"What do you mean?" I asked, taken aback.

Song Heting explained that the Song family had been ill-fated since the Southern Song Dynasty. Thus, an ancestor who was well versed in the philosophy of change came up with such a way to divide the Song family. The two clans had the exact same genealogical records so each clan played shadow to the other.

It was of practical significance to do so, much like the Double Dragon Formation in military tactics. The two families could help each other, and in the event of a catastrophe, certain members of the family could escape disaster. During the Ming Dynasty, Assistant Minister of Justice, Song Tiemian, was framed by traitors which implicated all his relatives. The civil Song clan almost entirely collapsed and only made a comeback with the help of the martial Songs...

There...