So I keep seeing stuff about how in China for most of its history, much of the governing was done by beuracrats so as to keep the landed nobles weak. What I’m wondering is, did the children of beuracrats tend to inherit much? Did beuracrats and their families usually get land, or significant wealth? And how did inheritance work? Would being the son of a beuracrat give you official and/or unofficial inroads to becoming a beuracrat yourself like how having a dad who went to Harvard can (or at least could) help you become a Harvard man too? Sorry if this is a vague question, but I’m interested in anything from the Han to the Qing.

>>14932206 (OP)

>What I’m wondering is, did the children of beuracrats tend to inherit much?

Yes, Government Posts were the most handsomely paid professions in Old China (or you know, one of the few salaried jobs besides being a soldier). If your pa had a nice rank (say Provincial magistrate or even better, court minister) and saved a lot of it you can inherit it.



>Did beuracrats and their families usually get land, or significant wealth? 

Depending on the dynasty, but in general you only got a salary. If you served well and got rewarded with a noble rank and either fiefs OR a bonus stipend equivalent of the gdp of a fief. In the Han Dynasty for example lots of folks got the ranks of "King of X" or "Duke of Y" but they didn't get to rule said lands (that was governed by the governor) and only got an fixed stipend from the government that is the size of a Kingdom/Duchy on top of your salary.



>And how did inheritance work? 

Property Inheritance in China is a fucky topic in general its not as simple as primogeniture/gavelkind. Thanks to clan culture &amp; concubinage, you're gonna have to consider main lines (i.e. your sons with your main wife) and minor lines (your sons with your concubines). And that shit depended on the dynasty. In the Tang-Song Era for example, women could inherit.



See: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780824862497-004/pdf



>Would being the son of a beuracrat give you official and/or unofficial inroads to becoming a beuracrat yourself

Yes and no.

-No you're not gonna inherit dad's rank. You're gonna pass through the civil service just like everyone else.

-Yes you'll have buttloads of advantages: you're rich so dad can send you to a good academy to prepare for the exams. If dad is a big official he can pull off some nepotist shit to maybe consider you as one of the passers.

-If dad got enfeoffed as a noble you better hope you're the eldest main son, only you'll get that title

Do you know where I can learn more about inheritance, the nobility, and the beurocracy throughout Chinese history?

Oh I should also add, Forget about government salaries &amp; fiefs, and perks. Sometimes before they even enter the Bureaucracy, the families were *already* rich. Merchant clans for example are able to send their kids to the same schools as the gentry &amp; scholar bureaucrats and come out of the system as officials. Once this happens the merchant clan gets instant respectability among the aristocracy and the wealth of the family skyrockets since as the papa handles the business while his bureaucrat son has a cushy government salary.

Its a generally scattered topic depending on the dynasties really



Here's a nice overview

>Zhang, Zhongli (1955). The Chinese Gentry; Studies on Their Role in Nineteenth-Century Chinese Society. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
