Chapter 7 China 281the history of several important lineages and uncovered the territorial bases of
their wealth and power. By the late Qing (late nineteenth century) people with
the He surname were the largest and wealthiest of half a dozen major lineages
in the Shawan sands region southeast of Guangzhou in the Pearl River delta.
The founding ancestor of He lineage, He Renjian (see figure 7.2), settled there
in late Song times on 50 acres of land that he soon extended by another 50
acres. His descendants cultivated the river marshes, expanding their holdings
by a variety of ways, but most remarkably and successfully by reclamation of
the sands deposited naturally by the river. Laborers were hired to drop stones
from boats, build dikes, and add upper layers of soil on which fruit trees were
grown until the reclaimed land was suitable for cultivation. This land was regis-
tered with the government when tax dodging became impossible and then
leased out to cultivators of other surnames and to non-Han minority ethnic1st
genHe Chang of NanxiongHe RenjianBought first land as Nanxiong Branch
common lineage propertyHe Qilong
Earned first jinshi titleFirst ancestral hall builtMajor peasant uprising
decimates He lineage
Coastal evacuationHe Zihai
Earned jinshi title
Wrote geneology for previous five generationsHe Ziyi
First mention of
He Chang of NanxiongHe Guangzhen
“Discovers” He Chang of NanxiongHe Jieli and He Zhiming
Restore ancestral hallSong
DynastyYuan
DynastyMing
DynastyQing
Dynasty2nd
gen
3rd
gen
4th
gen5th
gen
6th
gen9th
gen13th
gen15th
genFigure 7.2
Construction of
He lineage by
members of the
literati.