A Study Of The Way Of Managing A Household In Scholar-officials' Families In Tang & Song Dynasties From A Perspective Of A Family Precept

Family precept is a standard for regulating family members'behaviors and dealing with family affairs. This thesis analyzes, from the angle of traditional family-managing ideas and the ways of managing a household, the family precepts of scholar- officials in Tang & Song Dynasties, which are different from the ones in other periods. In addition, it compares and investigates the changes of life values and family-managing ideas in scholar- officials'families in Tang & Song Dynasties.Family precept is also called"family norm","family instruction","family rule"or"family standard", and so on. It includes oral family precept and written family precept. In a broad sense, family precept is the most basic method of which, predecessors transmit later generations how to cultivate moral characters, regulate families, behave oneself, get along well with others and so on; its content includes behaving properly to cultivate oneself, keeping & regulating one's family, determined to fulfill one's aspiration, behaving oneself and getting along well with others, etc. In a narrow sense, family precept refers to some common domestic standards concerning educating one's offspring and regulating one's family, and genealogical family rules and regulations. The forms of family precept are expressed in prose, poetry, quotations, proverbs, monographs, and a few isolated words in collected works or historical biographies as well.Family precept is the experiences and advices given by elder generation to later generation, which they learned and gained in their own lives. The main contents of family precept include family's orders & standards, ethic relationship and methods of regulating families, etc. As to a family, family precept has the character of"family rule", which is an important phenomenon in a traditional patriarchal society, and also an inner form part of Chinese traditional culture. Family precept is life practical experience, very philosophic, directional and to some degree, reliable, of which, some are from one's own experience, some are revised based on ancestors'last testament or family rules.This thesis, based on the predecessors'research, uses the methods of documentary, case analysis and comparison to study the family precept in ancient times, and tries to examine the development and changes of family-managing methods in scholar-officials'families in Tang & Song dynasties.Family economy is emphatically studied within the family yard people's production and management based on their belongings or part of their means of production. The way of family life management belongs to the category of family economy study, and it examines the ideas of people's daily life and economic life management and its process. The way of running a family in this thesis refers to the skills of people's life state and existence, and it's a kind of plan and arrangement in order to live a better life.The first part of the thesis presents the family economy and life management. Flow of social reproduction is the process of production, distribution, exchange (circulation) in the economic activities. Through the examination, we can see the economic management process in the social scholar officials at that time. Only when we clear about it do we analyze the feasibility arrangement in this rank.The second part analyzes something related to economy in particular, such as family-managing ideas, and some views on wedding and funeral in scholar-officials'families. This part tries to examine this rank's economic ideas in daily life, therefore, it reflects some concrete ideas about life ways and managements.The third part is the key point of the whole paper. It focuses on the family precept in Tang & Song Dynasties, and retells the contents of family precept in Wei & Jin Dynasty,Nan & Bei Dynasty, in addition, supplies the content of family precept in Yuan, Ming, Qing Dynasties. It sums up the characteristic of the ways of running family in the rank of scholar-officials in the past. Therefore, the thesis tells us the development and improvement in managing a family and analyzes the reasons.The last part explores family precept is the most fundamental method of which, predecessors transmit later generations how to cultivate moral characters, regulate families, behave oneself, get along well with others and so on. However, the way which was on the initiative of the family precept must not be a true portrayal of life of that time. There might be a little discrepancy between the condition reflected in the family precept and the actual life, and there are some exaggerate parts in it. So this thesis tries to examine the gap between the stipulated clauses in the family precepts and practical life situation and analyze its reasons.