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Clan loyalties tend to be very strong, and to a large extent are reinforced by ties to the ancestral village and often a common spoken Chinese dialect which can be unintelligible to people outside the village. A consort clan was a Chinese clan with special status due to its connection with an Imperial consort.

During the Qing dynasty, the Imperial government encouraged Chinese clans to take up some quasi-governmental functions such as those involved social welfare and primary education.