# Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019 > [!cite] > Li Na. ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads: Family Narratives, Personal Memory, and Public History’. *Journal of Family History*, vol. 44, no. 4 (2019), pp. 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363199019845931. > [!abstract] > With state control being a consistent pattern for more than 2,000 years, family (*jia*) and state (*guo*) seem inseparable in China. During the twenty-first century, media technology, freer access to information, and increasing mobility have tilted this delicate balance. At a massive scale and in various forms and genres, family history and genealogy are flourishing. Why has family history had such a mobilizing effect on ordinary people over the last two decades? How does family history contribute to our understanding of historical and societal changes? This article traces the history of family history in China and pinpoints where the traditional family history fails. With a critical survey of the emerging family history practices, it argues for a more practical-oriented approach, with which family history can connect personal narratives, family memories, and public history. --- ‘In China, state control has been a persistent pattern for more than 2,000 years. Family (*jia*) and the state (*guo*) seem inseparable.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 1)]] ^eafa70 ‘While Westerners view top-down decision-making as undemocratic, the Chinese interpret the power of the state differently. For centuries, the idea of kinship, regardless of whether it is real or fictive, has been intricately evolved with the state and the nation.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 1)]] ‘Chinese people are genuinely proud of their ancient origins.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 1)]] ‘The symbolic importance of history, in all its varied manifestations, reflects new, albeit vagarious, directions in government thinking regarding how to use the past to create a future that serves its political agenda. The leadership brilliantly plays on the distant memories of an ancient civilization and the more recent fear of an uncertain future. Family traditions, customs, rituals, and moral instructions are all provoked to solidify the governing power.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 2)]] ‘Four types of families have existed throughout the Chinese ancient history. The first type is the patrilineal system in primitive societies. These families were united by blood relations, and managed through the male lineage, with no class differentiation.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 2)]] ‘The second type is the patriarchal clan system, which emerged during the Yin and Zhou periods (1046 BC–221 BC). These families centered on blood relationships, with slave holders and slaves at the opposite ends of the class spectrum. With a shared family name, a leader (*zongzhu*), and a set of regulations, this family represented a much more organized and closely knit social system. The word *zong*, that is, the radical on the top side of the Chinese character, symbolizes sacrifice, and the original meaning of the word was the house of worship and sacrifice. The system functioned on relative inheritance to maintain clan continuity. Ancestor worship spiritually bonded the clan members, and the leader led the worship and sacrifice and indoctrinated the members with ethics and ideas of kinship love, thus enhancing their bonds. The patrilineal temple, that is, *zongmiao*, was built to accommodate such collective rituals. The architectural plans often revealed class and social hierarchy. Public burial grounds and clan tombs were popular. Family genealogy, in which a family tree recorded the intricate relationships among the clan members, appeared and developed following the invention of the written word. Previously, oral tradition was the only way to trace the family tree.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 2)]] ‘The third type, that is, the aristocratic clan system, existed from the Weijin period (220 AD–420 AD) to the Tang dynasty (618 AD–907 AD) and was a combination of the manor system and clans. This type referred to families and clans who lived, migrated, and buried together. Ancestor worship remained an important collective ritual. Family genealogy became more popular in three forms. The first form was the family biography, which was usually written to glorify the family name. The second form was the family tree (*jiapu*), or clan genealogy (*zupu*), which was a skeleton type of tree that documented names and delineated blood relationships. The third form was official genealogical records, which were recognized by the imperial government and used to classify nobles and common people. Around the mid-Tang dynasty, the aristocratic clan system along with the official genealogies that compiled and recorded these prominent lineages started to decline. The primary purpose of the family genealogy was to confirm the social hierarchy. The rigidity impacted both individuals and family relationships and further differentiated the haves from the have-nots. Wars, massive migrations, and tumultuous political struggles led to the disappearance of the genealogical records.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 2–3)]] ‘Since the Song dynasty (960 AD–1276 AD), the patrilineal system evolved. This type of system was a social organization based on a blood relationship with common properties. The beliefs and sacrificial activities were an integral part of a family’s cultural and spiritual lives. Some beliefs, such as totem worship, practiced by the clans were also practiced by the whole tribe. Ancestor worship and sacrifice appeared later. Each clan had a public burial ground, which was usually located near the village or the common property, allowing members of the same clan to be conveniently be buried together. Two types of clan systems supported the patrilineal system. One system was vertical, with a tight-knit clan system, and the other system was horizontal, with large families living together for generations. The former often broke into scattered, individual families who shared the same ancestors and remained connected through a lineage hall, family genealogy, and the clan field. Thus, the clan system has had a profound impact on family patterns.3 The traditional family or clan records, which were usually kept in ancestral shines and updated by the elders of a family, record the genealogy from the father’s side centering on key persons. Family genealogies evolved from the aristocratic families and events of the imperial time. The earliest work, that is, *ShiBen*, was compiled by official historians, who recorded the names and relationships of prominent lineages. Used to promoted and serve political interests, genealogies became a specialized field starting during the Liuchao period (222 AD–589 AD) until the Tang dynasty. During the Song dynasty, private genealogies appeared, marking a fundamental difference from the previous dynasties.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 3)]] ‘The idea that the family has always been an integral part of personal identity, national interests, and cosmopolitan aspirations run through the above four types of families. The individual, the family, the nation, and the world blend into a seamless whole.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 3)]] ‘The classic text of the *Daxue* connects moral self-cultivation with general harmony in the state and society. The objective of building up a moral character is to “enlighten the lucid virtue” (*ming ming de*), to “approach the people” (*qin min*), and “to stop at the utmost goodness” (*zhi yu zhi shan*). Family plays a part in this grand equation. The regulation of one’s family depends on the cultivation of his personal moral character building, according to the adage. If regulating one’s family manifests harmony with the state, those at the higher levels of the ruling hierarchy play a critical role. A benevolent ruler is nevertheless not sufficient for the welfare of the people. It is necessary for everybody to study the world (*ge wu*) before they can reach perfect knowledge (*zhi zhi*), and only with perfect knowledge, people can accomplish sincerity (*cheng yi*). Only with sincerity, one can rectify one’s heart (*zheng xin*), and only in this way, man can practice self-cultivation (*xiu shen*). Once cultivated, one’s own family is united (*qi jia*), and only families that are in a state of unison can be governed (*zhi guo*) in the right way. If all these steps are achieved, there will be peace on earth (*ping tianxia*).’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 3)]] ‘Agricultural civilizations believe that the best way for a dead person to rest permanently is to be returned to the land, thus burial grounds are sacred as follows: one finds eternal peace when laid to rest in the land. This belief is also infused with the following circular interpretation of life: as life originates from the earth, life returns back to the earth. Falling leaves return to their roots, as the Chinese saying goes. Yellow, the color of the earth, is deemed holy.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 4)]] ‘In 1931, the Civil Code of the Republic of China represented an ideal. At approximately the same time, the New History emerged, which introduced Darwin’s theory of evolution into historical studies, emphasizing that historical research should focus on groups, not individuals, as history should be treated as an interrelated and organic whole; historical studies should utilize theories and methods from other disciplines including geography, anthropology, religion, political science, and law. \[…] If human evolution is a collective endeavor, one has to trace its roots to the most basic unit, that is, the family and the clan.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 4)]] ‘On January 13, 2018, *The Economist* published an article about family trees and ancestral belongings in China. The article observes that over the past couple of decades, clan associations have re-established themselves and worked to recompile *zupu*. The article also notes that websites are helping to make the search for family trees easier and even predicts that “with luck, searching for ancestors will someday be as easy as online shopping.”’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 6)]] ‘While constructing an accurate family genealogy remains challenging, *The Economist* article strikes home the following point: family history has taken a populist turn in China. Ordinary people build their family trees and meticulously trace their genealogies. Previously, strictly personal, private, and intimate stories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and family ephemera have become available representing a shifting combination of history and memory and the private and the public. As Hilda Kean writes in her wonderful study on creating personal and public histories of the working class in London, “The bits and pieces of personal lives can also be the subject matter of public histories, histories outside university rooms and libraries, that emphasize the engagement with history now.”’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 6)]] ‘The motivations for tracing such a family genealogy are mixed, but the search for long-lost family ties and connections is tangentially related to ethnicity or aristocratic affiliation, according Huihan Lie, the founder of My China Roots comments: “For people in their twenties, finding one’s genealogical roots is often part of their journey of self-discovery. Customers who are in their thirties or forties often have children or are in mixed marriages, and they want to know what family history to pass on to their children. For the older generations, it is often about unanswered questions and self-reflection. No matter the reason, it is all about identity in the end—a search for who they are.”’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 7)]] ‘As Simone Weil writes beautifully in *The Need for Roots*, “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. It is one of the hardest to define. A human being has roots by virtue of his real, active and natural participation in the life of a community which preserves in living shape certain particular treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future.”’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 7)]] ‘The Chinese government has had a long history of discouraging people from burying their dead. The reformers in the People’s Republic advocated for cremation, claiming that it symbolized modernity. A more recent effort to force the people to break with ancient burial rituals is backed by a more practical concern. The government believes that burial practices and mourning rituals could result in arable land becoming even scarcer, thus impairing China’s ability to feed its rapidly growing population. However, for many Chinese people, keeping the body intact epitomizes respect for one’s ancestors and is thus an inseparable part of family history and identity. Almost forty years ago, James Rhoads quoted John Gardner in discussing the importance of family history as follows: “All experience shows that our shared values survive best in coherent human groups—the family, the neighbourhood, the community.” When the government stepped-up anti-burial practices by setting cremation rate targets for selected areas and promoting eco-burials starting in 2012, some of the most basic connections and shared values of ordinary families were ruthlessly cut out.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 16)]] ‘A family (*Jiating*) is defined as a basic social and economic unit bonded by a specific form of marriage and is characterized by individuals living, working on the property, and eating together. The family’s collective cousin, that is, a clan (*Jiazu*), is a social organization characterized by the descendants of the male ancestors with the same family name, who are united by blood relations, abide by certain rules and regulations, and live together in a specific place for generations. *Zu*, which originally means many arrows in the same bag, has acquired a connotation of coming together in the Chinese language. A strong sense of kinship lies at the core of both the family and the clan.’ [[Li, ‘Family History in China at a Crossroads’, 2019|(Li 2019, 2)]] ^8516cc