Family Traditions of Sheng and Tao: The Sheng and Tao Families in Historical Transformations

Author: Shen Ning (USA)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book is a peculiar family history work. The author's uncle is the renowned Shen Junru, and his maternal grandfather is also the famous Tao Xisheng. In the book, the author explores the millennium-long history of the Shen family, which has the of rewriting the family genealogy. However, viewing history through the lens of a single family, especially modern history, is actually quite interesting. Out of reverence for King Wen of Zhou, the Chinese are eager to claim descent from him. In fact, King Wen had fifteen sons, and his younger brother, King Wu, and King Cheng, repeatedly carried out large-scale enfeoffments, granting numerous relatives and clansmen titles and fiefdoms across the Central Plains. Many surnames in modern China may have originated from the bloodline of the Zhou royal family. If all the people under heaven were descendants of King Wen's children, sharing the same origin, as brothers and sisters, with blood thicker than water, that would be even better. However, while the Chinese universally acknowledge themselves as descendants of the Yellow Emperor, not all recognize themselves as descendants of King Wen. After all, among the enfeoffed dukes and marquises, many were not of Zhou royal blood, such as Duke Jiang Taigong of Qi, who was not a member of the Zhou royal family. At least the Jiang clan cannot be traced back to King Wen. This is the significance of family genealogies or clan histories—they record the bloodline origins of each family. I hope that over three thousand years of warfare, the burning of books and burying scholars by Qin Shi Huang, and the Cultural Revolution's chaos did not completely destroy the family genealogies of the people under heaven. According to my own rough investigation and statistics, there are at least one hundred and eight extant Chinese Shen family genealogies in the world today, most of which originate from clans in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Among them, the Zhejiang Shiqiao Shen family genealogy alone has at least six versions. Many Shen family genealogies are no longer found in China but are preserved overseas, mostly in the United States. It is likely that ancestors fled the war and settled in America, and their genealogies and clan histories were fortunately preserved. The Shen family genealogy I obtained was revised in the year 1917. Although it was already the early years of the Republic of China, the traditions and concepts that had endured for three thousand years still dominated the consciousness and behavior of the people, especially the elderly and young of scholarly families. I believe that the ancestors who revised this Shen family genealogy at that time held the same piety and seriousness as the earliest ancestors who first recorded the Shen family genealogy, accurately documenting the prosperity of the Shen family without any ideological interference, nor fabricating history, exaggerating facts, or glorifying the achievements of the ruling class. Therefore, this genealogy is trustworthy.
This genealogy, marked on the first page as the lineage chart of the Shiqiao branch of the Shen family, begins with Shi Dan Ji and continues to the ninetyth generation, Wen Xiong, who moved from Zhejiang Cixi to Jiaxing. It records only the eldest sons and grandsons of each generation in a direct, single-line manner. At the end of each page, there is a special note: "This chart follows the hanging line direct lineage. All collateral branches, except those related to migrating branches, are omitted." Since 1046 BC, when King Wu conquered the Shang and established the Zhou Dynasty, his tenth brother, Dan Ji, was enfeoffed as the ruler of Shen. In my Shen family genealogy, the hanging line remains unbroken, passed down through generations. For the next three hundred years, spanning ten generations, there are no special records, indicating a period of peace and prosperity in Shen's kingdom. There were no major events, disasters, or migrations, and the Shen clan remained united in its homeland.
The Western Zhou Dynasty passed peacefully for two hundred seventy-six years until 770 BC, when King Ping of Zhou moved the capital to Luoyang, marking the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The situation changed as local feudal lords grew stronger and no longer strictly respected the Zhou royal family, entering what later came to be known as the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Spring and Autumn Period, under the rule of the Zhou, the feudal states were relatively balanced in power, making it difficult to determine which were stronger or weaker. As a result, they engaged in alliances, rivalries, and power struggles, lasting two hundred ninety-four years.
The Warring States Period differed from the Spring and Autumn Period in that the feudal lords gradually divided into strong and weak factions, engaging in a "might makes right" struggle, constantlying each other until only seven dominant states remained: Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin. Each state strove to enrich its nation and strengthen its military, seeking to replace the Zhou and unify the world. This period also lasted a long two hundred fifty-five years.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, around 506 BC, King Jing of Zhou was on the throne. The feudal lords of the Central Plains gathered at Zhao Ling to discuss forming an alliance to attack Chu. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu had always been the mortal enemy of the Central Plains feudal lords. This was not because of its vast territory, which was gradually expanded through conquest. Chu's lack of popularity among the feudal lords stemmed from its open defiance of the Zhou royal family from the moment of its enfeoffment. The reason for this was that when other feudal lords, such as Qi, Jin, Lu, and Wei, were enfeoffed, they were granted sacred artifacts by the Zhou as a mark of honor, but when Chu was granted the title of duke, it received no such artifacts. Chu's duke felt slighted by the Zhou and openly defied the royal family, later even daring to call himself a king, completely disregarding the Zhou. This provoked widespread anger, and the feudal lords united to attack it. However, Chu's neighbor, Shen, did not attend the meeting on time and refused to participate in the alliance to attack Chu.
As a result, the powerful northern state of Jin, citing Shen's disrespect for the feudal lords, launched a punitive expedition, instructing and supporting the neighboring state of Cai, Duke Zhao, to attack Shen. Throughout the nearly three hundred years of the Spring and Autumn Period, although feudal lords frequently fought and conquered, each state always found a reason to declare war on its adversary, proclaiming it to the world to justify their actions. There was never a feudal lord who would launch an attack without a reason, declaring war on a neighboring state without warning. If someone did so, they would face the wrath of all, and the feudal lords would unite to eliminate that reckless ruler. The reasons for declaring war could range from major offenses, like Chu's disrespect for the Zhou, to minor issues, such as the marriage of a princess or the borrowing of a precious jade. There was no shortage of excuses. This also set a precedent for later Chinese emperors: wars could be fought, but they must be justified, with declarations made before battles.
The civilization of the Chinese nation, even in the rules of war, was far more advanced than Nazi Germany's unprovoked surprise attacks on Eastern Europe or the senseless invasions of China by the Japanese warlord.
King Wu's tenth brother, Dan Ji, was younger than his elder brothers and had far less experience in military campaigns than the brothers and founding heroes of the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, warfare and hegemony were never part of the Shen family's bloodline. After more than ten generations of descendants abandoning martial pursuits for scholarship, it is likely that the physique of the Shen family members gradually lost the towering and robust features of their ancient ancestors, and their ideological consciousness also lost the strong desire to rule the world like King Wen of Zhou.
P20-22