Inheritance and Downward Mobility

Elite couples periodically diminished their wealth through ritual extravagance, and their fortunes could be entirely consumed at their own funerals. A month-long wake of a true baknang could

consume an entire herd. Rice terraces generally devolved as inheritance, but inauspicious funeral auguries might call for their sale to cover additional animal sacrifices. Family heirlooms, especially Chinese vases, also passed to the succeeding generation, but these only displayed potential status. Furthermore, since all children of the (usually) large elite families would inherit a share, no one child ever received adequate wealth to maintain class position. Even the sons of the topmost couples had to earn elite status—although they would receive substantial succor all along the way.

Often a single son from a rich family would reoccupy his father's position. Although the successor's personal business fortunes were ultimately paramount, succession could hinge on the parents' funerals. All children had their own funeral-related ceremonies, in addition to being obligated to help finance the main wakes; together these rites might force decapitalization. The wealthier brother (or, occasionally, brother-in-law) could sometimes exploit his siblings' distress and acquire their properties. The eldest sibling, having had a longer period in which to accumulate wealth, was thus advantaged, even though the youngest usually secured the largest share of the family bequest. Not surprisingly, inheritance accords could be contentious; while ailing parents might seek to establish concord before they died, the community's elders often had to negotiate, and enforce, settlements. The elders would weigh many considerations, including the financial assistance the parents had previously given to each child, as well as the help each heir had provided the parents. Education counted as a parental gift, depriving some of the earliest graduates of any property legacies.

Occasionally a baknang line would sink entirely to commoner status. The local sages would interpret this as a sign of ancestral disapproval—in one noted instance, said to have been brought on by incorrectly performed rituals.