Genealogies (jiapu 家譜, zupu 族譜, zongpu 宗譜) W 7.1.2

Reduced to the simplest terms, jiapu are family histories. Since the time of Sima Qian (in the form of pudie 譜牒) they have constituted an important source for the historian. The earliest such materials touched only on the imperial house; noble families began compiling their own genealogical registers at least by the Tang, and the practice boomed in the Song. However, few genealogies are extant from before the 16th century; most now available for consultation were compiled in the Qing and Republican eras. Writing in 1960, Taga Akigoro found the following breakdown of periods of compilation for genealogies in Japanese libraries:

However, these figures are now out of date, as the number for the Qing has grown by more than an order of magnitude, for the Republican Period by two or more.

Types of Genealogies

The terms zongpu, zupu and jiapu are used fairly interchangeably in the titles of genealogies. Generally, one must look beyond the title in order to discern the type of genealogy. There are three main types:

1. Giant Genealogies/National Level: these represent attempts to develop a common genealogy for a single surname;
2. Provincial Level/Multi-Provincial: these genealogies often unite the lineages of several branches of a clan or even combine several different surname lineages;
3. County Level: these works are both the most thorough and reliable sources for the historian, and unlike the other types, more often concern corporate entities. The vast number of extant genealogies are of this type.

Content

The form and content of genealogies vary widely. Most include genealogical tables and biographies. Usually, two distinct parts to the genealogical tables are evident: a fictitious part tracing the family back to antiquity, and a real one that generally begins with the shiqianzu (the first ancestor who moved to the clan's locality). Genealogies may also include maps, portraits, prefaces, inscriptions from the ancestral hall, commendations or honors received by clan members, clan rules, and instructions.

Anthropologists as well as historians have turned to genealogies in their efforts to capture local society and history, and have written much about their experiences and the pitfalls of these sources. In addition, it might be mentioned that the genealogies of the Aisin Gioro Qing imperial clan (the yudie 玉牒) have been a central source in the new historical demography done on the Qing by James Lee (Michigan) and Cameron Campbell (UCLA). Among their many articles, see “The Last Emperors: An Introduction to the Demography of the Qing Imperial Lineage,” in Roger Schofield and David Reher, eds., Old and New Methods in Historical Demography (Oxford, 1993), pp. 361-382. These sources were at the heart of Lee's chapters in One Quarter of Humanity (Harvard, 1999), co-written with Wang Feng. Take care, however, not to assume that genealogies offer "undoctored" information or that they are any less requiring of critical care than other kinds of sources. Read Michael Szonyi's Practicing Kinship (Stanford, 2002) to see how central to the production of lineage genealogies social, economic, and political calculations could be.

Finding Aids

The most comprehensive catalog of Chinese genealogies is the 中國家譜總目, but it lists only a tiny portion of the genealogies known to be extant.

Two of the most important collections of genealogies are the Family History Center of the Genealogical Society of Utah and the Shanghai Municipal Library. The GSU holdings may be searched online at www.familysearch.org. Search using the Library Catalog, not the main search engine, which is intended to help people find their ancestors. Search by locality, surnames, titles et al. is possible in the FamilySearch Catalog of this website. Harvard is a GSU lending library, which means that microfilms from the GSU can be borrowed for viewing here. You can order films through the HYL ILL office (but note that this is not an ordinary ILL request - it requires a special form). Some of the genealogies are available online. When you have located a catalog entry of interest, note the title, surname, year, and county. You can then go to the link here which would bring you to a page with the heading China, Collection of Genealogies, 1239-2014.

The Shanghai holdings can be searched online at www.library.sh.cn Note that the catalog does not necessarily reflect what is actually available. Genealogies, however, seem to be more accessible than other kinds of documents. There is a printed catalog, 上海圖書館館藏家譜提要 / 上海圖書館編; 王鹤鳴等主編, but it is already out of date.

Shanghai Tushuguancang jiapu quanwen xuanluan上海图书馆藏家谱全文选览

This website came out recently and turned out to be very useful. It collects 8565 genealogies in full scanned copies. It is said that it contains not only genealogies in the Shanghai Library but also those that are held in the Yangzi Delta region, which is the focus of the collection. If you plan to go to any library in that region seeking for genealogies, search this website first.

Some genealogical researchers have begun sharing findings and methodological insights online. An example of a geographically-bounded initiative is the Siyi Geneaology project 四邑家族派系, created by descendants of migrants from the "Four Counties" of Guangdong - i.e. Xinhui 新會, Taishan 台山, Kaiping 開平, and Enping 恩平. Members of the group have begun a Chinese Roots Wiki (no longer accessible) that hopes to ultimately become a resource for "all expatriate Chinese discovering their heritage." Although the site remains somewhat underdeveloped, it includes links to several helpful English-language resources, including a table of more than 90 family titles with Mandarian and Cantonese pronunciation guides as well as informal variants. Other online sources containing collections of genealogies include:

Erudition Chinese Genealogy Database (愛如生中國譜牒庫) is a mega online genealogy and family history database. Its first edition contains over 7,000 genealogies and family histories, over 1,200 chronicles, and hundreds of office holding records (shipu, 仕譜) and daily records (ripu, 日譜) from Song through Qing. It supports search by title, author name, editions, full-text search and so on. Harvard ID holders can log into this database through Harvard Library Portal.  Please note that the number of simultaneous users is restricted and is small, so please be kind to log out of the database when you are done. 

Zhonghua xungen wang (中華尋根網) is an online Chinese-language genealogy database administered by the National Library of China and Macaw Foundation. As of August 2013, it contains digitally scanned image of 2,392 titles of genealogies that are in the holding of the National Library. It supports search by name (surname and full name), locality, title, and so on. It also allows users to upload, edit and share their own genealogies.

Miaoli Hakka Genealogy Digital Curation (苗栗客家族譜數位策展) collects Hakka genealogies in Miaoli County, Taiwan. The contents can be searched through surname, title, locality, Hakka place name, etc. This website also offers maps showing the migration paths of some Hakka lineages. A preface generating tool helps to understand the basic format of a genealogy preface. 

Collections

The Harvard-Yenching Library holds several collections of reprinted genealogies. They are organized by area, by surnames, and by ethnicity.

• Beijing Tushuguan cang jiapu congkan 北京圖書館藏家譜叢刊. Beijing: Beijing tushuguan chubanshe, 2000-2003.
  At present, this collection includes a 50-volume set of genealogies from Fujian and Guangdong and a 100-volume set of minzu genealogies (see below), as well as many others.

The Library of Suzhou Museum 苏州博物馆古籍馆 has been collecting ancient books and documents and digitized some of it’s collections. You may go to 苏博云书斋 and under 家谱 there are dozens of genealogies from families mainly in Suzhou, and also some families originated from Taiyuan, Tengchong, Guilin, etc., all of which are scanned copies or pictures of the original sources. It does not provide a brief introduction of the source so you need to spend some time reading the prefaces.

Chinese Genealogies for Non-Han

The political use of genealogies is not limited to the Chinese cultural sphere. It would be interesting to investigate the intersection of the genealogical practices of Muslims and Inner Asians with those of late imperial China.

• Beijing Tushuguan cang jiapu congkan - minzu juan 北京圖書館藏家譜叢刊 民族卷. Beijing: Beijing Tushuguan Chubanshe, 2003, 100 vols.
  Photoreproductions of dozens of genealogies, mostly of Mongol and Manchu families. The collection includes the jiapu of the Aisin Gioro, the Borjigin, and other prominent families. Mongol jiapu for individuals families seem to make frequent reference to the Secret History of the Mongols, the Yuan shi, and the Menggu zupu.

• Liaoning Huizu jiapu xuanbian 遼寧回族家譜選編. Liu Tong et al., eds. Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe, 1992.
  Includes typeset transliterations of the genealogies of 12 Liaoning Muslim families. These includes family histories, collections of family rules and sayings, and records of successful exam candidates, among other information.

Note: Genealogies for Kazakh, Mongol, and others hereditary leaders are sometimes included in gazetteers or other collections. Two examples, for the families of Ablai and Tobukai, who were instrumental in the Qing conquest of Xinjiang, can be found in the Qinding Xinjiang Shilue 欽定新疆識略 under the section 外裔.

Bibliography

• Hui-chen Wang Liu. "An analysis of Chinese clan rules: Confucian theories in action," in Confucianism in action, ed. David S. Nivison and Arthur F. Wright (Stanford, CA: 1959): 63-96.

• Melvin P. Thatcher, “Selected Sources for Late Imperial China on Microfilm at the Genealogical Society of Utah,” Late Imperial China 19.2 (December 1998), pp.111-129.

• P. Lim Pui Huen, "Genealogy and tradition among the Chinese of Malaysia and Singapore," in New Studies on Chinese Overseas and China, ed. C. Huang, G. Zhuang and T. Kyoko (Leiden: International Institute for Asian Studies, 2000).

• Sheau-yueh J. Chao, "Sources on Overseas Chinese Studies: Genealogical Records," Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services Volume 30, Issues 1-2 (March-June 2006): 18-46.


  The Chinese genealogical records, also called pu die, zong pu, zu pu, jia pu, zi pu, or jia cheng, have been used for thousands of years to record the genealogical history of a family, including a family's origin, its collateral lines, names and ages of the members, records of marriages, births and deaths, merits and deeds, and brief biographical information of the male family members. This paper examines the current documentation status of Chinese genealogical records. It begins with the historical background of genealogical records and describes the existing sources, including primary sources for researching Chinese surnames and secondary sources for reading on immigration history, the Chinese diaspora, foreign settlements, and ethnic identity. The paper proceeds to investigate the nature of extant genealogical records and provide author's own genealogy of He shi zu pu as an example to analyze the contents of a typical genealogical record. The importance and value for the study of names and genealogical records are emphasized. The paper concludes with comments on how to make the best use of genealogical records to enhance the research on Chinese overseas studies through resource-sharing and collaboration with libraries, museums, and institutions, locally, regionally, and internationally.

• Stevan Harrell, Susan Naquin, and Ju Deyuan, "Lineage Genealogy: The Genealogical Records of the Qing Imperial Lineage," Late Imperial China 6.2 (December 1985), 37-47.

• David Faure. "The Lineage as a Cultural Invention: The Case of the Pearl River Delta." Modern China 15.1 (1989): 4-36.