The Chinese Family since Ching Dynasty

Viewed from traffic documents in Ho-pei & Hu-nan

Abstract

For Chinese people land was the most important property. So, documents related to land traffic provide a useful clue for understanding the Chinese family.
So called encyclopaedias of everyday's use in the Ching dynasty contain models for how to draft land traffic documents. The models consist of the type drafted solely by the head of the household and of the type drafted by him, but only after his sons, brothers and other members of the family had been consulted with and had given him an approval.
Chi Chien Tsu, a collection of land traffic documents in the village of Sha Ching in Ho-pei Province contains two hundred thirteen documents drafted during Ching and the Republic of China. It is true that in this collection there are documents drafted by heads of the household alone. But even in such cases it is evident that the consent of" the other members of the family was necessary with regard to the final decision to sell or purchase land and with regard to the price. There were also many documents drafted and signed not only by heads of the household but also by their children, brothers, and brothers, children, a fact which demonstrates that properties in a Chinese household were regarded as being communal properties. Also, if the wife did not agree with the sale of land, the contract lost its effect.
I have fifty-seven sets of land traffic documents drafted during Ching and the Republic of China in Liu Yiian in Ho-nang Province, each of which is composed of three documents. Here again, even in the case of the documents drafted by the head of the family alone one can tell that consultation and agreement between the father and the son and between the husband and the wife were imperative and that the principle of communal ownership of household properties was adhered to.
Thus, unlike what the models in the encyclopaedias indicate, actual land traffic documents show that the wife and the children in the Chinese family had a strong say with regard to the family properties. The fact that in some aspects head of the household held absolute rights concerning the ownership of the household properties and in others he was only a member of a community called a family which communally owned the properties reflects the nature of Asiatic agriculture and in turn that of the Asiatic Society.