Abstract: The phenomenon of blackmailing and extortion of expenses involving the judicial procedures for homicide case autopsies developed in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces during the Qing Dynasty．These malpractices created such a heavy burden and great distress for local society that it became a serious social problem． In view of this，the central and local government took countermeasures but failed to remedy the situation due to the multiple legal，financial and administrative causes that gave rise to the problem．Therefore the local society was forced to set up charities to handle the related issues and to raise the funds for autopsies，in an attempt to reduce the negative impacts of homicide case autopsy to obtain the desired results．This was an important reason for the prosperity of charities which supplied coffins and held funerals． From this process，we can attain a deeper understanding of the modern legal reform and the rich＇s motives for charitable donations．