Search Results (17)

Taking the Liuyang branch of the Kong Clan in Hunan as a case study, this article examines how a migrant lineage associated with Confucian orthodoxy adapted to a heterogeneous local society and gradually transformed lineage identity into a broader sense of communal and national belonging. Drawing on fieldwork, genealogies, local gazetteers, temple inscriptions, and interviews, this study traces three connected processes. First, the clan used its recognized status as descendants of Confucius to obtain institutional protection, including tax and corvée exemptions, which helped stabilize population growth and local authority. Second, the Dahu Family Temple, sacrificial music, ritual dance, genealogy-airing practices, and modern clan activities show how Qufu-centered ritual codes were reworked through Huxiang architectural, musical, agricultural, and social rhythms. Third, in the modern period, practical statecraft, education, and revolutionary memory redirected lineage ethics from exclusive descent toward public responsibility. The case demonstrates that the consciousness of the Chinese national community can be generated at the grassroots level through the interaction of state institutions, local cultural adaptation, embodied ritual practice, and the reorientation of kinship memory toward inclusive patriotism. Full article

This study investigates the role of naming practices as cultural repositories that preserve family, lineage, and community identity. It explores how anthroponymy encodes histories of ancestry, migration, settlement, and sociopolitical organisation in two West African societies, Dàgáárè-speaking communities and Yorùbá communities. Adopting a comparative onomastic ethnographic approach, this research analyses names among the two selected cultures. Data is drawn from interviews, school registers, attendance sheets, and cultural practices, with emphasis on how names record genealogical descent, settlement histories, occupational roles, spiritual affiliations, and ethical expectations. In Dàgáárè and Yorùbá culture, bal/baloo yoe (clan names) and lineage names identify descent from founding ancestors, document migration and settlement, mark ritual responsibilities, memorialise historical events, and regulate kinship and marriage through totemic and spiritual identities. This study argues that names in Dàgáárè- and Yorùbá-speaking societies operate as cultural texts that preserve and transmit heritage across generations. The significant implications extend to linguistics, anthropology, and heritage studies, where names can be leveraged as tools for cultural preservation and historical analysis. Full article

The question of which Scottish surnames constitute a Clan and which do not is hotly contested. It is wrongly felt, especially in the Scots-abroad communities, that Clan is somehow of higher status than “Family” or “House” and/or applies to everyone of Scottish heritage. Opinions and assertions are on a spectrum between two absolutes: (a) “everyone in Scotland is in a Clan, and everyone should wear kilts and tartans”; to (b) “Clans disappeared in the 18th century and there is no point clinging to a Romantic notion with no modern relevance”. Historically, the Clan is a phenomenon of the Gaelic-speaking Highlands and Islands and was not found as a social structure in the Lowlands; the Southern Uplands (Scottish Borders) are a special case. The “everyone” persuasion leads to cultural nonsenses such as Lowland-ancestry Scots abroad forming “Clan” Societies and adopting Highland dress. Scots overseas are looking for an authoritative statement as to whether their surname constitutes a Clan, a family, or some other nomenclature. Yet, there is no official or agreed historically based list of who are Clans and who are not. There is no such list—or a formula by which an answer can be derived. This essay is intended as a step towards that. Also, the non-historical concept of “Septs” is dismissed. Full article

Tangyue Village in Huizhou, China, is renowned for its monumental Bao-family archway complex and well-preserved ancestral halls, which host and memorial activities embodying rich clan traditions and regional cultural identity. However, these traditional spaces face contemporary challenges, including functional obsolescence, high energy consumption, and limited sustainability. Focusing on the memorial spaces of Tangyue Village, this study explores low-carbon design strategies for their renewal by developing a comprehensive research framework that integrates multi-stakeholder demand analysis, weighting evaluation, case-based design, and performance verification. Initially, user needs were identified through semi-structured interviews and behavioral observations, followed by the application of the Fuzzy Kano (FKANO) model to classify and filter these requirements. Subsequently, a multi-level evaluation system was established, encompassing low-carbon performance, spatial functionality, cultural continuity, and community participation. The Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach combined with the entropy weight method was then employed to determine the relative importance of each indicator. The results indicate that the organization of memorial spaces, the application of low-carbon materials, rainwater harvesting, and spatial accessibility represent key design priorities. Space syntax simulations conducted via DepthmapX further demonstrate that the optimized design significantly improves spatial accessibility, permeability, and vitality while enhancing the overall low-carbon performance. Ultimately, this study proposes practical low-carbon renewal strategies for memorial spaces in traditional settlements, offering a systematic approach that balances cultural heritage preservation with environmental sustainability. Full article

This article offers an interdisciplinary ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic reading of Karl Steinmetz’s early twentieth-century travel accounts from the northern Albanian highlands and links them to contemporary Albanian youth’s attitudes toward tradition. Through close analysis of his depictions of space, social organisation and oral practice, the study examines how tower, household, clan, honour, blood, revenge, hospitality and priest are lexically and discursively encoded as “word-concepts” structuring local worldviews. Methodologically, it combines textual analysis with a questionnaire administered to respondents aged 15–17 and 18–21 about the relevance of traditions today. The findings show that Steinmetz’s materials provide an early, systematic corpus on Northern Gheg Albanian, where linguistic variation is closely linked to customary law and collective identity; contemporary youth still value honour, hospitality, family solidarity and “besa”, while distancing themselves from the normative force of the Kanun and reinterpreting traditional codes in more individualised, rights-oriented terms. The article argues that Steinmetz’s work remains a crucial resource for understanding the diachronic interplay of language, culture and identity in northern Albania and for analysing how cultural models are transformed among younger generations. Full article

This study examines the construction of individual and collective identity in pre-Neolithic Egypt and the Levant through the post mortem manipulation of human remains. Focusing on funerary rituals and skull reuse, interpreted using recent anthropological theory frameworks, we propose a totemic framework of ontological identity, in which clans associated with specific animals structured their ritual and spatial practices. Based on archaeological, taphonomic, and ethnohistorical evidence, it is possible to identify how these practices reflect clan-based social units, seasonal mobility, and a reciprocal relationship with the environment, integrating corporeal and mental continuity. Plastered skulls in the Levant acted as intergenerational anchors of communal memory, while early Egyptian dismemberment practices predate the standardization of mummification and reveal the function of some structures of pre-Neolithic sanctuaries. By interpreting these mortuary rituals, we argue that selective body treatment served as a deliberate mechanism to reinforce totemic identity, transmit ancestry, and mediate ontological transitions in response to sedentarization and environmental change. Full article

Historic and cultural towns are undergoing spatial restructuring and memory ruptures in the context of urban–rural transformation. Collective memory depends on the continuity of public space, with generational differences playing a key role in its transmission. This study uses Menghe Town in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, as a case to explore the role of public space in collective memory transmission through interviews, emotional mapping, and intergenerational co-construction analysis. The findings show the following: (1) Interviews and emotional mapping reveal that memories of traditional spaces like farmland have weakened, while emerging public spaces such as squares and walkways have become new memory nodes, reflecting a dynamic “carrying-transformation-reproduction” mechanism. (2) Intergenerational emotional mapping reveals that the transformation of spatial functions has driven the reconstruction of cultural identity, shifting villagers’ sense of place from clan and production-based spaces to modern public spaces. (3) Intergenerational emotional mapping and co-construction analysis reveal significant generational differences in memory perception and spatial use: the older generation relies on ancestral halls and farmland, the middle generation on factories and streets from the “agriculture-to-industry” period, and the younger generation on modern facilities like squares and schools. This study proposes the “Narrate—Preserve—Participate” model, explaining memory transmission across generations and offering insights for intergenerational collaboration and differentiated preservation in public space planning. Full article

Before the Anthropocene, Bedouin communities in Southern Israel were based on a clan structure—a kin-based social network; clans were culturally and socially homogenous communities with a strong authority structure. Work consisted of subsistence activities necessary for physical survival. Group-based authority and cooperative problem solving were adaptive in this ecology. Throughout the Anthropocene, the Bedouin of Southern Israel have had to adapt to diverse urban environments, expanded educational opportunity, and exposure to media emanating from different cultures. Our study explored the implications of these ecological shifts for epistemic thinking by comparing three generations of 60 Bedouin families: adolescent girls, their mothers, and their grandmothers (N = 180). Families were evenly divided among three residence types differing in degree of urbanization and degree of population homogeneity: unrecognized Bedouin villages consisting of single clans; recognized Bedouin villages, towns, or cities, consisting of multiple clans; and ethnically diverse cities. Results: Across the generations, media exposure and formally educated parents have weakened the epistemic authority of family elders, in turn weakening clan identity. Ethnically diverse cities have weakened extended family identity. At the same time, personal knowledge and professional expertise have gained new cultural importance. These changes in epistemology and identity are adaptive in the ecological environments that have multiplied in the Anthropocene era. Local identity was strongest both in diverse cities, with their many attractions, and in unrecognized villages, where the population continues to occupy ancestral lands. Full article

Based on the narrative perspective, this paper studies the spatial characteristics and cultural significance of the Shike Ancestral Hall in En Village, Guangdong, as a sacred building. By drawing on Lefebvre’s theory of spatial production, the physical space, cultural value, and community sentiment of the Shike Ancestral Hall are linked to explore its role in the sense of place, clan memory, and cultural identity. The study found that the combination of perceived, conceived, and lived space gives the Shike Ancestral Hall profound social, cultural, and religious significance. The ancestral hall is not only a material existence but also a vital link to maintain the emotional and cultural identity among clan members. Through the multi-sensory experience of the building, including light, sound, touch, and smell, the unique atmosphere of the sacred space is revealed, further deepening the need for sustainable development and protection of cultural heritage. Full article

The surname Fitzpatrick is readily identified as Irish. Until recently, the traditional Fitzpatrick surname narrative was of a medieval super-progenitor named Giolla Phádraig. His offspring, the eponymous Mac Giolla Phádraig, it was said, somehow came to dwell in every Irish province; yet this is an Irish surname myth that works to erase the history of ancient ‘Fitzpatrick’ clans. This article demonstrates how deconstructing the surname Fitzpatrick, through working the hyphen of gene-eaology, is a practice of decolonisation. Via genetic data and archival records, dominant clan identities are disrupted, while connections with lost clans are re/membered. Critical analysis dismantles the dominant narrative imposed by colonial strategies and reconnects people with kinship groups and forgotten forebears. Questions arise from the deconstruction of an Irish surname. How might new clan identities be imagined, and how is losing a dominant surname narrative negotiated? Full article

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) have a variety of functions, including involvement in the metabolism of exogenous substances and the synthesis and degradation of endogenous substances, which are important for the growth and development of insects. Pseudoregma bambucicola is a social aphid that produces genetically identical but morphologically and behaviorally distinct first-instar soldiers and normal nymphs within colonies. In this study, we identified 43 P450 genes based on P. bambucicola genome data. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these genes were classified into 4 clans, 13 families, and 23 subfamilies. The CYP3 and CYP4 clans had a somewhat decreased number of genes. In addition, differential gene expression analysis based on transcriptome data showed that several P450 genes, including CYP18A1, CYP4G332, and CYP4G333, showed higher expression levels in soldiers compared to normal nymphs and adult aphids. These genes may be candidates for causing epidermal hardening and developmental arrest in soldiers. This study provides valuable data and lays the foundation for the study of functions of P450 genes in the social aphid P. bambucicola. Full article

Since 11 September 2001, Islam has been viewed as a threat to global stability rather than as a potential factor for peacebuilding and development. Therefore, most studies on Islam have been framed around security. Although research on the security threat posed by Islamist extremists is understandable, the main purpose of this study is to explore and give more attention to positive and continued contributions of Islamic faith to Somalia’s history and its current situation. To date, Islam has had an enormous constructive impact on Somali society at different stages of its history. It has strengthened peace capacity and development aspects such as literacy, socio-economic factors, justice, urbanisation, common identity and shared future aspirations, which have risen above clan divisions. In terms of methods, this study employs descriptive and analytical research methodologies. In conclusion, despite the current negative interpretation, activities, and actions attributed to the extremist Islamist groups in Somalia and beyond, Islam, on the other hand, has contributed enormously to civilising Somalis, shaping their common identity, nurturing a culture of peace, and improving social development. As it has been in the past, it maintains the potential to provide for Somalia’s future stability and prosperity. Full article

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) catalyzes a wide variety of monooxygenation reactions in plant primary and secondary metabolisms. Land plants contain CYP703, belonging to the CYP71 clan, which catalyzes the biochemical pathway of fatty acid hydroxylation, especially in male reproductive tissues. Korean/Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) has been regarded as one of important medicinal plant for a long time, however the molecular mechanism is less known on its development. In this study, we identified and characterized a CYP703A gene in P. ginseng (PgCYP703A4), regarding reproductive development. PgCYP703A4 shared a high-sequence identity (81–83%) with predicted amino acid as CYP703 in Dancus carota, Pistacia vera, and Camellia sinensis as well as 76% of amino acid sequence identity with reported CYP703 in Arabidopsis thaliana and 75% with Oryza sativa. Amino acid alignment and phylogenetic comparison of P. ginseng with higher plants and known A. thaliana members clearly distinguish the CYP703 members, each containing the AATDTS oxygen binding motif and PERH as a clade signature. The expression of PgCYP704B1 was only detected in P. ginseng flower buds, particularly in meiotic cells and the tapetum layer of developing anther, indicating the conserved role on male reproduction with At- and Os- CYP703. To acquire the clue of function, we transformed the PgCYP703A4 in A. thaliana. Independent overexpressing lines (PgCYP703A4ox) increased silique size and seed number, and altered the contents of fatty acids composition of cutin monomer in the siliques. Our results indicate that PgCYP703A4 is involved in fatty acid hydroxylation which affects cutin production and fruit size. Full article

Using the Lung Kong Association as a case study, this article explores the cultural and socio-religious significance of the clan association in overseas Chinese societies. It argues that the Chinese diaspora has continually endeavored to utilize Confucian resources, via the clan association, to construct a “moral community” for the facilitation of their internal solidarity and external identity. Full article

This article shall ask how Hamas, as a non-state actor, negotiated legitimacy with the clans in a fragmented and factionalized tribal society in the Gaza Strip from 2007–2011. An important factor that shapes the extent of power of rebels and non-state actors in limited statehood areas (LSA) pertains to the negotiation of power these rebels develop with clans in certain areas or times. Rebel governance is a complex and multidimensional concept shaped by the pre-existing particularity of the rebel, its identity, level of factionalism, the former structure of administration, and the extant political institutions. This paper will discuss Hamas as a contemporary case of rebel governance in war and post-war times, which has resulted in a special case of fragile governance. Based on ethnographic research on Hamas and insights from political theories of identity and governance, this paper suggest that tribal factionalism led to violence and played a major role in shaping the governance structure and mechanisms through political affiliation, informal judicial mechanisms, and as a part of the social network which resists government authority. This paper shall propose that Hamas used two paths of negotiations with clans: a coercive power (violent), and by mobilizing individuals of these clans and families as part of the informal judicial system (U’rf). This research aims to contribute to the understanding of rebel governance in general, and Hamas in particular, showing how struggle over legitimacy is shaped and negotiated, and why Hamas could be considered a special case in the study of rebel governance. Full article