Abstract: The?continuous?growth?of?regulations?(li)?in?the?Qing?Dynasty?has?been?documented?and?explained?by?voluminous?literature.?However,?this?paper?finds?that?this?literature?does?not?capture?the full?picture.?The?upward?trend?in?the?number?of?new?regulations?(li) in the Great Qing Code (Da Qing Lü Li)?was?not?sustained?throughout?the?entire?Qing?Dynasty.?Additionally,?the?patterns?in?the?growth?of?new?regulations?(li)?were?of?different?for?various?types?of?regulations.?The?growth?of?regulations?(Li) mainly?occurred?before?the?middle?period?of?the?Qianlong?reign,?but?afterwards?there?was?a?decline.?However,?the?decline?in?the?growth?rate?of?new?regulations?and precedents?(zeli) of the central government departments?of?the?bureaucracy?was?relatively?weaker?and?not?as?sustained?as?regulations?(li) in the Great Qing Code.?With?the?change?in?the?number,?the?structure?of?the?regulations?(li) has also changed. The?importance?of?“enacting?regulations?based?on?cases”?increased?compared?with?“enacting?regulations?based?on?high?rank?officers’?suggestions.”?The?tendency?toward?“criminalization”?in?the?Great Qing Code?was?also?strengthened.?In?the?meantime,?“governing officials”?remained?the?main?source?of?central?regulations for the Great Qing Code.?Governing?officials?also?shaped?the?relationship?between?local?government and society, and this provided room for private regulations to gain legal validity indirectly.This?source?of?legislation?increased?the?adaptability?of?the?governance?of?the?Qing?Dynasty.