From Lineage To Higher-order Lineage: Case Study On Wan Clan In Nanchang In Ming And Qing Dynasties

In Ming and Qing Dynasties, through the construction of the lineagerelationship with the branches-ancestor, each lineage in the four major branches ofWan Clan in Nanchang compiled the branches’ genealogies. At the same time, theybegan to contact with each other and through constructing a further lineagerelationship, they compiled two across-branches genealogies namely Dacheng. Inorder to meet the needs of the imperial examination, each contacted lineage built theHigher-order Lineage Hall at the provincial capital, namely Wanzi Hall. Themotivation of the participators who took part in the Wanzi Hall did not lie on themutual lineage relationship, but on the geopolitical interests. Therefore, it canbasically be seen as a same-surname organization which is beyond the bloodrelationship as well as the genealogy．We can find that each lineage has a tendency of becoming a higher-orderlineage from Wan Clan’s development process in Nanchang. Therefore, we shouldnot investigate higher-order lineage from only the results of it, but we should payattention that higher-order lineage is a process of dynamic change with s startingpoint of a lineage. Then, through the construction of lineage relationship, the lineagebegan to have contact with other lineages beyond the territory. And after that, basedon the geopolitical interests and beyond the lineage relationship, a same-surnameorganization appear．...