Compilation and Discourse of Genealogies in Jiangnan in the 18^th Century: A Case Study of Two Genealogies by the Chengs in Heqiao

Since the foundation of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), compiling a genealogy has become prevalent. While every clan has its own genealogy, some clan has several ones. Owing to such genealogies, an in-depth study can be done to the distribution of the discourse power in a genealogy, and the criteria of selecting a person in the genealogy. The compiling practice of the Chengs genealogy in Heqiao shows that when a genealogy was compiled, each branch held different discourse power by their influence. Once having the discourse power, the descendants tried to emphasize the outstanding achievements of their direct ancestors. Therefore, one person has several biographies, and the image of same sage appeared more times. Additionally, the ancestors could not be introduced into the genealogy because the inclusive criteria for an entry in a genealogy are ignored, which results in reshaping the image of the ancestors. Consequently, the proportion of each branch in the genealogy is evidently out of balance.