A Study On The Liu Clan In Macheng Of Ming Dynasty

In the Ming Dynasty,the Liu clan in Macheng,Hubei Province was a typical imperial-examination family and Jinyi Guard family,the process of its rise and fall was closely related to the context of the Ming Dynasty.The Liu clan moved from Yiyang,Jiangxi to Macheng,Hubei,following the trend of "immigration rushes from Jiangxi to Hubei and Hunan",and had become a relatively influential clan in Macheng by the end of Yuan Dynasty at the latest.At the time of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties,Liu Meng was awarded an official position for his merits,which marked the beginning of the Liu clan’s career as an official.Liu Congzheng entered the official ranks by imperial examination,thus making the Liu clan formally among the gentry class.Liu Xun and others’ recognition and practice of farming-reading culture laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Liu clan.The Liu clan rose in an all-round way in the mid-Ming Dynasty.Liu Tianhe’s success represented the highest political achievement of the Liu clan,at the same time,the ups and downs of Liu Shuxiang’s career in the same period reflected the complexity and twists of the Liu clan’s development in Macheng.In the middle and late Ming Dynasty,Liu Shouyou took hereditary rank as an opportunity to open up new promotion channels and formally completed the transformation of the Liu clan from the imperial examination family to the Jinyi guard family.This kind of power came from the court’s favor,which made the family’s destiny more dependent on the Ming court.Therefore,when the Ming court gradually collapsed,the Liu family in Macheng gradually declined.In the construction process of local power,the Liu clan integrated local resources through the marriage circle,and continuously expanded their network through the friendship circle,so as to accumulate more abundant network resources for the prosperity and development of the family.In addition,Liu also regulated the behavior of his clansmen by writing genealogy and practicing family culture.By grasping the power of interpretation of local beliefs,the rise and growth of their own clan can be more reasonable and legitimate.By actively promoting local construction,the family consciousness is gradually infiltrated into local society,which provides greater development space and convenient conditions for the construction of local power of the clan.With The Spring and Autumn Annals as their family study,the Liu clan distinguished themselves in the imperial examinations,which continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty.The enthusiasm of the Liu family members to participate in the imperial examination made it possible for the family to avoid the fault of talents in a certain period of time,while the way of the martial examination provided more possibilities for the promotion of the family.Although Liu’s theory of The Spring and Autumn Annals was based on the imperial examination,it was able to break through the restriction and dare to innovate,and its theory of The Spring and Autumn Annals was highly sought after by people.