414 SYSTEMS OF CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINITY 



is cumbersome and highly artificial ; yet in the completeness of its plan for the 

 separation of the several linos, and branches of lines, from each other, and for the 

 specialization of the relationships of every kinsman to the central Ego, it is second 

 only to the Roman form ; and, in many respects, is not siirpassed by any existing 

 system. It has accomplished the difficult task of maintaining a principle of classi- 

 fication which confounds the natural distinctions in the relationships of consan- 

 guinei, and, at the same time, of separating these relationships from each other in 

 a precise and definite manner. Certain individuals in each of the several collateral 

 lines are placed upon the same level in the degree of their nearness to Ego, and 

 yet their relationships arc distinguished one from another. The collateral lines are 

 maintained divergent from the lineal, and yet are finally merged within it. These 

 seemingly inconsistent results have been produced in a manner altogether pecidiar 

 to the Chinese form. 



There are two distinct parts of the system of relationship, by the joint operation 

 of which the results indicated have been eftccted, and which, to a great extent, may 

 yet be separated from each other. The first consists of the terms of relationship 

 which are used, to a great extent, in accordance with the Turanian principle of 

 classification. Consanguinei, near and remote, are arranged into great classes, and 

 the members of each class are admitted into the same relationship, irrespective of 

 nearness or remoteness in degree. This is the original as well as radical portion 

 of the system. The second part consists of independent qualifying terms, which 

 are used to distinguish the several branches of each collateral line from each other, 

 and consequently the relationship of each individual. By means of these additional 

 terms the branch of the line in every case, and, usually, the line itself, are definitely 

 indicated ; and collateral consanguinei are thus discriminated from the lineal. In 

 some instances these qualifying terms have superseded the terms of relationship ; 

 but in all such cases the latter are probably understood. The precise manner in 

 which these results are produced will become apparent as the several branches of 

 each line are presented in detail. All that is peculiar in the Chinese system will 

 be readily apprehended by following the chain of relationship from parent to child, 

 observing the terms that are employed to express the series of these relationships 

 to Ego, and, also, the specific additions by which the branches of particular lines 

 are distinguished from each other. It will thus be found that that part of the 

 framework of the system which specializes the several branches of each line was 

 engrafted upon the radical portion ; that it was the afterwork of scholars or civilians 

 to clear up or qualify the primitive classification ; and that it probably originated 

 in the necessity for a code of descents to regulate the inheritance of property. 



The Chinese system of relationship, as given in the Table, was furnished by 

 Hon. Robert Hart, an English gentleman of Canton, now at the head of the Chinese 

 Bureau of Marine Customs. It was especially fortunate that the difficult labor of 

 spreading out in detail this elaborate and artificial form of consanguinity and affinity 

 was undertaken by one so abundantly qualified as Mr. Hart to trace it to its limits 

 in this peculiar language, and to bestow upon its nomenclature the etymological ob- 

 servations so necessary to its interpretation. It is evident, from his work, that his 

 investigations covered its entire range, and developed all of its material charac- 



