zongfa 宗法しゅうほう, lineage system

The lineage system (zongfa 宗法しゅうほう) served in ancient China to discern different lineages of a family cluster, and to rank them with respect to a common ancestor. The system is commonly believed to originate in the Western Zhou period 西にし周あまね (11th cent.-770 BCE), yet there might have been precursors of it during the Shang period 商しょう (17th-11th cent. BCE) which discerned between a primary lineage and lateral lineages, as can be seen in expressions like dazong 大宗たいそう "grand lineage (head)", xiaozong 小しょう宗むね "lesser lineage (head)", Yin min liu zu 殷いん民みん六ろく族ぞく, or Yin min qi zu 殷いん民みん七なな族ぞく "the six/seven lineages of the Yin/Shang".

The Zhou-period lineage system is described in detail in the ritual Classics Yili 儀禮ぎれい and Liji 禮れい記き, mainy the latter's chapters Dazhuan 大傳だいでん and Sangfu xiaoji 喪服もふく小しょう記き. Yet references to the lineage system can be found in other texts as well, for instance, the ode Ban 板いた in the Shijing 詩經しきょう "Book of Songs", where it is said that "great families are buttresses [for the royal house]" (dazong wei han 大宗たいそう維翰), and "the king's younger relatives are like a wall" (zong zi wei cheng 宗子むねこ維城).

The lineage system of the Zhou, be it that of the Son of Heaven or that of the regional rulers, stipulated that the oldest son (or the son of the primary consort, di 嫡, dizhangzi 嫡長子ちょうし) succeeded his father, establishing a "grand lineage" (dazong 大宗たいそう, zongzi 宗子むねこ, "son of the [main] lineage"), while his younger brothers (biezi 別べつ子こ "the separate sons", zhizi 支ささえ子こ "sons of the sideline", shu 庶, shuzi 庶子しょし) venerated the same ancestor, but founded "lesser lineages" (xiaozong 小しょう宗むね). Members of the family cluster (zongzu 宗族そうぞく) were discerned by a different surname (shi 氏し, like an office or a place name, or different characters used to discern the generations, beifen 輩やから份), while their family name was the same (Ji 姬ひめ in case of the Zhou dynasty). An alternative mode of distinguishing generations or social ranks of brothers was the zhao-mu system 昭あきら穆きよし.

The earliest study of the ancient lineage system is Cheng Yaotian's 程ほど瑤よう田た (1725-1814) Zongfa xiaoji 宗法しゅうほう小しょう記き.

The members and heads of the grand lineage had the right and obligation to "manage" all male persons of the lateral lineages. For this reason, a common saying called this type of large family cluster "a house that will not break apart in a hundred generations" (bai shi bu qian zhi zong 百ひゃく世せい不ふ遷之宗むね). Members of the lesser or lateral lineages had to obey the head of the grand lineage, but were also subject to the elder members of their own lineage. The word zong refers to the lineage as well as to its present head.

The Duke of Zhou 周しゅう公こう旦だん, for instance, was a younger son of King Wen 周しゅう文ぶん王おう, while the oldest son of the primary consort, King Wu 周しゅう武たけし王おう, inherited the throne. The Duke of Zhou's son, Bo Qin 伯はく禽, was invested as regional ruler of the secondary state of Lu 魯, and was thus the High Ancestor (shizu 始祖しそ, taizu 太ふとし祖そ) of the dukes of Lu. Even if being a lesser lineage head (xiaozong) from the perspective of the king of Zhou, he was the major lineage head (dazong) of the dukes of Zhou.

A younger son of a regional ruler, say, a duke (gongzi 公子こうし "ducal son"), had not the right to "succeed in the paternal temple" (xu mi 繼つぎ禰) and even to venerate his father as an ancestor, but had to establish a lineage of its own (as biezi 別べつ子こ; xiaozong from the viewpoint of his older brother, but dazong from the viewpoint of his own offspring). The oldest son of the new lineage founder would then "succeed in the respective paternal temple", and this mode would last for "a hundred generations". The younger sons of this lateral lineage (gongsun 公孫こうそん "ducal grandsons") had not the right to succeed in the lineage, but were allowed to venerate their father as the common lineage ancestor (dazong). While each of the younger sons of the following generations was a lesser lineage head (xiaozong), the person of first generation opening a "separated line" (biezi) was the major lineage head (dazong) of his descendants, and was venerated in their ancestral shrines as grandfather (zu 祖そ), great-grandfather (zengzu 曾祖そうそ), and great-great-grandfather (gaozu 高祖こうそ), but the fifth generation after him became commoners (shuren 庶人), in the words of the Sangfu xiaoji, there was a shift downward of the head of lesser lineages (qian zong 遷宗).

Figure 1. Beginning of Cheng Yaotian's 程ほど瑤よう田た "Ancestral Lineage Chart" (Zongfabiao 宗法しゅうほう表ひょう)

The chart shows six generations, beginning with the ancestor (zu 祖そ), being a "separate [younger] son" (biezi 別べつ子こ) of a duke (gongzi 公子こうし). He was in a minor position (bei 卑) than his older brother (the father duke's successor), who held a higher position (zun 尊みこと). The separate son's oldest son (a ducal grandson, gongsun 公孫こうそん) succeeded his father and founded a new lineage as a major lineage head (dazong 大宗たいそう), ruling over all other sons. From Zongfa xiaoji 宗法しゅうほう小しょう記き (Xuxiu siku quanshu 續ぞく修おさむ四よん庫こ全書ぜんしょ edition). Click to enlarge.

The symbol of the power of the grand lineage head was the maintenance of an ancestral temple (zongmiao 宗廟そうびょう) for the whole lineage cluster, while the heads of the lesser lineages had temples of their own. All sacrifices in the temples had to be supervised by the lineage heads. Apart from sacrifices to the ancestors, the lineage heads regulated many aspects of daily life, for instance, the capping rites (guanli 冠かんむり禮あや) celebrating the becoming of manhood of a young boy, weddings (hunli 婚禮こんれい), covenants between lineage members (mengshi 盟めい誓ちかい), or the celebration of higher birthdays. All these events took place in the ancestral temples, which therefore can be seen as a symbol for the coherence of the whole family cluster.

The lineage head, who more or less symbolized the High Ancestor of the whole lineage cluster, had the last word in all decisions, and even had superiority over family members being wealthy or having achieved high positions in the officialdom. He could direct, penalize, and grant protection (bihu 庇護ひご). When he died, lineage members had to wear sackcloth for three months (qi cui san yue 齊ひとし衰おとろえ[=縗]三さん月がつ).

During the Zhou period, a lineage head even disposed of armed forces consisting of lineage members. This small "army" could be used as auxiliary unit supporting the royal troops (see Zhou military). During the battle of Yanling 鄢陵 in 575 BCE between the regional states of Chu 楚すわえ and Jin 晉すすむ, the latter was supported by the armies of the houses of Luan 欒, Fan 范, Zhonghang 中ちゅう行ゆき, and Xi 郤, all of them being lateral lineages of the ducal house of Jin. Alternatively, a regional ruler (being the head of the grand lineage) could order lateral houses to punish one of them, like in the state of Song 宋そう, where Duke Wen 宋そう文ぶん公こう (r. 610-589) ordered the houses of Dai 戴, Zhuang 莊そう, and Huan 桓 to punish the lateral lineage of Wu 武ぶ.

The jurisdictional power of the head of the grand lineage can be see in the case of Zhao Yang 趙ちょう鞅 (Zhao Jianzi 趙ちょう簡子), who forced Zhao Wu 趙ちょう午うま to cede 500 families (and the revenue from their households), and later killed him because of "negligence". Zhi Ying 知ち罃 (Xun Ying 荀罃), being captured by the army of Chu and set free after having paid a ransom, expressed his willingness to receive punishment for his military failure. Zhao Ying 趙ちょう嬰 was once exiled to Qi 齊ひとし because of illicit relationships with a married woman.

When executing punishment, regional rulers used to ask for confirmation by a lineage head, as can be seen in the case of You Chu 游ゆう楚すわえ, whose sending into exile was first to be reconfirmed by Da Shu 大だい叔, the head of his lineage. The lineage heads could thus be used by the state to perform administrative and jurisdictional functions. One consequence of this constellation was that lineage members paid sometimes greater loyalty to their "family" than to the state or its representative, the duke.

The households of lineage heads were of considerable size and had to be managed by stewards (shilao 室しつ老おい, zonglao 宗そう老ろう, zongren 宗人むねと), who oversaw all matters of the household and the estates of the family. They were heads of a staff including caretakers for the household (jiazai 家いえ宰おさむ) and the estates (yizai 邑宰), and managers for land and revenue (situ 司つかさ徒と), horses and arms (sima 司馬しば) or such for construction work (gongshi 工こう師し).

The autonomy of lineages ended where the state began. As most members of lateral lineages took over state offices as ministers (qing 卿きょう), grand masters (dafu 大夫たいふ), or servicemen (shi 士し), they were tied to the grand lineage by two means, namely the genealogical one, and the political one, and of those two, the latter had a greater weight. Nonetheless, certain state ceremonies (banquets, covenants, funerals) required that members of closer lineages had ceremonial preference over those of distant lineages. At least in theory, the Son of Heaven was the head of the grand lineage, and the regional rulers those of lateral lineages.

A common image is that the oldest son of the primary consort of the king of Zhou succeded to him, while younger sons were made regional rulers. The oldest sons of them succeeded as regional rulers, while younger sons were made ministers or grand masters. The oldest sons of them inherited the office of minister or grand master, while their younger sons were made servicemen, and the younger sons of the generation below had the fate of being made commoners (Zhou et al. 1998). Yet this image is not correct. In practice, the system was applied to the descendants of regional rulers who were in the administration of the regional states appointed grand masters and servicemen. Even if many of the early regional rulers were indeed sons and descendants of the kings of Zhou, the zongfa system did not apply to the king or the regional rulers, as there was a difference between the succession of rule (juntong 君きみ統みつる) and that of ancestral veneration (zongtong 宗そう統みつる), and a matter of political rights (zhengquan 政權せいけん) vs. lineage rights (zuquan 族ぞく權けん) (Jin 1956: 205).

The importance of the lineages of the nobility declined during the Warring States period 戰國せんごく (5th cent.-221 BCE), but basic patterns remained and were gradually adopted by the common people.