Bouzoku - Bouzoku

Japanese: 望族 - ぼうぞく

The term refers to noble families from the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang dynasties of China. Wang means to be looked upon by others, and was used at the time, along with the word feng (風) in fukei (style), to indicate the inherent value of an individual or family, such as menwang (visiting one's home) or kyowang (visiting one's hometown). It refers to the aristocratic families who produced high-ranking government officials in general, as well as to people and their families who were skilled in learning and virtue and served to lead and guide the local community. For example, Liu Shanming, known as a member of the Wang family in Shandong Province, ate rice porridge himself and gave away his stored rice to help relieve the starving people when the area was hit by a severe famine.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国，六朝･隋･唐期の名族をいう。〈望〉は人々からのぞみ見られるの意で，当時，風格などの〈風〉とならんで，門望，郷望などと個人ないしはその家固有の価値を示すことばとして好んで用いられた。高級官僚を輩出した門閥貴族一般をも指すとともに，学問や徳行をつんで地域社会の統率･指導につとめた人およびその家をいう。たとえば山東省の望族と称された劉善明は，その地がはげしい飢饉に見舞われたとき，自分も粥をすすって蓄米を放出し，飢民の救済につとめた。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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