During the Ming dynasty, garrison military service was passed down through military households, and military ordinances were established to standardize who within a military household could inherit military service. Military ordinances included both prohibitions and compromises regarding adopted family members who took over military service on behalf of someone in their household, the continuation of military service always the primary goal behind regulations. This paper focuses mainly on clan genealogies, while also utilizing records from guard appointment books as supplementary materials. The work also integrates records about adopted family members in military households taken from Yellow Registers of Taxes and Services (fuyi huangce 賦役黃冊) and Baojia Registers (baojia ce 保甲冊) consulted by the author. In this way, the author attempts to rediscover the influence adopted family members had on the Ming dynasty military household registration system and even on clan structure.
Ming dynasty, military household, adopted family members, household registration, clan
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