The process of genealogy decline
As mentioned above, until the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the genealogy that maintained the aristocratic family and aristocratic system was still being rebuilt, the genealogy was still quite prosperous, and there were many genealogists. But after the mid-Tang Dynasty, especially after the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the situation changed completely. At this time, the genealogy has been scattered and declined, and we can't even name an influential genealogist. This shows that after the complete disintegration of the aristocratic family organization, the genealogy and genealogy that maintained its rule have completed their historical mission and been sent to the museum. The genealogy, which records the rank of the gentry and studies the blood lineage of the people, is hidden in the original of the government, that is, the genealogy of the world that the people chose to marry. Because of the long-term war, the regime changed frequently, and most of them were destroyed by the war. In the later Tang Dynasty, Duluge said that the imperial court chose officials to test the "endless documents" of the lineage (The History of the New Five Dynasties, Volume 28, The Biography of Duluge), which meant that the genealogy had been broken. As for the private copy and the single surname spectrum, they were either destroyed by war, together with the owner and manor, or lost in escape and migration. During the Five Dynasties, Dou Luge once asked the waiter Guo Chongtao, "King Fenyang (referring to Guo Ziyi) is a northerner. Your ancestral home is Yanmen. Is it his descendant? " Chongtao replied, "I lost my genealogy because of chaos. I have heard from my father that I have been to King Fenyang for four generations. " (History of the Old Five Dynasties, Volume 57, Biography of Guo Chongtao) It can be seen that it is a common phenomenon to lose genealogy in the war. Because the genealogy had no practical significance at that time, people paid little attention to its dispersion and there was no need to rebuild it. Since genealogy plays no significant role in politics, it is of little value to study it, and genealogists naturally disappear. Since the Northern Song Dynasty, many scholars have talked about the decline of genealogy many times. For example, Su Xun said that since the decline of the Tang Dynasty, the genealogy has been abolished (Su Xun: Su's Genealogy and Jia You Ji, Volume XIII); Hu Yinglin said that since the Five Dynasties, people did not advocate the gate valve and genealogy, so it has not been passed down (Hu Yinglin: "Shao's Mountain House Pen Cluster", Volume 39); Gui Youguang said that after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, officials were elected according to the halls, so genealogy research was particularly prosperous, and it was still advocated until Li Tang. After the decline of the Five Dynasties, the genealogy disappeared (Gui Youguang's Preface to Longyou Weng's Genealogy and Mr. Zhenchuan's Collection, Volume II). What they said about the decline of genealogy is in line with historical reality.
2. After the Northern Song Dynasty (950- 1 100), people no longer knew where their lineage came from.
Genealogy is a book that records the origin, blood relationship and family status of the gentry, and is the basis for distinguishing people's status. The development, reproduction and official position of a gentry family from several generations to more than ten generations are recorded in the genealogy, so they know the names and positions of their ancestors (usually from Wei and Jin Dynasties) like the back of their hands, and the analysis and development of the clan within the family are also very clear, and the kinship between people is also very clear. With the decline of genealogy, the situation in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty was completely changed. Most of the royal families and even dignitaries in the past dynasties were born in civilian landlords, and many poor scholars climbed to high positions through the imperial examination. Few of them can find out who is their ancestor for more than five generations. Some people are unknown even if they know what they are. For example, several prime ministers in the early Song Dynasty, such as Fan Ju and Wang Pu, can only be blamed on their fathers. Wei Renpu was lonely and poor when he was a child. What's his father's name? It is not recorded in the history books. Although Zhao Pu's lineage can be counted as his great-grandfather, it is still unknown whether he went up (for this case, see Biography of Song History). They all climbed to the top by the road of Zhongshi, not because of the shadow of the family. Because there is no genealogy record, the genealogy of the family can only be passed down by word of mouth. After a long time, it is not clear who is whose ancestor, who is whose descendant, and what is the blood relationship between the living people. The lineage of the family has become a muddled account, and even people who really come from famous families in history can't figure out their origins. This is what Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi and others said: People don't know that their "unification comes from the local". (Zhang Zai: Confucian Classics and Patriarchal Grottoes, Zhang Zaiji, p. 258; Cheng Yi: The Language of Mr. Yichuan, II, p. 179. )
The genealogy of Song and Ming Dynasties is the main link to maintain the blood relationship of the family.
Every feudal family organization that lived together must have one or even several genealogies. Genealogy has different names, such as genealogy, genealogy and family riding. The genealogy of large families with large population, like their ancestral halls, can be divided into genealogy, branch genealogy, total genealogy, sub-genealogy, Datong genealogy, small genealogy and so on. After the Song Dynasty, with the formation of modern feudal family system, genealogy was very popular. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, in the countryside, it can be said that there were neither people without a clue nor people without a clue.
1, the content of genealogy
Genealogy is a bookish thing, and its basic content consists of the following parts.
First, the main content of genealogy is the genealogy and consanguinity map of the whole nation, which generally accounts for more than 90% of the space. The genealogy chart records the name, font size, date of birth and death, burial place, spouse's surname, date of birth and death, as well as the number of children born, children's names, women's livable place names, etc. "As for taboos, marry a family, have a few children, be buried somewhere, live for a certain number of years, and when you are prepared, you can show the future." (Song Lian: Collection of Fu's Poems, Selected Works of Song and Shi Xue. "Hanyuan Bieji" (Volume 9) Those who learn well and become officials should also remember their resumes. It is not too complicated for every generation to make such detailed records. Because only in this way can the family blood relationship be clear. There are two basic forms of genealogy: schema and table. Schema is to draw a sketch of the lineage of the whole family. Pay attention to the main content in the picture, so that people can see it at a glance. The table type is to sort out the family lineage into a table, and note the contents of the lineage into Hugue in fine print, which can also get a clear effect.
The second is to publish various family laws and regulations, family training, family training and so on. "List family precepts, family laws and court precepts, establish patriarchal clan system and extend national laws." (The genealogy of Wu family in Ganyang, Kangxi) If a family has a history of hundreds of years, there are many family laws and regulations formulated in the past dynasties, and the genealogy is detailed. Only a few newly emerged families have not made written family laws when they revised their genealogy, and their genealogy lacks this part. This kind of thing is one of the characteristics of the organizational structure of feudal families. The purpose of being included in the genealogy is to make it easy to preach to future generations at ordinary times, and to ask the people to abide by it forever, so that the patriarch can punish the people who refuse to accept the rule according to this family law.
Third, the location and map of ancestral halls, ancestral halls and clan commons, as well as records of Yitian, epitaph and land purchase deed. "The maps of its ancestral halls, rules and regulations, and sacrificial offerings should also be recorded in detail, so as to see the meaning of chasing the distance in the newspaper, and then check it" (the genealogy of Wang in Wujiang, Daoguang, the first volume of which contains the case of continuing genealogy compiled by Gan Long). The basic outline of the ancestral temple, several steps, portal windows and fence facilities. Everything should be clearly drawn and engraved into the family tree. If the ancestral hall is built on newly purchased land with different surnames, the purchase process should be recorded in the genealogy, and the title deed should be attached to prevent property rights disputes. The ancestors of a family often have many places, most of which are mixed between fields with different surnames. Abandoned in the outer suburbs and rural areas, there is no special person to manage. After years of sun, rain and wind erosion, trees will break and traces will disappear. Therefore, it is necessary to record the orientation, position and four directions of each cemetery in detail on the genealogy, and carve a sketch. "Ancestors, or drawing a map is better than painting, or in the book lineage, a mountain in a certain direction, located somewhere, to avoid being occupied. I will never forget it. " ("Kangxi Ganyang Wu Genealogy" (Volume 1).
The fourth is the family history. The genealogy of each family must begin with a small preface called "family origin" or "family surname origin", which describes the origin of family surname, the origin of ancestors, the process of migration, the beginning and end of prosperity, the deeds of ancestors and so on. Family history is not only a tool for family forces to educate their clansmen on patriarchal ideology, but also a basis for examining the origin of family system. Generally speaking, the origin of a family is clear, the context of migration analysis is clear, and the blood relationship is bound to be clear.
2. The line pronoun school of genealogy.
This is also the main rule contained in genealogy. Line generation school, also known as "Zi", is named after it, which distinguishes generations and grades. The line generation school developed for a long time before it entered the genealogy. Finally, the name class that plays a role in consolidating the clan is the surname. The surname is the name of the tribe, and everyone uses the same surname, which means that everyone belongs to this family. Later, the race multiplied, the population expanded, and the family became more and more divided, so the surname appeared, which is a branch below the surname. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, surnames and surnames were unified, and at the same time, the system of gate and valve rose again, so the concept of family status and family background was very important in society. At this time, people consider using names to express their peers.
First of all, people are used to expressing their peers, especially their rankings. These commonly used ranking words are: long, second, young, less, yuan and so on. The functions of these characters are the same as those in the pre-Qin period: Meng, Bo, Zhong, Shu, Ji and so on. And it is usually the first word in the word. Both Chang and Yuan said that they ranked first, especially in Zi. For example, in the Jin Dynasty, Wang Yue's word Chang Yu and Huan Wen's word were the eldest sons. In addition, the figures related to Dragon and Yuan are Changqing of Han Dynasty and Nao of Xu Shu. The second is the second son, ranking second. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, I gave the word Tong to my second grandson. Young and naive are both the meaning of the younger son, ranking last. For example, Sun Jian, the master of Soochow, wrote a platform, his younger brother Sun Jing wrote a platform, Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty wrote a platform, and Ma Su of Three Kingdoms wrote a platform. Shao means younger brother. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Jing had a brother whose name was Shao Zhang. In addition, it is also useful to give life to the brothers at home with a word that does not mean ranking. For example, the words of Yuan Shao's son are all marked with the first word. People in the lower classes often use numbers to indicate their ranking.
After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people gradually changed the characters representing generations from words to names, that is, the general generations in the current genealogy. Du Fu had two sons named Wen Zong and Zong Wu in Tang Dynasty, and Su Shi and Su Zhe were brothers in Song Dynasty. They also represent two main forms of line generation school.
The school of different generation characters is to restrict the use of words in different generation names. For example, one generation uses Ming characters for their names, and the other generation uses German. The Confucian school of generations began with thinking of Hui, and he stipulated that the next generation should use grams. In the next generation, they are used in names in turn: Xi, Yan, Cheng, Hong, Wen, Zhen, Shang, Yan, Xing, Yu, Chuan, Guang, Zhao, Xian, Qing, Fan, Detailed, Ling, De, Wei, Hang, You, Qin, Shao, Nian and Xian. Mr Kong Decheng, who lives in Taiwan Province, is the 77th grandson of Confucius.
Generally speaking, the school of substituting characters was formulated by a celebrity in the family, and many of them were compiled into auspicious words, and some literati even wrote poems. For example, in Zhejiang's "Down Family Tree", a generation of characters is Fulu Yongchang Dragon, kind and beautiful, intelligent Rui Ningcong. The line generation school of Wang's genealogy in Hubei Province is: aboveboard, successful in the future, prolonged in the world, and thoughtful at home.
Some of them are used in the first word of a name, and some are used in the last word. The former is the majority. When considering the school of line generation, we should not only consider its meaning, but also take into account pronunciation. Fonts are suitable for naming names, and they can also be combined with a large number of words to be famous, so as not to duplicate names because there are many people. When it was almost used up, the respected brigade commander at home extended it again.
The influence of this generation of characters on names is various. It increases the number of double-word names, because this generation of characters can only have double-word names. However, because one of the words belongs to the line generation school, people in the same generation in the family use this word, and there are not many words that can enter the line generation school in society, so this is not a real two-word name, but a single-word name with family logo. The line generation school also restricts the use of another word of one name. On the one hand, there are not many words in school, and there are not many combinations of them. On the other hand, many people like to create another word related to each other. For example, Du Zhou's three sons were named Shouyan, Kaoyan and Yanyan respectively, and Shouyan, Kaoyan and Nian all represent life span, but after all, there are not many such words. If there are more than a dozen people in this generation, it will be very difficult. Therefore, the word-making school often leads to vague names and obscure words. This is because genealogy not only emphasizes intergenerational relations, but also attaches great importance to taboo names, and duplicate names are not allowed.
Another school of coinage is to specify the radicals of names. For example, in A Dream of Red Mansions, the Jia family substitutes the word "Fu" for the second time, qi for the third time, Wang for the fourth time and Fu for the fifth time, such as Jia Jing, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong. It seems that this genre has a wider range of words, but it is limited from generation to generation.
As a tool to strengthen the patriarchal clan system, the word generation school of genealogy fully embodies this purpose, and there are three main categories. One is virtue or auspicious words, such as: virtue, benevolence, clarity, integrity, loyalty, sincerity, filial piety, courtesy, happiness, luck, virtue, goodness and so on. The second category is the hope that the clan will continue and prosper, such as eternity, inheritance, prosperity, prosperity, delay, inheritance, inheritance, the world, and so on. The third category is people who cherish the memory of their ancestors and praise the kindness of the emperor, such as Ze, Zu, Xian, Rong, En, Qi and Xian. This also limits the use of words in the production of words.
Genealogy was very popular among families above middle age after the Song and Yuan Dynasties (A.D. 1000- 1200), and even influenced the royal family. In the Qing dynasty, both methods were used for the imperial clan. For example, the first word of Yong Zhengdi's name is Yin, and the last word is water. Emperor Qianlong's generation were all Hongzi, followed by Japanese. Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Xianfeng also stipulated four schools of words: Yong, Mian, Yi, Zai, Pu, Yu, Yuan, Qi, Dao, Qi, Zeng and Qi.
3. Time interval for updating genealogy.
A family's genealogy must be updated regularly. Because every once in a while, there will always be new children at home, married daughters-in-law, and the population will increase, and old people will die and add graves. Although it is forbidden to buy and sell family businesses, prosperous families will buy family businesses, and dilapidated families and family businesses will inevitably be betrayed and changed by unscrupulous descendants. Therefore, the genealogy must be updated regularly to reflect the above new changes in the genealogy, so as to ensure the clarity and accuracy of the family blood relationship. Most families stipulate that the interval between refresher courses is thirty years or three generations. "Spectrum compulsory three generations, fear of the world for a long time, all lost. The disadvantages of deviation are not small. " (The genealogy of the Wang family in Dongxi, Guangxu Spring Valley, the first volume of which contains the general outline of continuing to repair the old genealogy) Many families also stipulate that the genealogy should be overhauled every 30 years. "After the genealogy is redefined, it will be submitted once every ten years and repeated once every thirty years. It will be engraved and attached to the genealogy, so it will not be difficult to record for a long time. " (Daoguang Xiangshan Huang's family rules) It is unfilial for a family not to repair music for 30 years. "It is not appropriate to fix the spectrum for a long time. The ancients said that genealogy should be revised once every 30 years, and it would be unfilial not to follow it (The Genealogy of Ji Family in Pucheng, Republic of China, Volume I, Spectrum Training). In this case, the patriarchs and deacons in the clan should be punished by national laws and family laws. After thirty years' revision of genealogy, two generations in the family can be connected in general. Thirty years is the growth time of a generation. If we update the genealogy every 30 years, we can accurately record the changes of kinship in the family in the past 30 years while the older generation is still alive and the new generation has grown up. If the interval is too long, the old people will die one after another, and the change of population in the tribe will be inaccurate, which will inevitably lead to the confusion of blood relationship.
4. Examples of modifying the music spectrum
The so-called "righteous example" is similar to the guiding ideology we are talking about today. Whether genealogy can play a role in maintaining the family system depends on what kind of examples are followed to compile. If the guiding ideology is not clear, what should be written is not written, what should not be written is written again, or everything is eclectic, everything must be recorded, which will not only fail to consolidate family rule, but also backfire and weaken and disperse the family system. What is the most basic example of genealogy? It is the words "hiding evil and promoting good" and "family taboo". This is a basic principle summarized in the development of modern feudal genealogy for hundreds of years. One is to promote goodness and write well, "the genealogy is authentic, so it is good to use books alone" (The Genealogy of Huang Family in Tongcheng, Jiaqing, Volume 1, Ordinary Cases). The second is to hide evil and not write bad things. Ancestors have done bad things and are not allowed to write them down in the genealogy. "If there is a genealogy case, the book can't be cut, and the offender Xu Fangchang (that is, the patriarch) will handle it in the temple" ("Daoguang Wuwei Chalin Xu's Genealogy" is the first volume of the book, which contains the "rules" between Qianlong and Qianlong).
5. Preservation of genealogy
When the genealogy is printed, it should be distributed to the people for preservation, so that it can be queried when necessary and play a role. Genealogy is generally a room, and no more copies are allowed. The person in charge of genealogy is the room owner, and some families stipulate that the person who pushes the room is the person in charge of genealogy. When collecting and keeping genealogy, genealogists should register with the patriarch and indicate the name of the genealogy, so as to check whether the genealogy is well preserved, damaged or lost, and distinguish the responsibilities. A family often puts forward strict requirements for the collection and preservation of genealogy in family law rules. If it is necessary to put the genealogy into the special wooden box of ancestral temple or hide it in the library, it shall not be placed at will to desecrate the genealogy. Wooden cases are not allowed to be used for other purposes, genealogies are not allowed to be eaten by rats, eaten by insects, soaked in oil, rotted, lost or scattered, and are not allowed to be copied privately or lent to people with other surnames for reading. Offenders will be punished according to family law. If genealogists dare to deceive the public, sell their genealogy, and sell their genealogy for profit, it will be regarded as unfilial, hell to pay. In order to master the collection and preservation of genealogy, family members should check it once or several times a year. During the inspection, the genealogist brought the genealogy of the original font size to the ancestral hall. First, genealogists check each other, and then the patriarch judges. Those who keep it well will be praised and rewarded, and those who keep it badly will be criticized and punished.
From the regulations of Chen Heping and YueYang on genealogy collection in Xiangtan, we can see that the family attaches great importance to this: "Anyone who leads genealogy should attack it with different methods and be careful not to lend it out." Even if it is a disaster that is incompatible with fire and water, it is tantamount to deed. ..... It is agreed that an inquest will be conducted jointly by the public once every three years. In case of filth, alteration, scattered bones, rat bite, and the box being used for other purposes, it will be punished again. "("Xuan Tong Xiangtan Chen Baisha Genealogy "in front of the" family rules ")
"Genealogy, all ancestors, father, taboo, see spectrum that is, see ancestors, father also, should respect the collection, not blasphemy. Nothing is better than putting it in a wooden box, putting it on incense, or hiding it in the library. Whenever it is exposed to the sun, don't let it rot, so it will last for a long time. /kloc-at the age of 0/8, everyone will visit the temple once. If there are mouse bites, oil stains, ink erosion and worn handwriting, people in the temple will plead in front of their ancestors and pay a fine of three taels of silver to be included in the temple as a souvenir the next day. People engaged in such activities are not allowed to make sacrifices. There are even unscrupulous descendants who sell sects, or copy the original works for the benefit of the public, which leads to confusion between true and false, disturbs the tribe, and the people are too proud to enter the temple. " ("Reconstruction of Small Ancestral Temple Spectrum by Pingyang Yueyang in Xianfeng", Volume 10, "Regulation Original Publication")
6. The role of genealogy in maintaining the modern family system.
The function of genealogy is to prevent the confusion of family blood relationship caused by the migration of people with a long history or different surnames and people with the same surnames to the local area, so as to achieve the purpose of "gathering the family". Therefore, genealogy is the first basis to confirm the kinship of ethnic groups and prevent the confusion of kinship. Because family is a social organization linked by blood relationship, people's status and interests in family and society depend largely on their status in blood relationship. Generally speaking, within three or four generations, people will not be confused about who is the father and who is the offspring. But after a long time and many nationalities, it is not easy to accurately remember the blood relationship between people. In addition, among the clans, some adopted clansmen as heirs, some adopted children with different surnames, some brought children with different surnames with their wives, and some moved to different families with the same surnames. After a long time, you won't know if it's your own home. As long as these conditions are checked on the genealogy table of genealogy, the status of ethnic groups can be determined, the poor ethnic groups can be helped, the genealogical disputes can be solved, and the confusion of blood relations can be prevented.
Secondly, genealogy used to be a tool or textbook to publicize patriarchal clan system in history. The main way of publicity is reading ancestral hall music. Through major family activities and grand ceremonies, such as reading scriptures in ancestral temples, the patriarchal clan system and family concept have taken root in the thoughts of ethnic groups, thus achieving the goal of reuniting ethnic groups.
Third, genealogy is a tool to punish people in history. In the rural areas where the feudal family system prevailed, the names of clan relatives were listed in the genealogy, which meant that they had been recognized by the family and obtained legal status. In people's minds, it is considered a great shame to refuse to enter the family tree or cut off its name. The feudal clan forces took advantage of people's ideas, and took not entering the spectrum and cutting the spectrum as a means to punish the people at will. If the people are unfilial, guilty of stealing and raping, humiliating the family and violating ethics, they are not allowed to enter the genealogy. If these "charges" are discovered after the genealogy is revised, their names will be cut off from the genealogy, and even the names of their fathers, brothers and children will be cut off together. Although illegitimate children are close relatives, they are not allowed to be on the spectrum.