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The Operation of Social Public Service in Cities of Qing Dynasty: Sample Survey on the Fire Fighting & Prevention Service in Hangzhou City
ZOU Yi
2003, 0(4):
19-32.
In cities crowded with houses and buildings, fire involves a good many social relations, as well as a series of social affairs, so the operation of the fire fighting and prevention service reflects the organization and structure of the social relations in cities. During the Qing Dynasty, Hangzhou municipal government organized a special fire brigade of soldiers and carried out some fire prevention measures such as “Guan Shui Tong”( water- storing barrels for fire fighting distributed by the government), etc. For lack of manpower and financial resources, the government’s efforts couldn’ t meet with the fire fighting and prevention needs of the residents. Therefore, the government transferred the everyday fire prevention work to grass- roots organizations, and called on nongovernmental forces to take part in this work. When the relations of residents grew complex with the social and economic development, there emerged nongovernmental fire brigades such as “Yi Min”( Fire Fighting Volunteers) and “Jiu Huo Ji”(A kind of nongovernmental fire fighting organization).Despite their respective defects, the official and nongovernmental fire fighting forces complemented each other, and undertook the fire fighting work together. The relief after fire was also managed by both official and nongovernmental forces. However, behind the officials’voluntary contribution was their tactful thought for securing their official career.
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