Culture, Power And Family

This topic belongs to the category of Chinese rural community culture history. This paper applied the methods of combining the data from field investigation with historical literature, and took Wu family in ShiYou village NanFeng county as an analysis individual case to discuss the process of authority in Chinese rural society how to control local society through a series of ceremony activities which were a cultural symbol by family culture, the ceremony activities and the authority operation.In traditional Chinese society, there were the inseparable relationship between family and the ceremony. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wu family developed very well in the ShiYou village. Its economic development established the foundation for its development of social, cultural, and other aspects. And then, in order to consolidate its social status, on the one hand Wu family strengthened family and cultural progress; on the other hand, conducted effective control in the faith ceremony. In the clan culture, Wu family strengthened its internal cohesion through these series activities, such as ancestors, the protection of geomancy, the construction of ancestral temple, the creation of salvation warehouse; in the same time conformed the brief of God Nuo and this ceremony effectively,achieved nearly 600 years continuous succession, and deepened the villagers on God's faith year by year through the system of Headman and Nuo Group. Wu Family realized the authority controlling of the clan and even locality through this kind of cultural form.