China Compiled Genealogies: Difference between revisions

Contents: Records show lineage structure and cite achievements of family members. They show male descendants in linked patrilineal sequence from founding ancestors, indicate generation order and the pertinent branches. Standard entries include generation order, surnames and usually multiple given names of males, death date or burial date and place, patrilineal lineage and often the surname of the wife's family. Other entries may include the name of the wife's father, titles and honors for more noteworthy individuals, and more recently the given names of women. Specifically, tables begin either with the ancestor who is believed to be the founder of the clan or lineage (often in early periods) or with the first ancestor who immigrated to a specific locality in the more recent past and became the founder of the lineage that sponsored compilation of the genealogy. In either case, information is more detailed for members of the localized lineage. The maximum amount of information that may be recorded for individuals appearing in the tables is as follows: 1 personal names, style and literary names; 2 relationship to father (natural offspring or adopted), order of birth, name of father; 3 education and government service-degree and date of highest successful examination (or university degree in recent times), highest official appointment, titles and honors; 4 birthdate (year, month, day, and hour); 5 date of death (year, month, day, and hour); 6 burial location and exact situation of grave; 7 age at death, if the deceased was especially long-lived; 8 surname of wife, often her personal name and native place, exceptionally the names of her father and other notable male relatives; 9 titles of merit conferred on wife, especially widows who did not remarry; 10 birthdate of wife (year, month, day, and hour); 11 date of wife's death (year, month, day, and hour); 12 age of wife at death, if exceptionally long-lived; 13 all or part of above data for additional wives and/or concubines; 14 location and situation of grave(s) of mate(s); 15 sons sired, sometimes according to natural mother, by name and order of birth (with special notation of biological fathers of adopted sons, sons adopted out to collateral lineages, heirship agreements, and occasionally sons who died in infancy or childhood); 16 daughters sired may be listed simply by the total number of female births, or by order of birth, or omitted entirely (occasionally husbands of married daughters will be identified by village, surname and personal name, and complete names of their fathers); 17 individuals who entered monastic orders may be omitted from the record altogether or merely identified as having “left the family” with no further information given.