This book takes the argument first set out in Lineage Organization in South-Eastern China a step further. It incorporates some of Professor Freedman's field data (gathered in the Hong Kong New Territories in 1963) and draws on a wide variety of written sources. As in his first book on the subject, the author seeks to analyse certain crucial institutions of Chinese society within the framework of contemporary anthropological theory.

The author is Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

I. VILLAGE, LINEAGE, AND CLAN I 2. FAMILY 43 3. SOCIAL STATUS, POWER, AND GOVERNMENT 68 4. RELATIONS BETWEEN LINEAGES 97 5. GEOMANCY AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP 118 6. LINEAGES IN CHINA 155 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL POSTSCRIPT 185 LIST OF WORKS CITED 191 INDEX 201