In contrast to the old lineage-dominated system, Mingxi emigration relied on no formal organizations. Not only were corporate lineages a thing of the “feudal” past, but the region was too poor to have supported big kinship groupings. What we see in Mingxi is individual decisions based on individual friendship or kinship but relying on no institution or patron. On the venue end, the close family relationship at the core of each household-workshop is supplemented by more distant relationships with hired workers from different kin or even from different regions.
