On the Theory of Dozoku

-in connection with the ancestral cult of ie and dozoku-

Abstract

It has been said that patrilineal descent system and patriarchal family structure is closely bound up with an ancestral cult. This holds true for Japan. Ancestor worship is the key foundation of ie (household) and dozoku (a form of lineage). Ie and dozoku is in close contact with ancestor worship. The writer's main purpose is to analyze ancestor worship in the structural context of ie and dozoku. In order to make clear this, it is necessary for him to discuss ie and dozoku.
In the first place, the theories of dozoku by both Prof. Ariga and Prof. Kitano are discussed together with patronage and kinship system in rural Japan. Through this discussion, dozoku is defined as follows : dozoku is a group of households which recognize mutually not only their genealogical relationship in terms of their origin and the branches derived from it, but also their respective statuses and roles ; it performs unitary functions as a corporation on the basis of their relationship.
In the second place, ie is defined as a corporation and a durable unit, which is conceived as persisting through time by the succession of its members. Then ancestor worship is analyzed in the socio-cultural context of ie. Through this analysis, it is pointed out that ancestor worship is, in essence, the ritualization of filial piety and that ancestor in Japan, too, are not only benevolent but punitive, though not capricious.
In the next article, it will be made clear through case analysis of dozokus in a mountain village in Okayama Prefecture that dozoku is a form of a corporate lineage and that ancestor worship solidifies the dozoku solidarity and serves as foci of dozoku.