SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The thesis attempts to show the workings of modern change in a Chinese lineage-village. To do so, historical materials (genealogies, Chinese and British government records, etc.) have "been used wherever possible to create a picture of the lineage-village as it was before the period of change commenced at the end of the 19th century. Material, "both historical and actual, was gathered in libraries as well as in the course of a protracted residence in the village. The lineage is viewed both as a discrete group and as a unit in a wider society. The internal organization of the lineage is analyzed under the two main heads of Community and Kinship-ritual, dualistic patterns of segmentation and leadership being particularly emphasised, while the duality is shown to have great importance in regard to change, which is seen to have destroyed the balance between the two factors. Care has been taken to describe the lineage in relation to its environment, not only by means of a lengthy geographical and historical introduction, but by tracing out also the relationships of the lineage with other groups similarly and dissimilarly constituted. The effect of these relationships on leadership, land-holdings, aggrandizement, etc, is shown. The external factors contributing to change, and the acceleration in the process of change in recent years are detailed, and it is pointed out that certain phenomena of the lineage-village acted as vehicles for change, giving change with continuity in many aspects of village life.