『成都氏族譜』小考

Abstract

The Ch'eng-tu shih tsu-p'u is included in volumes 53-55 of the Ch'uan-Shu i-wen chih 全蜀藝文志 and in the Shih-yuan ts'ungshu 適園叢書. In it is discussed forty-five great clans of Ch'eng-tu fu 成都府 in the Sung 宋 dynasty. Fei Cho 費著 of the Yuan 元 has been considered its author, but based on a comparison of its content with contemporaneous historical materials I have concluded that it was one part of the Ch'eng-tu chih 成都志 which was compiled from the 3rd to the 5th year of the Ch'ing-yuan 慶元 (1197-99) reign of the Sung. Accordingly we can say it is of significant value as a source on the Sung period. When we look at the lineages of bureaucrats of Ch'eng-tu fu in the Sung dynasty as seen in the Ch'eng-tu shih tsu-pu, we can see that, contrary to the general image of modern Chinese officials as having obtained their positions as one generational aristocrats, they actually preserved and continued their posts as officials over many generations. This is deeply tied up with the problem of the amount of flexibility in bureaucratic status there was in Chinese society from the Sung era on. Furthermore, I believe that the compilation of geneological works like the Ch'eng-tu shih tsu-pu reflects the slackening of same-clan cohesion among bureaucrats to the extent that they had to stress mutual ties in such a work.