history
九族 typically meant the offender's father's lineage (4 generations up + 4 down + own), or in another reckoning, paternal, maternal, and spousal clans combined. The most extreme variant - 灭十族 'extinguish ten clans' - was reportedly imposed by Ming emperor Yongle on the scholar Fang Xiaoru (方孝孺) in 1402, adding his students as the tenth clan. Officially abolished after the Qing dynasty.
