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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese kinship | 4/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_kinship | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:59:56.995561+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Five degrees of mourning attire === The five degrees of mourning attire (五服) define not only the proper attire, but also the proper mourning ritual one should observe when a relative has died. Appearing in writings as early as the Rites of Zhou, mourning rituals developed over the years. By the time of the Qing dynasty, it was set down in law that there were five degrees, or grades of mourning according to the relationship one has with the deceased. The closer a person is related to the deceased, the higher the degree of mourning that is observed. A married female belongs to her husband's clan and observes a similar but lower degree of mourning than her husband. She would observe mourning for a small portion of the members from her own clan. A married man would observe mourning for an even smaller number of relatives of his in-laws. In a concubinage situation, a concubine was only required to mourn for her husband, his wife, his parents, and all his children including her own, whereas a wife was required to mourn for almost all of her husband's near relatives. In addition, there was no requirement to mourn the death of a concubine except by the man's children. Since the end of feudal China, the rituals of the five degrees of mourning have largely given way to simpler and less elaborate observance. Conventionally, clans adopted the five degrees of mourning according to unwritten definitions that determines the difference between close and distant relatives. As such, marriage between relatives that were covered within the five degrees of mourning was considered taboo and immoral. These definitions, unlike the mourning ritual, are still applicable in determining whether a marriage is acceptable, albeit fewer people are familiar with the mourning rituals themselves. According to these definitions, many relatives considered "distant" in Western cultures are considered close in Chinese culture. The five degrees of mourning attire in decreasing order of severity are:
- 斬榱 - 3 years (actually 25 months)
- 齊榱 - 3 years, 1 year, 1 year with staff of mourning, 5 months, 3 months
- 大功 - 9 months, 7 months
- 小功 - 5 months
- 緦麻 - 3 months
== Common extended family and terminology == This section covers members and their spouses in the immediate and extended family that is commonly found in the first nine corner cells on the table of consanguinity or cousin chart (from ego to grandparents on the rows and columns). The terms are listed in Standard Chinese, regional and dialectal usages are listed in the corresponding row. The degrees of mourning attire are included as an indication of how close the relation is to ego and what level of respect is expected. "1" being the highest; "5" being the lowest. "0" means they are not within the definition of the five degrees of mourning. Some of these are common relations and are included for completeness. The degrees of mourning indicated in the table are based on ego as an unmarried member of the family.
=== General prefixes === 堂 (táng) - "inner kins": used in relation to father's clan 外 (wài) / 表 (biǎo) - "outer kins": prefix to indicate maternal lineage on some of the relations, descendants of female members of "inner kins". 高 (gāo) - prefix for relations four generations removed senior of ego, i.e.: great-great-grandparents (高祖父母) 曾 (zēng) - prefix for relations three generations removed, i.e.: great-grandparents; great-grandchildren (曾祖父母; 曾孫) 祖 (zǔ) - prefix for relations two generations removed senior of ego, i.e.: grandparents (祖父母), also a general prefix for relations two or more generations senior of ego. 孫 (SC: 孙) (sūn) - prefix for relations two generations removed junior of ego, i.e.: grandchildren (孫), also a general prefix for relations two or more generations junior of ego. 玄/元 (xuán/yuán) - prefix for relations four generations removed junior of ego, i.e.: great-great-grandchildren (玄孫/元孫) Where they differ, the Simplified Chinese character is presented first, followed by the Traditional Chinese character in parentheses.
=== Members of the nuclear family === As with all languages, there exist a high degree of regional variation in kinship terminology. Different Chinese languages, dialects, and even families can have distinct words and pronunciations for the same person. In the tables below, the "other variants" presented happens to be mostly from Cantonese, and should not be interpreted as being comprehensive. Also, a person may use terminology from a region but pronounce the term with the regional pronunciation, a different regional pronunciation, or in Putonghua, which may be the case when a person has family members from different parts of China.
=== Members of the extended family ===
== Larger extended family and terminology == This section covers members and their spouses found beyond the first nine corner cells on the table of consanguinity or cousin chart. Although some of the relations seem distant, they are considered close relatives and it is common for Chinese families to have regular contact with these members.
== Distant relations == Other than some of the relations mentioned in the previous sections that are not covered under the five degrees of mourning attire, the following are kin that are also considered distant.
(外)來孫 - great-great-great-grandchildren (外)晜孫 - great-great-great-great-grandchildren (外)仍孫 - great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (外)雲孫 - great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren (外)耳孫 - great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren 外 - prefix for maternal line relations; essentially anyone not sharing the same surname as ego
== Partial or no consanguinity ==
The following familial relationship suggests partial or no consanguinity. Most of them are not a modern phenomenon, however. In fact, polygamy (specifically polygyny) was widely accepted in pre-republican China. The saying of "three fathers and eight mothers" (三父八母 ; Sān fù bā mǔ) refers to: