A Study On The System Of Making Inheritor In Song Dynasty

Since the foundation of Patriarch System got constructed in Xizhou Dynasty, under the influence of Xueshi philosophy, which advocates Dazong holding to offer sacrifices to ancestors, Making Inheritor as an important traditional custom showed up in China. Initially, it only performed in the noble families. If the patriarch had no son, he can make the nephew of the family clan to become his son. Although Making Inheritor was originated from the fete activity, the appearance of Making Inheritor did effectively protect the hierarchy of big noble family. When the time came to Qin Dynasty, because of the war, families are dissipated, so smaller families also started to Making Inheritor. Since then, Making Inheritor became a protective approach for family successive system. It developed into a dominating feudalism courtesy, having a significant effect on the formation and consolidation of China's feudalism.Before the Tang dynasty, Making Inheritor was only an folk custom. It was guided by the conventional courtesy, but not constrained by law. The well conducting of Making Inheritor was determined by the claws of Lijiao and custom experience. There's no legislation set up to judge behavior of Making Inheritor. During the Tang Dynasty, first legal rule about the Making Inheritor was shown up. However, it only regulated some very fundamental facets of Making Inheritor,not sufficient to ensure the Making Inheritor as an systematic system. In the Song Dynasty, the legislation inherited Tang's basic frame, considering the social and economical environment of the society, a series of articles on the Making Inheritor were constructed. Under the influence of law, custom and courtesy, Making Inheritor gradually became a systematic system of Making Inheritor, which built a concrete foundation for its further development in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Making Inheritor also interacted with Confucianism philosophy, and it has a significant influence on the development of the entire ancient Chinese society. Choosing Song Dynasty as the related research target is because this is an era that centralization and Confucianism got strengthened and dominated. Study on the formation and content of Making Inheritor in this specific period, we are looking for the significance of this Dynasty on the whole development of Making Inheritor.This thesis contains three parts, preface, body part and conclusion. The body part is composed of four chapters.The preface introduces the origin of the Making Inheritor, and defines the concept of Making Inheritor. I try to depict the basic idea of Making Inheritor,so that a detailed discussion can be explored in the following chapters.The first chapter analyses the formation of Making Inheritor,trying to explain the reason of the well conformation of Making Inheritor in Song dynasty. By analyzing the formation, we can have a better understanding of the significance of Making Inheritor in Song's Society.Chapter 2 and 3 focus on the contents of Making Inheritor. From the most basic frame regulation, the transition of the male successor's position, to characteristic"Liji"and"Mingji",to during the litigation, the principle and procedure. The maturity of Making Inheritor in Song dynasty is well presented.Chapter 4 discusses the special articles in the Making Inheritor System of Song Dynasty during comparing with the other dynasties. I want to find the underlying reason under the specific historical circumstance.The conclusion part iterates the significance of Making Inheritor to the whole ancient Chinese society. Through this study, the development of Making Inheritor in Song Dynasty has an transition effect on the whole Making Inheritor System. Song Dynasty is an unique stage for the development of Making Inheritor in the whole Chinese history.