Happy Learning Chinese Culture Yizhuang

The changes in social and economic relations since the middle of the Tang Dynasty have dealt the biggest impact to aristocratic families, which is the instability of their economic status. If the bureaucracy of the Song Dynasty wanted to maintain its wealth for a long time, it had to adapt to the changes in the social situation and adopt many new methods and measures to stabilize its economic status and unite its clans. The Yizhuang founded by Fan Zhongyan, as an unprecedented new measure, is of great significance and far-reaching influence in the history of family development. It has always been valued by researchers and has been discussed a lot. Existing research results include Chen Rongzhao's "Fan Zhongyan's Yizhuang" [ ] (pp186-212), Xing Tie's "Yizhuang in the Song Dynasty" [2], and Liao Zhihao and Li Maogao's "A Brief Discussion of Fan Zhongyan and Fan's Yizhuang" [3] Wait, most of the arguments are based on Yizhuang itself, but it is not enough to analyze the Fan family on a case-by-case basis. As a new measure of family building with typical significance, if the development of Yizhuang and Fan families can be combined for investigation, it will be helpful to explain the relationship between economic means and the development of aristocratic families under the social conditions of the Song Dynasty. of. The author is not shy and intends to discuss it from this perspective to make up for the shortcomings of previous research. If something is wrong, I hope to correct it.

1. The establishment and development of Yizhuang

In the first year of Huangyou (1049), Fan Zhongyan learned about Hangzhou. Since Hangzhou is not far from his hometown of Suzhou, he has had more contact with his tribe. According to the "Preface to the Continuation of the Genealogy" written by Fan Zhongyan on the eighth day of the first month of the third year of Huangyou's reign: "Huangyouzhong (should be 'Chu') came to guard Qiantang, and then passed through Gusu to meet his relatives. In memory of the ancestors who have lost their past The genealogy was not found, and I was afraid that the future would be unknown, so I searched for the imperial edicts stored in the family and examined the family records. After the four generations of ancestors from Lishui Prefecture descended to the present descendants, all the tribes created Yitian and planned it. The number of people in the clan was given to them in months; they were also assigned to their ancestors, and they were restored to their residence, so that they could be sheltered forever. "[4] (pp731-732)

In In the article "The Epitaph of Fan Fujun in the Prince's House", Fan Zhongyan also said: "In the early days of the emperor's reign, a certain person came to guard Qiantang and discussed with the Fujun (Fan Zhongwen) to place ten hectares of land in the middle of the mile and give it to the clan in years. Those who are extremely poor no longer have to worry about being discouraged." [5] (P370) He purchased the charity land in October of that year. It can be seen that Fan Zhongyan did two things for the clan in Suzhou within one year: first, he renewed the family tree. The first is to create a charity village. This year, Fan Zhongyan was 61 years old.

As for Fan Zhongyan’s motivation for establishing Yi Zhuang, scholars in the past believed that it was due to Fan Zhongyan’s public spirit and loving heart, which was a concrete embodiment of the idea of ??“worrying about the world first, and rejoicing after the world is happy” , and at the same time it was a practical means of the concept of "collecting clans" in the Song Dynasty. This view is good, but the more important factors have not been revealed. We might as well take a look at what Fan Zhongyan once said to his children:

I have many clans in Wuzhong, and we are inherently close to each other. However, from the perspective of my ancestors, they are all descendants, and they are not related to each other. How can I live in peace without caring about their hunger and cold? Moreover, since my ancestors have accumulated virtues for more than a hundred years, I have been able to achieve high officials. If I only enjoy wealth and honor without caring about the clan, how will I see my ancestors underground in the future, and how will I enter the family temple? [6] (P863), [7] (P1174)

For an elderly senior bureaucrat who is over 60 years old and has been an official for decades, sharing wealth with his ancestors and descendants is naturally a very satisfying thing. A state of mind respected by people at that time. But the ideal that is not easy to express but is more attractive is how to keep wealth and honor for future generations. In the epitaph written for Nai's brother Fan Zhongwen, Fan Zhongyan ended with "accumulate good deeds without making false accusations, and later prosper" [5] (371), which already revealed this information. And his virtuous sons and grandsons can fully understand his good intentions. Fan Chunren once said: "The first Wen Zhenggong set up a righteous field, it does not mean that he can feed and warm the people with buckets of rice and grains. It has a profound meaning." [8] (1170) Fan Zhirou, the fifth generation of Fan Zhongyan, also made it clear that creating a righteous field Zhuang is the result of the ancestor's "plan to spread the word far away" [9] (P1164). When Liu Zai of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote about the Zhang Family Yizhuang in Xixu, he quoted the above passage of Fan Zhongyan and analyzed the motivation for the creation of the Yizhuang: "I am happy with the rich but ashamed of the poor. I have the same heart as my ancestors; I love them. I don’t want my descendants to be poor and humble. I have the same intention as my ancestors.” [10] (P579) It can be seen that whether it is Fan Zhongyan’s own remarks or the understanding of his descendants or other scholar-bureaucrats, he will establish Yizhuang and his descendants. Long protection, wealth and honor are tied together.

Since some researchers only pay attention to Yizhuang's support to poor people, it is easy to regard it as a charity organization.

However, from the thirteen rules initially set by Fan Zhongyan, we can find the following contents:

If a female envoy has children at home and has been at home for fifteen years, she will be given rice if she is over fifty years old.

The slaves are promised a mouthful of rice in each room, but no clothes are required.

When a child goes out to serve as an official, every time he returns home, he will choose Ding You as guard of the palace or serve as an official in Sichuan, Guangzhou and Fujian. Those who stay in their hometown will be given rice and silk and good or bad money according to the regulations of each house. Even if he is close to the official position but stays at home for some reason, payment will be made according to this method.

For the tribesmen who have female servants and slaves at home, it is obvious that there is no "worry of being cold" in the first place. As for "officials", even if they are no longer in office or do not receive salary for the time being, they should not have major life problems. Fan Zhongyan's support for them naturally went beyond the scope of charity. What's more, the support provided to other ethnic groups has basically reached a level where they have no worries about food and clothing. There is only one clause that is obviously of a charitable nature:

If relatives by marriage in or outside the village are poor or in dire straits, or suffer from hunger and are unable to survive, all the relatives will be treated as one and the same, that is, Within the rice field of righteousness, help as much as possible.

It can be seen that the charitable nature of Yizhuang is not mainstream. Fan Zhongyan's main motivation is to provide a solid material foundation for the family to maintain wealth for a long time. This point can be clearly confirmed from the behavior of Fan Zhongyan's descendants. In the continued rules that were formed one after another, the content of funding for scholars and voluntary studies was added, so as to "make the disciples know the beauty of reading and encourage them." [9] (P1168) Mou Gao said in the article "Yi Xue Ji": "Fan Wenzhenggong tried to build a righteous house, set up righteous fields and righteous villages to collect his clan, and also set up a righteous school to teach, and the education was well prepared, which means that the most recent Ancient times."[11](P1188) In order to maintain wealth, unite the clan, and strengthen the clan's power, Fan Zhongyan worked hard.

It is worth noting that although Fan Zhongyan spared no money for the construction of the clan, he lived a very frugal life. It is said that on the eve of his establishment of Yi Zhuang, his descendants once advised him to "ruminate Luoyang and make the tree garden a place of retirement"[12], but he flatly refused. "History of the Song Dynasty" says that "although he is expensive, he does not value meat unless he is a guest; his wife can only provide food and clothing for herself" [13] (10276), which must be correct.

At the beginning of Yizhuang's establishment, Fan Zhongyan paid great attention to its long-term role in maintaining and improving the clan's power. When building a charity house, setting up a charity school, revising the family tree, and formulating the rules of the charity village, attention was paid to various supporting measures from the very beginning, which can be said to be a relatively thorough consideration. But Fan Zhongyan died within two or three years after the Yizhuang was built. The consolidation and initial development of Yizhuang was mainly completed in the hands of Fan Zhongyan's children. The following aspects can clearly reflect this.

First of all, the scale of Yitian has increased significantly. The main economic force of Yizhuang is Yitian. The initial scale was 1,000 acres, and Fan Chunren increased it to 3,000 acres. Chunren "has been honest and frugal since he was a commoner to the prime minister, and all the gifts he received were given in Guangyi Zhuang" [14] (10293). His approach is quite similar to that of his father, but his official position is higher than that of his father. Therefore, he can obtain more salary and be better equipped to contribute more to Fan's Yi Zhuang.

Secondly, Yizhuang’s rules have been continuously improved in practice and become increasingly strict. Brother Fan Chunren renewed the rules ten times, respectively in the sixth year of Xining (1073), the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), February of the second year of Shaosheng (1095), April of the second year of Shaosheng, and Yuan Fuyuan. (1098), the second year of Yuanfu (1099), the fifth year of Chongning (1106), the first year of Daguan (1107), the third year of Zhenghe (1113), and the fifth year of Zhenghe (1115), with an average of 4 Renew every year or so. Since it is "regulations are made according to circumstances", most of the renewal content is based on actual needs and is more operable. If Fan Zhongyan's initial thirteen articles "only have the purpose of granting, and only set up prohibitions on advance requests", they basically give the tribesmen the right to obtain funding; then the twenty-eight articles renewed by Fan Chunren brothers are "to prevent and prevent" "Yimi" [15] (P1172), mainly stipulates the relevant responsibilities of the tribesmen. The combination of power and obligation will inevitably make Yizhuang's management increasingly strict.

Thirdly, the Yizhuang Rules were supported by the Song Dynasty officials, thus providing political protection. In the first year of Zhiping (1064), Fan Chunren wrote to the court, describing the management of Yizhuang, "Nowadays, there are people in the houses who do not respect the rules. There are no edicts in the prefectures and counties, so it is difficult for the family to take care of themselves. In the past five or seven years, it has gradually been abolished." The consequences were bad, and the descendants were left hungry, cold, and helpless." Therefore, he requested that "the imperial court specially sent down the command to Suzhou, and all the brothers in the house should be punished. Anyone who violated the rules should be ordered to accept the lawsuit."

This request was approved by the court. Since then, Yizhuang's rules have been politically protected by using the imperial command as the sword of Shangfang. The descendants of the Fan family carved a stone on the side of Fan Zhongyan's ancestral hall in Baiyun Temple, Tianping Mountain.

During the Song and Jin wars between the two Song Dynasties, Fan's Yizhuang was hit by the war. After the political situation stabilized, Yizhuang was already "Although only acres of land remained, the village house was burned down, moved to a tomb in a temple, and moved to a residential building. It was riddled with beetles and malfunctions, and the original intention was lost" [17] (P1165). The war not only destroyed some of the infrastructure of Yizhuang, but also impacted the rules of Yizhuang, and the system could not be implemented well, which led to the collapse of Yizhuang. Lou Yao's "Records of Fan's Fuyi House" describes this situation as follows:

The Zhonggeng army was destroyed and the clan party dispersed. Therefore, based on Zhenwu, the people and wealthy people occupied it as a residence and as a farm. There is not much straightness, and I am very disappointed. There is no grain stored, so he lives in the tomb temple on Tianping Mountain, where he has a lot of work to do. After searching for it, it was ruined and rebuilt in the city. Instead, he sent it to another house. He has been ill for a long time. [15](P1171)

It seems that Fan's Yizhuang's house was not only damaged, but also occupied by others, and only a negligible rent could be collected. Although the acres of land still exist, various supporting facilities have been lost and cannot play their due role.

In response to this situation, the descendants of the Fan family, especially the descendants of Wen Zheng who had official positions, tried to rebuild it. Fan Gongwu, who came to Feng Yilang as an official, "thought about this for many years and died because of his ambition." His sons, brothers Fan Liangqi and Fan Zhirou, "responsibly took charge of themselves and thought of new ideas." In the second year of Qingyuan (1196), they officially started the restoration and reconstruction work of Yizhuang. The first step they took was to "inform the residents to get rid of all the unruly people and dispatch them within a certain period of time." But this step was not easy, because there were many "dissatisfied people" who were unwilling to move out, and the Fan brothers had to " sue the county, the supervisory department, and even Datai Province." Because of the different punishments and the prefect Zheng Ruorong's "Xianyi action and strong advocacy", Fan was able to learn about his hometown. The second step taken by Brother Fan Liangqi was to "donate private money for the first time to erect the wall; build a hall, still flatten the "Suihan", and use the ancestral temple to correct the text; build a house with ten couplets to house the poor; build a new warehouse and soak it in "Restore the Old View"[15](P1171). In this way, the hardware construction of Yizhuang can be resumed. The next step is the issue of system construction, so the third step taken by brothers Fan Liangqi is to "set constraints and prepare for the front" [17] (1165). Fan Liangqi also "handled the cashier for a year, thinking that it would be the later style" [15](1171). They also "carved tablets through the state to reveal the righteous house." Despite this, Fan Zhirou, who was serving as Zuo Sijian at the time, was not at ease. He also learned from Fan Chunren's approach and reported to the court, requesting that "a special edict be sent to Pingjiang Mansion" to ensure the implementation of the new regulations and the old covenant. This request was also approved by the court.

The reconstruction of Yizhuang by brothers Fan Liangqi and Fan Zhirou since the second year of Qingyuan (1196) is of great significance in the development history of Fan's Yizhuang. It shows that Yizhuang has withstood the test of social turmoil, and also shows that the core power of the Fan family still comes from Fan Zhongyan's line (i.e. Wen Zhengwei, and Fan Liangqi brothers are descendants of Fan Chunyou).

What is particularly noteworthy is the continuous improvement of Fan's Yizhuang's political status and social prestige during the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition to Fan Zhirou being allowed to submit the memorial and the implementation of Yizhuang's rules regaining political protection, people in the Southern Song Dynasty also gave Fan's Yizhuang various special cares. The most important manifestations include the following three aspects:

First, the government exempted Yizhuang from taxes and servitude. In the "Regulations on Renewal" presided over by Fan Zhirou in the third year of Jiading (1210), it was mentioned that "the servants of Yizhuang and Baiyun Gongde Temple should not do non-general medicine and be exempted from lawsuits". In the fourth year of Jiaxi (1240), the Hebian Institute in western Zhejiang believed that "Fan Wenzheng's Yizhuang is a place of customs" and should be "exempted from Kebian". Therefore, Fan's Yizhuang in Wu County and Changzhou County were exempted from the persuasion. The total amount of rice is nine hundred and seventy-three stone, six buckets and two liters. [18](PP1086-1087) It can be seen that Yizhuang enjoyed the economic privileges of tax and exemption, and gradually became a special economic zone under the rule of the Song Dynasty government.

The second is the local officials' high regard for the Fan family. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan, as a sage in his hometown, became a model for local officials to carry out social education. Therefore, successive local officials all looked at the Fan family and the Fan family Yizhuang with special eyes and gave them more favor. In the 10th year of Xianchun (1274), the late governor of Pingjiang Prefecture felt that the prefecture did not have a dedicated temple for Fan Wenzhenggong, which was an important matter "related to the customs", so regardless of the "embarrassment" of financial resources, he paid tribute to Fan's righteous Fan Zhongyan ancestral hall was built in the east of Zhuangzhidao.

After the large ancestral hall with "sixty couplets for the house" was built, "the official land was confiscated, and the rented rice was collected to cover the expenses of the Spring and Autumn Festival". The official Fan Zhongyan ancestral hall established near Fan's Yi Zhuang will undoubtedly be of great help in improving the political status of the Fan family and Fan's Yi Zhuang. The ancestral hall held "the second sacrifice in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the prefect led his relatives to come" [19] (pp1087-1088). It can be seen that the rituals and specifications of the ancestral hall sacrifices are very unusual.

The third is celebrity publicity. Due to the obvious role of Fan's Yizhuang in gathering clans, it gradually attracted the attention of Neo-Confucianists. Many celebrities have written articles to promote and praise Yizhuang. For example, Liu Qingzhi "prefaced Fan Zhongyan's "Yi Zhuang Rules" and advised everyone in the big family to follow suit" [20] (p12957). Such articles have been handed down to this day. In the Northern Song Dynasty, only Qian Gongfu's "Yitian Ji" was written. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there were Lou Yao's "Fan's Fuyi House", Sun Yingshi's "Inscription of Fan's Yizhuang", Liu Ju's "Fan's Yizhuang". "Yi Zhuang Shen Yan Gui Shi Ji Ji" and other articles. The gradual increase of such articles has undoubtedly promoted the continuous expansion of the popularity of Fan's charity village. Many clans have followed Fan Zhongyan's example, established a charity village, and learned from the management experience of Fan's charity village. Fan's charity village has gradually become a model for the construction of clan charity villages.

Through the special care given to Yizhuang by people in the Southern Song Dynasty, Fan’s Yizhuang’s political status and social prestige were continuously improved. This is not only a manifestation of the development of Yizhuang, but also has obvious positive significance for the stable development of Yizhuang.

The development of Fanshi Yizhuang in the Song Dynasty for more than 200 years, although it was twists and turns and not smooth sailing, gradually stabilized and took root in the social soil of the Song Dynasty. At this point, it can be said to be a social spectacle. You must know that a common social phenomenon in the Song Dynasty was that "fields and houses have no fixed owners" [21] (P162), and land ownership was transferred so frequently that people at the time even used the phrase "in ancient times, there were eight hundred owners of fields for thousands of years, but now they change their owners once a year" [ ] (P494) to describe it. The development of Fan's Yizhuang is not only reflected in the improvement of the system, the improvement of status, the expansion of prestige, etc., but also the scale of its land is constantly increasing. When it was first established, the area was about 1,000 acres. By the time the Western Zhejiang Hebian Institute and the Exemption Bureau were approved in the fourth year of Jiaxi (1240), its scale was 897 acres in Wu County and 2,271 acres in Changzhou County, totaling 3,168 acres.

2. The role of Yizhuang on the Fan family

The establishment of Yizhuang, as an epoch-making milestone in the development history of the Fan family, undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Fan family in the Song Dynasty. important role. Specifically, it is mainly reflected in the following aspects.

First of all, Yizhuang supported and reunited a large number of family members. The Fan clan in Suzhou are all descendants of Fan Sui, and by the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, they had passed through four or five generations. The population has reached a certain size, and the gap between rich and poor has become very serious. Although Fan Zhongyan was born in the official branch, due to the decline of his family background, he even "wanted to return the surname Fan, but his clan members were in trouble", so he had to claim that "if he wanted to return to his original surname, he had nothing to covet" [6] (863) . When Yizhuang was first built, the number of registered members was 90. At that time, the thousand acres of righteous land “produced eight hundred bushels of japonica rice every year. With what was put in and what was gathered, there was an endless surplus” [23] (P1169). Since then, the population of the Fan family has continued to increase. Although Yitian has gone through some twists and turns, its scale has also expanded and gradually stabilized. By the Southern Song Dynasty, more than 3,000 acres of righteous land had supported hundreds of Fan clan members. When Brother Fan Liangqi "revived" Yizhuang, he was supporting about 450 people, which was "five times more" than when it was first established [24] (P1173).

Under the protection of Yizhuang, a large number of poor Fan people have indeed avoided the fate of being displaced and migrating to other places. Because they have a stable source of livelihood, they can naturally live in peace. At the same time, because Yitian also supported those who "remained in office while living at home", it attracted many officials to return to their hometowns, thus reuniting more elite members of the family. During the Song Dynasty, it was common for officials not to return to their hometown. As far as Fan Zhongyan's family is concerned, due to the needs of officialdom, his descendants once settled in Xuchang near the capital, although they still have very close ties with the Fan clan in Suzhou. After being affected by the war between the two Song Dynasties, they had to move south. However, unlike other aristocratic families who dispersed after moving south, the Fan clan members who moved south were attracted by the strength of the Yizhuang reunion, and basically settled in the Suzhou area. The Southern Song Dynasty's Jiaxuan Weng said in a very envious tone: "(Fan Zhongyan) established Yizhuang and gathered his clans to live there. For more than 200 years now, the descendants of the Fan family have lived in Wenzhengfang.

"[25](P293) It can be seen that Yizhuang has a stable and long-term reunion effect on the members of the Fan family.

Secondly, Yizhuang provides favorable conditions for the education of the clan members. Fan Zhongyan was raised by the imperial examination As a scholar-bureaucrat, he paid great attention to education during his political career. He went to various places to promote education and spared no effort in establishing the Yizhuang. There is no entry on education in the book, but in the three rules renewed for the first time by Fan Chunren, there are detailed regulations on the selection and treatment of volunteer teachers:

All the students who have been selected or predicted There are two scholars who act as professors in tribute, and they pay five dan of brown rice every month (if the price of rice is more than 1 dan per dan, the money will be one guanwen for each dan). Although the prepayment has not been paid, the conduct of the article is known to everyone. We will also listen to the selection and discuss it with you (those who have no children enrolled in the school are not allowed to discuss it). If there are less than six students, only three stones will be given, if there are eight people, four stones will be given, and if there are ten people, all the students will be given.

Mou Zhen said in the article "Yi Xue Ji": "Fan Wenzhenggong tried to build a righteous house, set up a righteous farm, and a righteous village to collect his clan, and also set up a righteous school. To teach, to educate and prepare, it means the most recent ancient times. "[11](P1188) There must be a certain basis. Within the family, there are teachers and schools, which naturally provide convenient conditions for family members to receive education. More importantly, stable economic sources are enough to enable the family members to They have no worries about food and clothing, which provides a basic guarantee for them to study in peace, not to mention that all education within the family is free.

Thirdly, Yizhuang plays a certain role in the officialdom of Fan family members. The favorable conditions in education for the members of the Fan family have laid the foundation for them to take the imperial examination. At the same time, Fan's Yizhuang also provided financial support and rewards for the children who actually took the examination, and encouraged them to take the examination in the sixth year of Xining. (1073) One of the renewal rules is as follows:

The disciples who win the big competition will each pay ten guanwen (this is applicable to all seventy-seven moxia), and those who pay more tribute will be halved. , and must actually go to the competition to be given. Even those who have given but do not try for no reason will be refunded.

The renewal rules in the third year of Jiading (1210) were adjusted as follows according to the actual situation:< /p>

The old rule is that if any of the brothers from the house receive a large tribute, the Yizhuang branch will pay ten thousand gold. The price of goods is so expensive that it is difficult to limit this amount. Thousand, the money will be worth every month in each house. Those who are exempted from being promoted and those who are admitted to the university will be given fifty thousand to encourage the brothers in the house to know the beauty of reading.

More importantly, Yizhuang provides a stable economic foundation for the family, and family members have a safe haven in the increasingly fierce social competition. This prevents the family's development from sudden ups and downs, even if there are twists and turns. The family as a whole has declined to the point of collapse, but there are always conditions and opportunities for resurgence. In a short period of time in history, this effect may not be obvious, but in a long period of time, it is in a potential state. The potential role will be fully reflected. Through the development history of the Fan family in the Song Dynasty, people at the time had already seen this role. Liu Zai in the Southern Song Dynasty even asked: "How recently was the famous family Xian Ke?" Forever; and after Fan Gong, there will be only two hundred years left, and it will last for more than ten generations without killing him?"[10](P580)

However, as far as the Song Dynasty is concerned, Yizhuang's influence on Fan The role of the family in maintaining the status of a powerful family is, after all, secondary and cannot be overestimated. The contribution of the Fan Zhongyan branch to Yizhuang in the Northern Song Dynasty was the main aspect. Since they settled in Xuchang in the Central Plains, members gained from Yizhuang. The actual benefits of Fan Zhongyan's officialdom during this period were mainly due to various other factors, such as the influence of Yinbu, marriage relationships, social relationships, and the economic influence of Fan Zhongyan's reputation. The generous salary received was the main source, coupled with the role of Fan's frugal family tradition, there was no sign of decline by the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. The role of Yizhuang was indeed more obvious in the Southern Song Dynasty, but the Fan family's status as a powerful family was still difficult to maintain. This factor contributed to this.

It should be noted that within the clan, the direct descendants of Fan Zhongyan, the Yizhuang envoy, basically established the status of the clan leader. He is also in charge of the righteous village and voluntary school activities of his family." According to the cloud, "he is the direct grandson of the sage Fan Wenzhenggong" [26] (P1089). Fan Bangrui, the patriarch of the Fan clan mentioned by Fang Hui in his notes to his poems [27] (P994), is also known as the eighth grandson of Fan Zhongyan.

This shows that from Fan Chunren who Zeng Guangzhuang, to Fan Liangqi and Zhirou brothers who restored Yizhuang, to Fan Shigui and Fan Bangrui after the Ding Dynasty Revolution, the leaders of the Fan family are basically the direct descendants of Fan Zhongyan . Since various punishments for tribesmen have gradually been added to the management rules, these contents are not only related to the economic interests of the tribesmen, but also important punishments must be "correct in their application" [17] (P1167). Therefore, Yizhuang provided a basis for the leadership of Fan Zhongyan's direct descendants to implement family laws and clan rules. Fang Bao, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, once said: "The family law of the Fan family is that if the eldest son is in the temple, the grandfather will bow his head and obey orders. Mistakes, disputes and lawsuits are all dealt with in the family temple. Therefore, the descendants of the Fan family will go without punishment for hundreds of years. In the public court, the righteousness of the land is established, and the poor are supported, so the teachings can be carried out." [28] It can be seen that while the righteousness educates and reunites the people, it also restrains and controls them. tribesmen.

3. Conclusion

The changes in social and economic relations during the Song Dynasty made it increasingly difficult for bureaucratic families to maintain their existing social status for a long time. Although the social status of big bureaucratic families can generally be maintained for two or three generations by relying on means such as compensation, imperial examination competition, and marriage relationships, their decline is also relatively rapid due to the lack of a stable economic foundation. The establishment of Yi Zhuang provided a basic economic guarantee for the family and played a potential and lasting role in maintaining the family's status.

Fan Zhongyan's family prospered through the imperial examinations, and further developed by means of support, marriage, and other means. The creation and operation of a righteous village prevented the family from completely declining during the Song Dynasty and maintained He achieved a relatively long-term status as an aristocratic family and became a model for the aristocratic families in the Song Dynasty to learn from.