Railing Codex

家的本意为指房屋之内或居所，在汉字演化的过程中，“家”逐渐有了居所之外的更多文化内涵。早在西周时期的诗歌总集《诗经》中这样记载：“天命匪解，桓桓武王，保有厥士，于以四方，克定厥家。”家初次具备了现代人所熟悉的“家庭”概念。家作为社会最小的政治单元，诞生于父权制下的婚姻制度，之后因儒家文化与封建王权的长期苟合而延续下去。儒家经典《大学》开篇便说：“古之欲明明德于天下者，先治其国；欲治其国者，先齐其家；欲齐其家者，先修其身”。“齐家”被视为治国的基础性训练，家庭是出仕前的试验场。在君主世袭制的传统下，家国同构，家成了缩略版的国，国是放大版的家。“家长”是子女的最高权威，亦是最重要的意识形态输出窗口，这种传统家庭结构对社会的影响直至今日，即便中国步入现代时期，政权仍是“大家长”式的，这与中国传统中治国与齐家的并置概念相通。

Originally, the character jia meant “interior of a house” or “dwelling.” Over the course of its evolution, jia gradually acquired broader connotations. In the Book of Songs, an ancient collection of poetry from the Western Zhou dynasty, it states: “Heaven does not weary in its favor. The martial king Wu maintained (the confidence of) his officers, and employed them all over the kingdom, so securing the establishment of his Family (jia).” Here, the character for house first took on the meaning of “family” that modern people associate it with today. Society’s smallest political unit, the family originated in the patriarchal institution of marriage and persisted through the long-term collusion between Confucian culture and feudal rule. As the opening of the Confucian classic The Great Learning states, “The ancients who wished to manifest their bright virtue throughout the world first governed their states; to govern the state, one must first regulate the family; to regulate the family, one must first cultivate the self.” Thus “regulating the family” was seen as foundational training for governing the state, and the family was understood as the testing ground for entering official service. Under the system of hereditary rule, family and state held the same structure: the family was a microcosm for the state, and the state was an extension of the family. Parents were their children’s highest authority, as well as the primary outlets for ideological dissemination. The traditional family structure continues to influence society to this day: though China has entered the modern era, political authority still reflects a “patriarchal” style, in alignment with its traditional concepts of governing the state alongside regulating the family.