Clan
See also Clan (gaming)
A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent. Generally a clan is quite large. Members of a clan share an apical ancestor several generations back (i.e., they share the same great grandparents, great-great grandparents, or an even more distant ancestor). Kin groups who only share the same grandparents are generally called extended families, not clans. Some clans are so large and so old that they merely share a "stipulated" common ancestor; that is, the clan has no evidence of the ancestor, and he or she may be fictional, merely a symbol of the clan's unity. In certain societies this ancestor is not even human; he or she is an animallian totem.
Some clans are patrilineal, meaning its members are related through the male line. Others are matrilineal; its members are related through the female line. Still other clans are bilateral, consisting of all the descendents of the apical ancestor through both the male and female lines; the clans of Scotland are one example. Whether a clan is patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral depends on the kinship rules of the culture in which the clan lives.
In different cultures and situations a clan may mean the same thing as other kin-based groups such as tribes and bands. Often, however, the distinguishing factor is that a clan is a smaller part of a larger society such as a tribe, a chiefdom, or a state. Examples include Scottish, Chinese and Japanese clans, which exist as kin groups within Scottish, Chinese, and Japanese society, respectively. Note that tribes and bands can also be components of larger societies; Arab tribes are small groups within Arab society, and Ojibwa bands are smaller parts of the Ojibwa tribe.
However, the Norse clans, the ätter, can not be translated with tribe or band, and consequently they are often translated with house or line.
Most clans are exogamous, meaning that its members cannot marry one another. Some clans have an official leader such as a chieftain, matriarch, or patriarch.
China
The five main Han Chinese Punti clans in Hong Kong are:
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