Imposition of European concepts of “descent,” especially in the concept of zong􀄑which

“may be viewed as a line of descent, but its essential meaning really has to do with the

transmission of ancestral rites and obligations.” 177 It is a concept that stresses a

“hierarchical continuity between ascendant and descendant” yet does not call up lineage

segmentation or clan familism as do the terms fang or jia.178 Extending Chun’s argument,

Mayfair Yang cites Bourdieu’s emphasis on situational practice and agency to advocate

for an approach to lineage that moves away from focusing on the normative or “official”

rules of lineage and towards an examination of the “the daily conversions of these rules

177 Allen Chun in Allen Chun, John Clammer, Patricia Ebrey, David Faure, Stephan Feuchtwang, Ying-

Kuei Huang, P. Steven Sangren, Mayfair Yang, “The Lineage-Village Complex in Southeastern China: A

Long Footnote in the Anthropology of Kinship [and Comments and Reply],” Current Anthropology 37, no.

3 (1996), 439.

178 Ibid.

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into strategies of power and counterpower by active agents exercising ‘practical

kinship.’”179 Working along similar lines, the work of Sangren and Scheffler examines

how a diverse range of lineage organizations, involving both kin and non-kin, are able to

change structurally to adapt to diverse environments.180 In the case of Mianhu’s nianhua

lineages, this adaptive power is enacted when the rules and principles around lineage

transmission are manipulated, recast, and redeployed to access its symbolic capital in the

marketplace.

To unpack these issues, the following discussion draws on my interview sessions

with the elder heads of the Wang, Chen, and Li family workshops. It is evident in each

case that the elders have well-rehearsed presentations of their workshop histories, as they

are accustomed to speaking with visiting scholars and officials. I was first introduced to

the workshops by my mentor Liu Zhumei 􀨾􁇰􀪼, an artist and nianhua researcher at the

Mianzhu Nianhua Museum who has formed long-standing relationships with the

workshops. During our initial meetings, Liu referred to my personal background as an

American born Chinese whose father came from a small village in Sichuan. She

explained that I was interested in exploring my cultural and ancestral roots by studying

nianhua, a topic that I would share with Western audiences. Liu’s skillful introduction

served as a powerful icebreaker in conversation as it provided a personal dimension to the

project.

In the following discussion, I will first address the ritualized forms of copying and

innovation within the Wang family lineage of print designers (huashi 􀟂􀴽) who have

extant lineage documents, including geneaology charts, sketches, and inherited paintings

179 Mayfair Yang, “The Lineage-Village Complex (Comment to),” 446.

180 Key studies include P. Steven Sangren, “Traditional Chinese Corporations: Beyond Kinship,” Journal of

Asian Studies 43 (1984): 391-415; Scheffler, Harold W. “Filiation and affiliation” Man 20 (1985): 1-21.

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that carry the valuable traces of older generations. In these instances, the auspicious act of

copying and redesigning these works is central to the continuous flow of skilled

knowledge required for the prosperity of the family lineage and livelihood. This

continuity allows lineage holders to experiment and innovate authoritatively within an

established tradition. I will then address how the Li and Chen workshops (respectively

known as the Northern and Southern schools of Mianzhu nianhua) link their production

practices with territorial claims, as a way of (re)constructing their lineages without

lineage documents. The different lineage-making approaches reveal competing strategies

in the production of efficacious images intended to “pursue the auspicious, repel the

portentous.” In particular, the workshops’ strategic performance of lineage discourses and

practices plays a critical role in legitimizing their authoritative presence in the

marketplace, especially in framing their prints and paintings as ritually efficacious items

for a broad audience.