The conflict between clans was common in southern China. The possibility of battle was ever present in a clan-dominated area, and a permanent state of preparedness was maintained through village watches and strong walls around the clan’s territory (Baker, 1979:149).
John Scarth(1860: 63-67), a British merchant traveling in Chaozhou in the late 1850s recorded that the villages were surrounded by distinct walls about sixteen to twenty feet high, and each seemed prepared to fight with its neighbor.
Thomas Buoye(2000:143) also states that violence is prevalent in Chaozhou’s rural area and the overall number of homicides was much greater than in any other prefecture in Guangdong Province in the 18th century.
As the two influential clans in Chi village, the relationship between Chen and Xie was hostile. Before 1949, they banned inter-clan marriage. Moreover, battles often broke out due to some disputes including deity procession. The elders in Chi village told me about a brutal battle that happened between them before 1949.
Xie’s members attacked Chen’s third division living in Yueyingku, which was located close to Xie’s territory. The third division had fewer people to fight. Eventually, they were defeated in a miserable manner. Thirteen clansmen of Chen were decapitated and their heads were placed on the ground. Members from the first division and the second division of the Chen clan arrived late. They did not manage to help their clansmen but witnessed the horrible scene of the heads dripping in blood.
Upper Yang and Down Yang did not have a good relationship. Although they shared the same family name, they originally came from different places as stated previously. Before 1949, Upper Yang was more powerful than Down Yang. Many members from Upper Yang went to the city center to do trading and thus became businessmen. They were called “those wearing long shirts (Changshan)”. They even built a temple to worship their community god called Lord Shengzu.
The majority of Down Yang were farmers and had less power than Upper Yang. Even though they built the ancestral hall together, they still had a lot of conflicts. Upper Yang allied with the Chen clan, while Down Yang allied to the Xie clan. When conducting the procession of gods during the spring festival, Upper Yang borrowed the Second Lady from the second division of Chen, while down Yang borrowed the Second King from the Xie clan.
Bibliography
Baker, H. (1979). Chinese Family and Kinship. Columbia University Press
Buoye, T. M. (2000). Manslaughter, Markets, and Moral Economy: Violent Disputes over Property Rights in Eighteenth-Century China. Cambridge University Press
Scarth, J. (1860). Twelve Years in China: The People, the Rebels, and the Mandarins. T. Constable and Company.
