Quantifying the social structure of elites in ancient China

Abstract With data from epitaphs of elites in ancient China, we construct the elite social networks of the Tang-dynasty and the Song-dynasty. The complexity theory is then introduced to unveil associations between the elite social networks and the history. The top influential elites in ancient China are identified from the elite social networks. We detect the community structure formed with strongly connected elites, and investigate the interactions between the communities. It is observed that the elite social networks of the Tang-dynasty and the Song-dynasty exhibit the neutral and disassortative mixing patterns, respectively. Additionally, this work quantitatively supports the Tang-Song Transition Hypothesis.