Harmony between Families and the State

For the accomplishment of the harmony between families and the state，traditional Chinese political system was thus designed to enable the state to be a magnified family，and the family to be a reduced state，with families politicized and the state familialized.In the relationship between the emperor and his ministers，just like that of a father with his sons，ministers should remain loyal to their emperor unconditionally，just as the sons should be pious to their parents unconditionally.Only in this way could their relations be harmonious.This structural similarity between families and the state originated in the patriarchal clan system based on blood relations in ancient China，which had influenced China for more than two thousand years.Patriarchal clan system，based on blood relations，centered around the family，with characteristics as follows：

1）The system of heirship of the oldest son born of the wife：Within the patriarchal clan，the oldest son born of the wife，as the head of the clan，enjoyed the privilege to be piously worshipped by his clansmen，to officiate at sacrifice-offering rites at the ancestral temple，to be in control of properties of his clan，to preside over the clan affairs，to regulate the ritual behaviours of his clansmen，to punish those disobedient clansmen，to decide the adopted son for others，if they were sonless，to be mourned for three months after his death，and to pass his emoluments to his children after his death.It was institutionally established that the oldest son born of the wife enjoyed the heirship，which guaranteed the harmonious relationships within the family，by avoiding the internal strife among brothers.

2）The political pattern of the Zhou emperor，being the center，surrounded and shielded by his kinsmen or other royal family members who were granted noble titles of dukes:In the Western Zhou Dynasty，the oldest son born of the empress enjoyed the heirship to be thenext emperor after the death of his father，and the rest of the emperor’s sons would be conferred the titles of dukes.In feudal estates，the oldest son born of the wife had legitimate right to be the heir inheriting the largest share of the duke’s manor，and also the duke’s title after his father’s death，while the rest of the duke’s sons would be conferred the titles of senior officials.In the fief，the oldest son born of the wife had the legal right to inherit the title of senior official and the largest portion of the property after the death of his father，and the rest of his sons would be granted the titles of junior officials.The titles of junior officials would be inherited by his oldest son born of the wife，but the rest of his sons enjoyed no privilege and became commoners.This ever-title-conferring state，in many ways，resembles an extended family，where the relationship between the Zhou emperor and all his dukes should be harmonious.

Near the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty，also known in history as the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period，there sprang up like mushrooms many newly-invented systems，such as the system of prefectures and counties，the bureaucracy and the emoluments，which constituted strong challenge to the patriarchal clan system.With the replacement of the enfeoffment by that of prefectures and counties，the political power had been further separated from the clan power.The hereditary system of noble family and patriarchal clan had inevitably given way to the advantage of the royal family，which had ushered in the epoch of autocratic empire characteristic of “structural similarity between families and the state”.Since the Warring States period，Chinese society had undergone a radical restructuring process in which the emperors in the Western Han Dynasty，through their high-handed measures，had cracked down on the potential powerful families and clans，and kept them from forming strong and secrete clan organizations.From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei，the Jin，and the Southern and the Northern dynasties，as the royal power became weaker and weaker，the powerful families began to rise and grow and，little by little，attempted to challenge the political power of the state.Since the Sui and the Tang dynasties，more and more people of humble birth，through the imperial examinations，had entered into the officialdom，transforming the hierarchical order created by the patriarchal clan system.The Song Dynasty had rebuilt the patriarchal clan system that once had been seriously destroyed，and innovated on this system with“Clan Community”，rather than a simple return to the previous system in the Zhou Dynasty.This represented the transformation of patriarchal clan system into feudal family system.This newlyestablished system played an important part in the construction of local government，maximizing the advantages of both village and clan organizations，joint governance of local officials and clan elders.In consolidating the political power and stabilizing agricultural economy，clan power joined hands with political power with families even more closely related to the state，this resulted in the structural similarity between families and the state in the real sense.First of all，in the clan，the central figure，also the head of the clan，was elected by his clansmen for exercising all power，rather than traditionally giving the heirship by birth.Second，more importance was attached to the compiling and editing of genealogy，and the building of ancestral temples.Clansmen could have been made aware of their glorious ancestral past，through recording of family history，offering sacrifices to ancestors and making known the clan rules and regulations，to achieve the harmony among the clansmen so that they could contribute more to the locality.Third，clan rules and domestic discipline were worked out and promulgated to punish those violators.Fourth，in promoting the education of clan’s children and rewarding those diligent learners，they helped to cultivate talents for the nation.Fifth，in purchasing land for the clan，they could have enough money to offer sacrifices to ancestors，educate clan’s children and relieve those poor clansmen，and making the whole clan cohesive and home-like.A1l those advantages mentioned above helped to stabilize and consolidate the local as well as the national regimes in one way or another.

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