明清徽州宗族的异姓承继

Passing the Family Properties to an Outsider: Cases in Huizhou during the Ming and Qing Dynasties

婺源腴川程氏宗谱和休宁二十七都五图黄册底籍所载资料证实,明清徽州宗族的异姓承继相当普遍,绝非个别现象。同宗继子乏人是异姓承继的原因之一,保全家产为异姓承继的重要经济因素。异姓承继亦有感情问题。血缘关系是宗族组织建立的基础,宗祧承继为宗法制度的一个核心内容。明清异姓承继的普遍及有关法规的调整,表明封建宗法关系的松弛。宋代以后的宗族既有发展的趋势,也有从内部开始瓦解的倾向。

The genealogy of the family of Cheng at Yuchuan, Wuyuan, and the Huang Ce Di Ji(黄册底籍) of the 27 Du(都) and 5 tu(图) at Xiuning suggest that it was a common rather than an exceptional practice to pass the family properties to an outsider among the large families at Huizhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties. One of the many causes of this was the absence of an heir in the family. An important economic factor in inheritance by an outsider was to save the family property from being dispersed. Affection also played a role in the practice of passing the family property to an outsider. Since clanism was based on bloodline and centered on a system of inheritance by clansman, the popularity of the practice of passing the family property to an outsider and the adjustments to related laws point to loosened relations within the feudal patriarchal clan system. Despite their development since the Song dynasty, clans tended to decline from within.