﻿488 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  are 
  mentioned 
  but 
  only 
  22 
  clans. 
  Branches 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  were 
  located 
  

   in 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  often 
  widely 
  separated 
  from 
  one 
  an- 
  

   other. 
  

  

  The 
  head 
  of 
  each 
  clan 
  was 
  trustee 
  for 
  its 
  land 
  (which 
  was 
  thus 
  not 
  

   his 
  own 
  personal 
  property, 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  as 
  he 
  liked) 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  also 
  con- 
  

   ducted 
  the 
  clan 
  worship. 
  The 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  ruling 
  clan 
  of 
  a 
  state 
  wor- 
  

   shiped 
  his 
  own 
  ancestors 
  and 
  also 
  the 
  patron 
  divinities 
  of 
  his 
  state. 
  

   For 
  no 
  separate 
  priestly 
  class 
  existed 
  in 
  ancient 
  China. 
  

  

  Nobles 
  were 
  subject 
  only 
  to 
  their 
  own 
  code, 
  not 
  to 
  the 
  laws 
  govern- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  lower 
  classes. 
  Knowledge 
  of 
  these 
  laws 
  gave 
  the 
  nobles 
  a 
  great 
  

   advantage, 
  and 
  they 
  objected 
  strongly 
  to 
  their 
  being 
  reduced 
  to 
  writing. 
  

   They 
  also 
  practiced 
  polygamy, 
  though 
  custom 
  strictly 
  forbade 
  their 
  

   taking 
  wives 
  or 
  even 
  concubines 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  clan 
  as 
  their 
  own, 
  no 
  

   matter 
  how 
  remote 
  the 
  kinship 
  might 
  be 
  in 
  reality. 
  Headship 
  of 
  

   the 
  clan 
  passed 
  in 
  the 
  male 
  line, 
  usually 
  to 
  the 
  eldest 
  son 
  of 
  the 
  princi- 
  

   pal 
  wife 
  ; 
  though 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  usage 
  was 
  not 
  fixed. 
  The 
  latter 
  fact 
  

   often 
  caused 
  great 
  trouble, 
  through 
  disputed 
  inheritances. 
  Noble- 
  

   women 
  could 
  not 
  hold 
  land 
  or 
  succeed 
  to 
  headship 
  either 
  of 
  a 
  clan 
  

   or 
  of 
  a 
  state. 
  Hence 
  inheritance 
  of 
  these 
  privileges 
  in 
  the 
  female 
  line 
  

   was 
  impossible. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  plebeian 
  class, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  we 
  know 
  little 
  ; 
  for 
  early 
  

   Chinese 
  writers 
  did 
  not 
  concern 
  themselves 
  with 
  the 
  masses. 
  We 
  may 
  

   say 
  however 
  that 
  the 
  vast 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  consisted 
  of 
  peasants 
  in 
  

   a 
  state 
  of 
  serfdom, 
  practically 
  at 
  the 
  mercy 
  of 
  their 
  lords. 
  These 
  

   peasant-serfs 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  grouped 
  in 
  matrilineal 
  clans; 
  and 
  they 
  

   probably 
  retained 
  much 
  — 
  as 
  indeed 
  Chinese 
  peasants 
  still 
  do— 
  of 
  the 
  

   old 
  Neolithic 
  culture 
  of 
  their 
  remote 
  forebears. 
  They 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  

   lived 
  in 
  rural 
  hamlets, 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  little 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  urban 
  

   life 
  of 
  the 
  nobility. 
  These 
  little 
  peasant 
  hamlets 
  were 
  organized 
  com- 
  

   munally, 
  and 
  their 
  inhabitants 
  did 
  their 
  field 
  work 
  in 
  common. 
  Stone, 
  

   shell, 
  and 
  wood 
  continued 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  for 
  agricultural 
  implements. 
  The 
  

   ox-drawn 
  plow 
  was 
  not 
  yet 
  known 
  in 
  China, 
  its 
  place 
  being 
  taken 
  by 
  

   foot 
  plows 
  used 
  by 
  men 
  working 
  in 
  pairs. 
  

  

  Serfs 
  were 
  bound 
  to 
  the 
  estates 
  on 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  born, 
  and 
  efforts 
  

   were 
  made 
  by 
  their 
  lords 
  to 
  keep 
  them 
  from 
  shifting 
  their 
  villages 
  

   about 
  in 
  old 
  Neolithic 
  fashion 
  ; 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  labor 
  of 
  the 
  peasants 
  that 
  

   gave 
  value 
  to 
  the 
  land, 
  and 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  great 
  demand 
  for 
  workers. 
  It 
  

   was 
  therefore 
  a 
  crime 
  to 
  entice 
  them 
  away, 
  and 
  runaways 
  could 
  be 
  

   reclaimed. 
  There 
  are 
  indications, 
  too, 
  that 
  the 
  feudal 
  lords 
  dreaded 
  

   uprisings 
  among 
  their 
  peasants, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  capital 
  offense 
  to 
  arouse 
  

   discontent 
  or 
  unrest 
  among 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  peasants 
  tilled 
  the 
  land, 
  but 
  did 
  not 
  own 
  it, 
  although 
  plots 
  of 
  

   ground 
  on 
  which 
  to 
  grow 
  food 
  for 
  themselves 
  and 
  their 
  families 
  were 
  

  

  