Page 92 - 《社会》2023年第1期

传统父系宗族中“族”的意义：以九族亲属制度的建构为例

The Nine鄄Gen eration system starts at the centre of oneself and ends with a
gradually extrapolated circle of kinship. The circle defines the scope of kinship that
one has. In the Book of Rites： Funeral Dresses， it is said： “In counting the kindred
（in mourning rituals）， from the three closest generations it expands to the next closest
five generations， and then from the five to the next nine. The mourning dressing codes
and the period of mourning are gradually diminished as the generations ascend or
descend outwards to the collateral branches， and eventually end beyond this point.”
This scripture is the key to understand the Nine鄄Generation and it reveals the core
construction principle of the system， which is called “Diminishing Attachment of
Kinship”. Starting from oneself， one has affection for one’s father， this affection is
extended to one’s immediate ancestors， and then to further distance ancestors. The
same with the descent order from one’s sons to grandsons and so on. In the process，
the further out the circle， the more diminished affection for each other. Therefore，
“Diminishing Attachment of Kinship” becomes the most important construction
principle and it eventually forms the Nine鄄Generation kinship group linking great鄄
great鄄grandfathers to great鄄great鄄grandsons.
The study points out the significance of the Nine鄄Generation in Confucianism，
arguing that it is the institutionalized interpretation of the “father鄄son” cardinal
relationship and the essential ethic principal of “filial piety” in Confucian humanism.
In addition， the study also examines the relationship between the Nine鄄Generation
system and the traditional patriarchal clan system， asserting that the former is the
prerequisite for understanding the latter.
Keywords：Nine鄄Generation，father鄄son，diminishing love of kinship

中国历史文化的研究者常常通过家或家族来理解传统社会的性
质。 如费孝通（1998）所指出的，作为乡土社会基本社群的家应当是“家
族”而非“家庭”。 相对于夫妻双系的家庭来说，家族是一个以“父子婆
媳”为主轴的绵续性的事业社群。 持类似观点的还有梁漱溟（2005）、许
烺光（2001，2002）等，即认为以父子轴（dyad）为核心的亲属关系结构是
中国式“家”的基本架构，而家及由家衍生出的私人的道德或家族式伦
理在传统社会中也具有支配性地位， 这也是中华文明有别于其他文明
的显著标志（徐勇，2018；李荣山，2022）。
尽管所有人都承认家对于理解传统社会的意义，但既有研究对传

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