Note 189 — Chapter V · CHINESE MORALS: AN IDEAL OF FILIAL PIETY

The primitive kinship group is a characteristic feature of Chinese society. “Thousands of Chinese villages comprise exclusively persons having the same surname and the same ancestors” (A. H. Smith, Chinese Characteristics (1894), p. 226). “I have seen a town of 25,000 people, all belonging to the same clan and bearing the same family name” (Martin, The Lore of Cathay (1901), p. 272). Along with this clan constitution of society goes the principle of collective responsibility. The group is to a great degree held responsible for the conduct of each of its members. In case of serious crime, as, for instance, treason, all the male adult members of the criminal’s family are punished along with the offender (Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (1906), vol. i, p. 45). Recently the punishment of relatives of the offender has been abolished in certain cases.