having a very long history, would be meaningful for discussion.; The Dihua Zhou Clan of Jian emerged from the chaos of the late T'ang and Five Dynasties. To uphold the fame and status of the family throughout the Sung Periods, the Zhou Clan encouraged family members to participate in the civil examination to join the bureaucracy. Besides, they also developed close relationships with some families sharing the same background by marriage.; The fall of Sung reign and later the Yuan administration forced the Zhou Clan to move to a new settlement. They lived in the city during the Sung and Yuan Periods but moved to the countryside in early Ming Dynasty. They then split into three branches and developed their own social and marriage networks. Members of the branches sat for the civil examination with great anthusiam for it remained the powerful conduit for upward social mobility. However, only very few of them passed the examination and became officials of low ranks. It is clear that we may see civil examination and marriage networks as two useful indicators to demonstrate the changes of a clan in different eras.; In sum, the status of the Zhou clan was gradually descended, from the status of official gentry to local elite, and then to a local common small-size family.