| This dissertation examines lineages in China during the Western Zhou period based on inscriptions on bronze ritual vessels considered in the full light of their archaeological context. Rather than approaching lineages through the abstract idealizations of kinship presented in classical texts, this dissertation examines lineages through the textual and material remains of cultural practices undertaken by actual individuals and groups in particular contexts. By focusing on such artifacts, this dissertation aims to reconstruct both the history of particular lineages and a concept of lineage as it was manifest in the practice of ancestor worship, funerary ritual, and political patronage by Western Zhou elite. In case studies of three important lineages, I reconstruct the identities and interrelationships of lineage members through an analysis of personal names in inscriptional texts. Relating these reconstructions to archaeological sites, I map out lineage growth in time and space and suggest a model for the growth and diversification of lineages. Chapter One consists of a study of naming conventions based on inscriptions relating to the Shan lineage. Investigating the various appellation formats used for deceased ancestors and living descendants, this chapter demonstrates that personal names encode relationships underlying fundamental social, religious, and political institutions. Chapter Two examines differentiation within lineages on the basis of inscriptions and archaeological sites associated with the Guo lineage, showing that lineages were complex institutions that maintained ties among distinct and regionally differentiated branches. Chapter Three examines the political nature of lineages through a reconstruction of the Jing lineage, showing that its growth and diversification were closely related to political developments within the royal court. In addition to providing reconstructions of three important lineages, this dissertation shows that lineages were robust social and political groups that functioned to regulate and organize the growth and reproduction of elite families as well as to provide the Zhou royal house a measure of control in that process. This dissertation is significant for its refinement in the methodology for working with personal names in inscriptions and because it presents a model for the investigation of Western Zhou social history through contemporary textual and material artifacts. |
