Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/179



The following information concerning the Korean family or survival of the clan was elicited during several conversations with an intelligent Korean, Mr Kiu Beung Surh, who is receiving his education in the United States. The strength of a clan organization in an ancient country like Korea, which has long possessed a general scheme of government, is interesting.

Clan Head and Council Delegates.—The head of the clan (family) is the direct male descendant of the ancestor by primogeniture. The government of the clan is by the head (chong son, "direct descendant") and a council elected by groups of the family in various parts of the country. The head of each family group becomes such by nearness to the line of descent, by age, or ability.

The delegates to the clan council, which is held usually in Seoul, are elected by ballot, viva voce, or by appointment by the local head. Only one delegate is sent from each village, and his expenses are borne by the group. Others may go, however, if they defray their own expenses. In case no delegate is sent, the head imposes a fine. The head also levies a tax or assessment on the members of the clan. This tax is not uniform, but is fixed in accordance with the means of the individual. The money collected is paid to the keeper of the central clan meeting-house (ta tchong ka, "great family house," the word tchong meaning blood relationship or brother). The tax is applied by the keeper, under direction of the council, toward keeping up the ancestral tombs, shrines, and sacrifices, to investment in land, etc., and to the maintenance of such land and the clan house.