The purpose of this paper, is to clarify the following points : 1.The typical family (家) in the Han Period consisted of two different types. One type had as its nucleus an adult husband and his wife and in its entirety also had their minor sons. When the father grew old, each of the adult sons set up his own family with his own wife and sons. The parents were requested to belong to the family of one of their sons and to constitute, with an their sons, a loose patriarchal group, whose central ideas were filial piety (孝) and subservience to seniors (悌). The other type of family consisted of a father and his sons and was based on the ideas of filial piety (孝) and subservience to seniors (悌). This subservience to seniors was ideated and associated with loyalty (忠) to the Emperor (皇帝). 2.The first type of family mentioned appeared first in the Warring States Period, while the latter type first appeared in the Han Period and gradually increased in North China due to the method there of using cattle. The Han Dynasty made the former type of family the basis of its governance, while the latter type was made the basis of governance during the Three Kingdoms Period. 3.In the Han Period the government allowed the patriarchal group and the family of father and sons to conceal any crimes committed by their father (容隠). Yet, at the same time it established the principle of mutual responsibility in the eyes of the law, when either a father or son committed a crime. This principle in fact nullified the father's total rule over his sons and was related to the Han Dynasty's reliance on the former type. of family as the basis of its governance. 4.In the Han Period the economic interdependence was considered important among the families of brothers and among of fathers (who were brothers) and their sons. Such families differ from a modern nucleak family with its economic independence. The household (戸) of the household registers constituted. by all the brothers in the Han Period was conceived of in light of such economic interdependence.