based on literary and archaeological evidence, this essay attempts to show that: 1. A specific tripartite pattern of settlement, burial, and trade can be discerned in clan life as far back as the Neolithic period in China. 2. This pattern survived the so-called transformation from the Spring-Autumn Period to the Warring States Period. Some of the reforms of these periods, such as household registration, restrictions on families' relocation or change of occupation, and the registration, of local settlements at different levels, did not in fact destroy the roots of traditional communities. Rather, these reforms attempted to restore and strengthen traditional community life. 3. Although China was politically reunified by the First Emperor of Ch'in, the mentality of people did not change as much as politics did. People continued to consider it normal for clan families to settle together, bury together, and to share patrimony. 4. This essay shows the continuity of the above-mentioned tripartite pattern of clan life through the examination of thirty-eight literati clans, as well as some clans involved in other trades, of the former Han.