On The Relationship Among Brothers And Sisters In Bureaucratic Families In Tang Dynasty

The bureaucratic family in Tang Dynasty was an upper-class family in the transitional period,and the relationship among brothers and sisters kept the characteristics of intimacy and alienation in the family relationship.The study on the relationship among brothers and sisters in the bureaucratic family in Tang Dynasty is based on this particularity.Through the discussion of this topic,on the one hand,it can reveal the multiple interaction and relationship changes of brothers and sisters,and show the real and specific relationship among brothers and sisters;on the other hand,it can also reflect the relationship among brothers and sisters in different occasions and roles,which is helpful to deepen our understanding of family relations in Tang Dynasty.From a horizontal perspective,in the daily life of brothers and sisters,ethical norms tried to use the principle of "concession" to resolve the conflicts among brothers and sisters.The norms of etiquette and law gave elder brothers and sisters the status of being elders and made them avoid the responsibility of "lack of education",which,to a certain extent,helped to build a closer relationship among brothers and sisters.But at the same time,there would be different degrees of gaps and contradictions among brothers and sisters,which made the relationship among brothers and sisters alienated.From the vertical perspective,from living together before marriage to division of family after marriage,and then to another special life of living together,the relationship among brothers and sisters showed different characteristics with the change of family form.In the stage before marriage,the family status and relationship of brothers and sisters were affected by many factors,such as parents’ attitude,gender ratio,number of brothers and sisters,and the birth order;in the stage after marriage,the siblings who still lived together were difficult to avoid the conflicts and disputes among small families,while the siblings who changed from living together to living apart faced the problems of how to maintain the relationship;living together again was actually a help and support for the brothers and sisters who were in trouble.And this special family form mostly existed in bureaucratic families.From the perspective of the internal relationship of the family brothers of the Tang Dynasty,the phenomenon of brothers’ different career choices could not only be limited to the issues related to officials.From the brothers’ different career choices of whether to be an official,to be the civil or military official and other different career choices with special forms,the brothers’ career choices were closely related to family reputation,political situation,ways of becoming an official,family tradition,academic atmosphere and personal choices.Meanwhile,in the comparison with ordinary civilian families and other family relations,the relationship of brothers and sisters of bureaucratic family in Tang Dynasty showed its own uniqueness.It not only had differences in etiquette,system and prevailing custom,but also appeared special cases and special problems,which provided a typical representative for further understanding of relationship among brothers and sisters...