Non-kin as Kin

Abstract

The pervasive influence of the family in Chinese society did not stop at the boundaries of physical kinship. The Chinese applied kinship terms to people who were unrelated to them, and they also had a penchant for organizing non-kin institutions along kinship lines. Perhaps we could say quite simply that, since it was for the Chinese a dominant element in thought, kinship organization manifested itself as a model in various other areas of social life.