Summary: In contemporary genealogies, indiscriminate recognition of ancestors, climbing famous doors: family trees are also fake? The family tree is called the supplement of national history and Fang Zhi, and it is extremely heavy for individuals, families and society
Genealogy is called a supplement to the history of the country and the fangzhi, and it has extremely important role and significance for individuals, families and society. However, there are also many problems in the process of compiling the family tree - climbing the famous door, confusing the ancestors, fabricating falsehoods...
After the family tree was changed from "public genealogy" (family tree reviewed by the government genealogy bureau) to "private genealogy" (family self-compiled, family tree that does not need to be verified and confirmed), it is indeed "family self-theory", so this strange phenomenon has also emerged.
Qiu Jiajing of the Hangzhou Library's Ancient Books Special Collection Department has specially analyzed and studied such phenomena, and in his view, the phenomenon of attachment and fabrication in the family tree usually revolves around the lineage figures, such as EnRonglu, lineage charts, etc., and the pseudo-entrustment of celebrity prefaces is also more common.
Deliberately whitewashed and elevated
Deliberately whitewash and elevate family figures and events. The first is to use celebrities as a prologue. In some genealogical prefaces, there are prefaces by Ouyang Xiu, Zhu Xi, Su Xun, Wen Tianxiang and others. Careful analysis, many of them were moved from other genealogies, and many genealogies were compared, and it was found that the subject was only changed. The second is to exaggerate the merits of the ancestors, deliberately elevate them, write false titles into real posts, and regard donations as meritorious names. Some are obviously people, but they are written as jinshi, or "township jinshi". The third is the pseudo-adventurous Grace. Some clansmen pass the entrance examination, but say that they are "gifted" titles; some ancestors have no meritorious name, but the family tree gives an county order, a jinshi, or a "Qinzhi jinshi". After having a "score", the corresponding ancestral tombstone can be engraved with the corresponding "meritorious name".
Among the many celebrity genealogies, a considerable number is actually not from the hands of celebrities, but from the false pretense and forgery of the compilers.
For example, the Republic of China's "Yimen Chen Clan Datong Genealogy" contains a preface by Zhu Xi, signed "Longtuge University Scholar Zhu Xi Obscure Clan Worship Book", but Zhu Xi did not become a Longtuge University scholar. The genealogy of these pseudo-trusted celebrities often shows traces of falsehood in the chronology, official position, title, etc.
Climbing on celebrities and making up lineages
Attachment to imperial celebrities, or imperial generals, or sage heroes, is a common phenomenon in genealogy. The attachment in the family tree refers to the appointment of imperial celebrities as the "ancestors" of the tribe to show that they have a long history and a long history, but in fact, these imperial celebrities have no "half-cent" relationship with them.
The great traitors and evil people in history, such as Qin Juniper, did not have their names in the family tree at all. For example, the Zhu surname is zhu xi as the first, the Bao clan all worship Bao Zheng as the ancestor, and the so-called ancestor of the Wang clan is not known as the dispatch of Langya, that is, the branch of Taiyuan, and traces back to the Prince of Zhou Ling, Jin. Some genealogies even include the names of the previous generations of the same name, which are included in the lineage of the family.
For example, in guizhou's "Genealogy of The Zhang Clan of Qinghe", Zhang Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhang Jiuling, Zhang Zai and other famous people have been included in the lineage, so many decent ancestors of the Wat Wat, far-fetched, often making future generations unbelievable.
Some scholars pointed out that the evolution of surnames in China is a long process, the various surnames are differentiated and combined in the continuous migration and reproduction, coupled with the great integration of the nationalities of the dynasties, the blood relationship on the surname has been diluted, and it is impossible to find the connection between a certain surname today and a certain surname in ancient times from the blood relationship.
Misremembered and misremembered to spread falsehoods
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, after years of war and social turmoil during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the family trees passed down from generation to generation were almost lost, so that the old genealogies were rarely seen in the Song Dynasty, and the lineages of many families were also broken and lost. Some of the so-called "ancient genealogies" handed down today were written in the Ming Dynasty, while most of them were revised during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
Because the ancient genealogy has no basis and no reference, it can only be repaired by word of mouth and the residual memories of the elders of the clan and hearsay information, so "privately created official ranks, inverted eras", and misremembered and misremembered things appear one after another.
In addition, there are various problems in the continuation and renewal of the family tree.
First, the historical cultivation of traditional Chinese studies is not enough, it is impossible to distinguish the authenticity of the data, and it is impossible to extract the essence and remove the falsehood and the truth; second, they think that the same surname will be of the same origin, ignoring the integration of the surname in the integration of nationalities, and blindly returning to the source; third, the change in the positions of the officials of the clan is not accurate, and the leading posts and non-leading positions are not clear; fourth, they are mixed with the clan "power discourse" competition, who presides over the revision of the genealogy has the final say, and some even "discard" or downplay the data of those who "have opinions, disobey, do not pay money, or pay less money"; on the contrary, they are heavily inked.
Nowadays, the compilation of family trees has ushered in a small upsurge, looking for roots, combing family lineages, and inheriting family spirit, which would have been a very meaningful thing, but clinging to "falsification" and confusing ancestors is contrary to the original intention of family trees.