ABSTRACT
The next institutional field whose development will be examined is that of social organization and stratification. In this as in other institutional fields, we can see that the societies studied here developed from feudal or patrimonial systems in which there existed a relatively un¬ differentiated, ascriptive, and rather rigid systems of status and social organization. These evolved, in spite of the fact that there still prevailed many ascriptive criteria, into much more flexible and differentiated patterns of social organization and stratification. During the Tang Dynasty, many characteristics of the "Confucian" Chinese system of social organization became crystallized. At the same time, however, several remnants of earlier times—as evidenced especially in the relative prominence of aristocratic groups—were still discernible. The several types of differentiated social organizations-guilds, merchant associations, cultural associations, and various types of self-government—arose mostly in the cities.
