Exploring Extended Kinship in Twenty-First-Century China: A Conceptual Case Study

Many observers of contemporary China notice the revival of the so-called traditional culture. This includes the public presence of rituals and artefacts that relate with traditional kinship, such as ancestral halls. This article explores a case in Shenzhen, the Huang lineage and the larger surname group. A methodological issue looms large: What exactly was the “tradition” that is perceived as reviving? The field of historical studies on Chinese kinship is a highly contested domain, especially regarding the nature and role of lineages. Therefore, we designed our article as a “conceptual case study”: we reflect upon the state of our knowledge about Chinese kinship in the traditional sense, develop a tentative conceptual framework, and apply this on our case. Central issues include the relationship between descent as constructed and performed via kinship rituals and patterns of cooperation among members of a lineage and the wider surname group.