Extension of Kinship Terms and Locality : Generation Rank in North China

<p>Extended applications of kinship terms can be observed in many folk societies. In general, the rules of extension of kinship terms are governed by sex and relative age, or relation to age class. It is one kind of expression of familiarity, or of relationships of social distance. But in villages in north China, there is a different rule governing extension of kinship terms. In spite of having no relation of descent or affinity in the same village, an older person calls a younger one by senior generation terms, such as "uncle," "grandfather," and so on. If the village had a single lineage system (very common in south China), it would be understandable to address neighbors by such kinship terms, but in north China most villages are composed of multi-lineages. They use such kinship terms because they are members of a certain village. In villages in north China, we can see relations of generations not only within the same lineages, but also among neighbors in the same village. In this paper, I analyze the social structure of villages in north China through this pseudo-kin relationship. Terms of address for neighbors are almost the same as abnatic kin terms. Kinship terms are used by the junior generation to the senior generation, or by younger people to older members of the same generation. Those of the senior generation, and older people, call those of the younger generation and younger people by their personal names. They use kinship terms with each other according to their "jie fang bei," or the generation of their neighbors. Villagers are conscious that the generation of their neighbors is different from that of lineage. In this paper, this custom is referred to as "generation rank." The use of generation rank serves a social function in terms of manner and taboo. (1) Terms of address are used in greetings in daily life. If the generation rank does not correspond with the generation of linege, the address terms used are those of the former. Therefore, generation rank is a practical rule in daily life. (2) On the first day of the new year, those of junior generation rank must go to those of senior generation rank and give New Year's greetings, just as lineage members do. (3) If a child is sick, parents ask their friends to be pesudo-fathers to defend against illness and death. At that time, they must consider generation rank. (4) Villagers are very conscious of the seating arrangement at a table, because it indicates the range of authority. Generation rank is one of the factors for deciding seating position. (5) Outsiders do not have generation rank. A man who wants to acquire village membership asks a middle man (usually one of his relatives) to introduce him to the villagers. After that, he obtains the same generation rank in the village as the middleman. Those who do not have membership in the village, such sa a visitor, a beggar, a day-laborer, or a year-laborer, do not obtain generation rank. This means that they do not have such duties as paying village taxes, or extension of kinship terms. (6) Generation rank is an authorized system. In a public place, generation rank is not given much attention, but in a private place, people must at least pretend to respect those of the senior generation. When I asked villagers how generation rank was formed, they inducated that they accept generation as a matter of fact, and so had no clear answer. However, I analyzed the structure of generation rank in terms of rank changing as the resuit of marriage among people of diffierent rank. Marriage creates relationships of generation among members of different lineages, because even affinities may be considered in terms of generational relationships. In this paper, I propose a model to explain the relationship of generations between Lineage A and Lineage B. In this model, these two lineages are connected by a black box. The main relations are</p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>