An Initial Research On Tujia Ethnic Patriarchal Clan System From Ming Dynasty To The Period Before PRC Was Founded

The patriach system that had been kept in Chinese history for thousands of years,as a special kind of political and social system, has a close link with and an extremely deep impression upon the politics, economics, military forces and culture in that time's society. Such a system, with the Characteristice of patriach and clan including class conflicts, has long aroused great interest from scholars home and abroad. However,nobody has ever tapped the same field that existed in Tujia Ethic people,and this paper is attempted to cover the missing link in Chinese history.Tujia ethnic is a typical high-and farming minority which has long been dwelling in Wuling hilly area that lies between Hubei, Hunan, Sicuan and Guizhou, provinces. Tujia people, accord ing to most history scholars' research , can be dated back to ancient Ba minority as its ancestry, which gradually melted other minorities into its group. Tujia ethnic patriachal clan system first arose in anicient families and tribes. The premative system was set up during Bazi state and was taken over by the feudal system during Tusi period in which feudal patriachal clan system developed ,flourished and kept its survival until the People's Republic of China was founded.During the feudal Ming and the Qing Dynasty, Tujia's patriarchal clan system was greatly affected by the feudal culture of Han people during its development. It consists of five factors that are tribal churchs, tribal assets, clan tree,clan law and the chief of tribe, which respectively exert their power in the basic mode of society that is organized from family members,through relatives to floks. Among the five factors, tribal asset belongs to the whole tribe in which all members regard it as combinative financial infrastucture and the economic premise for keeping the system on. But the system is materialized only when tribal church is set up. which symbolizes the clan and its centre where tribal rituals or activities are held. Then in order to record and keep relation?ship between tribal members, clan tree is made to strenghten kin and folk. From kin and folk ,the chief of the tribe generally comes out by election,who holds rituals and tribal asset, acts as a judge and an authority for making .modifying and executing the tribal law which binds all members over like a rope. Futher more , the tribal law is the principal norm that instructs members on what to do in daily life to serve the clan rule. Therefore, Tujia's patriarchal clan system, with its five factors, is in concordance with that of Han people.Through marriage, mankin^. is able to breed the descendant to set up the family and the kin group. In Tujia's custom,there are many kinds of marrige forms such as cousin marriage, keep 梚n ?home marriage (the widow remarries her late 梙usband's) brother , forced marriage , child marriage and selling marriage(buy a bride with money or goods) which reflect that marriage is controled by the privilege of tribe,privilege of father and privilege of husband under which a wonan in fact is nothing more than a bearing and breeding machine. This can be seen from Tujia's sobbing song for marriagewhich permeats with patriarchal clan contents, like a complaining manifesto against fuedalism.Tujia's birth custom prays for father right which imposes upon it deeply as morality. The private property can be handed over to the heir and even partly to male relationes instead of any heiress. And Tujia's burying custom shows an antiguely cultural picture in which the privilege of tribe,the privilege of father and the privilege of God are stamped.The Patriarchal clan phenomenon has affected Tujia's Tusi rule (its mainly political syslem)as well, This can be seen from the following two respects: First the official rank can be inherited, combining with property. And the political rule always intermingles with the privilege of tribe. Secondly the Tusi's rule system has widely adopted the feudal clan relation with which Tujia's rulers are able to control their showIdiers,peasants and servants, to deprive th...