The Security Function Of The Clan System In Ming And Qing Dynasties And Its Basic Social Controlling Institution

The traditional society of China is characterized by patriarchal clan system which can be traced back to the primitive period. The clan system is so deep-rooted that almost every aspect of the Chinese society was affected, the traditional village organization forms in particular. This system witnessed its own development from the premature clan before Qin dynasty, the politically aristocratic families from West and East Han dynasties to Sui and Tang dynasties, the feudal clans based on bureaucratic system in Song and Yuan dynasties to a new period in Ming and Qing—Gentry clan system. During this period, the clan system began to accommodate common people, the organization was improved and its influence to common people became all the more noticeable.The clan system can organize and educate the people, and also coordinate different parties of the society. One of the most important functions of this system is to guarantee the stability of the society. The introduction of this thesis is devoted to a review of researches about this subject. It also defines what a clan, feudal family and its function are and thus laid a foundation for this paper.In the first part, a careful research was done about the development and evolution of the clan system of traditional Chinese society because the functions of the clan system are different in various historical periods. This system began to approach common people in Ming and Qing dynasties and the security policies taken in these periods delivered an unprecedented influence to the grass-roots. This is the background of this paper.The second part provides an analysis of the geographic, economic, institutional, mental and ethical preconditions for fulfilling the security function of the clan system with regard to caring the old, educating the young, treating the ill and helping the poor. This security function is, to some extent, in line with the needs of traditional Chinese society in rural areas. Besides family rules are enacted widely then, which serve as a kind of institutional guarantee for the implementation of this function. Some fields and country estates were set aside for helping those in needs. With these economic foundations, the security function of the clan system wasn't reduced to a castle in the air.The third part is about how the security function of the clan system influences the grass-root social orders. It is an efficient way of controlling and winning the common people. On one hand, by ensuring the basic needs of the poor, it forged a reliance relationship between those people and clan, and thus helps stabilize the society. On the other, some use this security function as bait and take advantage of common people to fight in or between different clans. These are the destabilizing factors in society. Undoubtedly, the security function neither eliminated the gap between the rich and the poor, nor reversed the trend of polarization. It only helped alleviate the conflicts to some extent. The Gentry class was active as the organizer and builder of this security system. As a connection between the common people and government, they played an irreplaceable role in maintaining the stability of the society.In the fourth part, a further research was done on the influence of the security system to the primary level of society, that is the relationship between the clan security system and basic social organizations. In the past, these basic organizations include the pao-chia system, li-chia system and local authorities. Clan is a non-governmental organization, but it sometimes overrides the official organizations in controlling the primary level of society. Taxation is the foundation of government; a clan, with the security system as guarantee, family rules as regulation, plays an important role in ensuring the payment of tax and thus safeguarding the economic foundation of government. Meanwhile, this part also gives an analysis of its influence to the local security, education and culture and came to the conclusion that it has double effects for local security, does great contribution to culture and brought into being many families that were government officials or men of letters for generations. In brief, a study of the clan system and basic social control institutions in Ming and Qing dynasties can give us a better knowledge of the clan system, characters of its security system in particular, and traditional Chinese social organizations, and also provides useful reference for modern social security building.