Traditional classifications of clans in Tibet generally name four or six ancestral clans who are believed to descend from the progeny of the Bodhisattva monkey and demoness, the subjects of Tibet's origin myth. These lineages later split into numerous sub-clans that are often associated with specific geographical regions, and in some cases, monasteries.
On the Treasury we use "clan" broadly to cover a number of Tibetan terms that may individually mean something more specific, such as: rig (rigs) for clan, race, family; gyu (rgyud) for lineage, descent; dungrab (gdung rabs) for descendants, lineage, generation; dung (gdung) for progeny, descendants, lineage, descent line; ru (rus) for bone, bloodline, lineage, family, clan; khang (khang) for household and tsang (tshang) for family and household.