district proclamations condemning it would be issued by the local
officials. A man might, by purchase and contract, adopt a person
as son, daughter, or grandchild, such person acquiring thereby all
the rights of a son or daughter. Descent, both of real and personal
property, was to all the sons of wives and concubines as joint heirs,
irrespective of seniority. Bastards received half shares. Estates were
not divisible by the children during the lifetime of their parents
or grandparents.

The head of the family being but the life-renter of the family
property, bound by fixed rules, wills were superfluous, and were used
only where the customary respect for the parents gave them a voice
in arranging the details of the succession. For this purpose verbal
or written instructions were commonly given.

In the absence of the father, the male relatives of the same surname
assumed the guardianship of the young. The guardian exercised full
authority and enjoyed the surplus revenues of his ward's estate,
but might not alienate the property.

There are many instances in Chinese history of extreme devotion of
children to parents taking the form of self-wounding and even of
suicide in the hope of curing parents' illnesses or saving their lives.


Political History

The country inhabited by the Chinese on their arrival from the West
was, as we saw, the district where the modern provinces of Shansi,
Shensi, and Honan join. This they extended in an easterly direction