The Study Of Lineage Of South China In The New Period(1980-2018)

From the perspective of lineage and regional society research,this paper sorts out the study of lineage of South China in the new era systematically,point out the mian research approaches,the inheritance of academic tradition and the theoretical method of application in this period.Firstly,this paper clarifies the academic and the theoretical origins of lineage studies in China in the new era,and points out how they shape the situation,characteristics and development trend of subsequent research.The paper points out that there are three basic research approaches in the study of lineage in South China in the new era,namely,the research approach of regional socioeconomic history,anthropology and historical anthropology.The former was mainly influenced by the socioeconomic history of China,which was clearly reflected in the study of lineage in the Fujian and Guangdong region during the Ming and Qing dynasty.Among them,the Chinese socioeconomic Historiography School of Xiamen University,with Fu Yiling and his disciples as its core,exerted great efforts on Fujian lineage in Ming and Qing Dynasties and achieved fruitful results.It mainly focuses on the study of the issues of township,businessmen of lineage,lineage society and culture,and lineage organization.The lineage studies in Guangdong focus on economic issues,including the economic history of cities and towns,the history of Taxation and corvee system,and the development of Shatian.Influenced by the theory of “regional society”,Japanese scholars tend to study regional society,gentry,market circle,taxation system,Lijia system and so on.The anthropological study since reconstruction has focused on Han Chinese lineage village communities in Fujian and Guangdong.In terms of methodology,it continues the academic tradition of functionalism and community studies in the first half of the twentieth century,focusing on the discussion of regional social and cultural changes.It also forms a discussion that emphasizes the relationship between local society and the state,introduces the method of social history,and closely combines the study of synchronic structure with the study of diachronic social change.In the research paradigm,although still dominated by “clan villages”,but on this basis,put forward new theories and methods,expand new horizons.Since the 1990 s,the study of lineage history in Ming and Qing Dynasties in South China has gradually jumped out of the research field of regional socio-economic history,turned to regional social history,and developed the research paradigm of historical anthropology.In the study of the regional social history of the South China School,the focus is on the interaction between local society and the state,and lineage has become the platform for the exchange of the two.The most remarkable difference between his research on lineage history and the previous studies on Chinese lineage history lies in the transformation of methods and perspectives,which forms the research approach of historical anthropology.On the basis of fully summing up the experience of the former two,this approach is a more conscious promotion on the level of combining theory with practice.The study of lineage of South China in the new era has been deeply influenced by Western academic thoughts,especially the theory of lineage of Freedman in South China and regional system theory of G.William Skinner,as well as the theory and method of Annales School's historiography.Therefore,special attention should be paid to the application of social science method,the combination of history and anthropological theories and methods,and the internal mechanism of regional society development from the perspective of regional research.Thus,the characteristics of close integration between lineage research and regional society research have been formed.Throughout this period,there are obviously two basic trends in the study of lineage in South China.One is the gradual convergence of history and anthropology,and the development of historical anthropology,the other is the interaction between lineage studies and regional society research,focusing on the discussion of similarities and differences within the regional society.In this paper,the patriarchal lineage research in South China is embedded in the context of the development of regional society research.The purpose is to provide a basic framework for understanding the contemporary regional society research in China by discussing the interaction between them.