The four major families in the Republic of China refer to the four major families of Song Jiang, Kong Chen and the four major families that controlled the political and economic lifeline of China in the first half of the 20th century, namely, Chiang Kai-shek, Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi, Chen Guo Fu and Chen Lifu. There is a saying: the Chiang family's world, the Chen family's party, the Song family's sister Kong family's wealth.

Among the four Confucian families, Confucianism has always had the saying of "Yan, Zeng, Kong and Meng", which refers to the four sages who made special contributions to Confucianism: Confucius, Ceng Zi, Mencius and Yan Hui. The emperors of all previous dynasties were named these four sages, and their descendants were also named. Among them, the grandson of Confucius, Yan Hui, Ceng Zi and Mencius are also called "four great matches".

There were four families in the Eastern Jin Dynasty: Wang, Xie, Huan and Yu. In the Western Jin Dynasty, the status of Wang, Xie, Yuan, Xiao and other gentry was not higher than that of other gentry, and some of them had not even entered the ranks of the gentry. However, due to the rise of Wang and Xie's official positions, they were listed as gate valves; Yu Wenjun, the concubine of the prince, was only four years old when she became the Golden Emperor, and the Yu family began to rise as a consort. After the collapse of the Yu family, the vacant position became vacant. After several power struggles, the final winner, Huan Wen, got the position of Jingzhou secretariat.