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15 November 2019, Volume 0 Issue 4 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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The Similarities and Differences in the Legal Status of Bannermen and Commoners in the Qing Dynasty: A Study Based on the Sentencing of Homicide Cases LIU Xiaomeng 2019, 0(4): 1-16.  Abstract ( )   PDF (12508KB) ( )   The basic feature of the binary government of the Qing dynasty was the Eight Banner organization of Bannerman (with Manchu as the main component), and the provincial system of commoners (with Han as the main component). The status of Bannerman and commoners comprised a basic social division. Previous research often has focused on the unequal legal status between the two, such as the judicial privileges of Bannermen to“change the penalty” for certain offenses. This article examines reports of capital crimes in routine memorials to the Board of Punishments that involved Bannermen and commoners, to show that the two social groups enjoyed basic equal legal status in homicide trials. The article examines six aspects adjudication: sentencing standards, the principle of“leniency and severity,” reprieves to care for parents, commutations under imperial pardons, the statute governing affrays between commoners and“mean people,” and homicide trial procedures. The author believes that examining these issues will help elucidate the conditions under which Manchus enjoyed legal privileges, and, moreover, provide the basis for a comprehensive assessment of the legal relationship between bannermen and commoners (Manchu and Han) in the Qing dynasty. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Remolding the Rural Social Network in North China around the Ding-Wu Disaster: A Case Study on the Activities of the North China Mission of the ABCFM in Northwest Shandong LI Nan 2019, 0(4): 110-122.  Abstract ( )   PDF (10822KB) ( )   Taking advantage of treaty rights, the North China Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions penetrated into North China in the 1860s. During that time secret societies in Northwest Shandong struggled to survive while being suppressed by local governments under the Qing. The encounters between the North China Mission and the secret societies produced an opportunity for the Mission to develop in Northwest Shandong. Based on traditional rural social networks, missionaries were able to open preaching outposts in several villages. During the Ding-Wu Disaster, missionaries devoted themselves to famine relief work, hoping to win the peoples’ confidence and to prepare the way for propagating Christianity. The Christian organization that sponsored the North China Mission strongly supported the relief work with its institutional power and thus enabled the missionaries to carry on their work in an orderly manner. After the relief work, missionaries were generally accepted by people, and so was Christianity. Then, missionaries exploited the fair network to build and develop church networks and to build a community that was distinguished from the outside world. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Period and Penalty: “Perpetual Imprisonment” in the Qing Dynasty JIANG Han 2019, 0(4): 17-30.  Abstract ( )   PDF (11108KB) ( )   Previous researchers have considered“perpetual imprisonment” in the Qing dynasty a eculiar result of the autumn assizes and court assizes, but this phenomenon has not received the full attention it has deserved. An examination of textual evidence and a survey of the practice reveals that it appeared first in the ianlong Period and reached its peak in the Jiaqing and Daoguang Periods. Over time there were two types of perpetual imprisonment. There was institutional and expedient perpetual imprisonment. Due to its flexible, punitive and hierarchical characteristics, perpetual imprisonment played a role that was unlike any other means of punishment. The practice of perpetual imprisonment was an example of the imperial commitment to balancing circumstances and law in doubtful cases, and crime prevention that reflected perpetual imprisonment’s penal nature. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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“Restricting Production and Expanding Sales,” Salt Administration and Evolution of the Saltworks Management System in the Qing Dynasty LI Xiaolong Xu Jingjie 2019, 0(4): 31-44.  Abstract ( )   PDF (11346KB) ( )   Under the policy of“restricting production and expanding sales,” the administration of saltworks was centralized in a“depot”in the Qing Dynasty. The task of saltworks was to provide enough salt to the salesman, while the institution of the depot was meant to put all the salt produced in the saltworks under official supervision to control production. This policy was challenged by the flooding of the market with private salt in the late Kangxi period. In Yongzheng reign, in order to maintain official centralization of salt output, the government implemented a new institution“huofu”to control the output of saltworks. The implementation of this institution also reserved institutional space for merchants to control the saltworks. Under the policy of“relying on merchants to manage salt revenue,” the Qing government gradually transferred the production of salt and the collection of taxes to merchants. The model of“salt merchants providing funds and taking charge of salt production” reached its peak in the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. The change of the management system in Qing Dynasty was the inevitable result of the salt policy of“relying on merchants to collect taxes” and“restricting production and expanding sales.” But the close combination of the two also restricted the further development, and the reform of“taxation at the place of production” in the late Qing Dynasty failed accordingly. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The System of Silver Reserves in the Financial Commissioner’s Treasury and its Evolution in the Qing Dynasty HE Yongzhi 2019, 0(4): 44-61.  Abstract ( )   PDF (12200KB) ( )   In order to prepare for local emergencies and public affairs, the Qing government established the system of storing silver in Financial Commissioner’s Treasury. During the Kangxi and Yongzheng Reigns, the reform was planned and put into practice. In the Qianlong Reign, the government continually adjusted the amount of silver reserves according to the situation of state finances and local funds. But during the Jiaqing and Daoguang Reigns, increasing expenditures exhausted almost all the silver reserves. To replace the original allocations, the Qing government accepted donations as a method to raise funds. However, due to the deterioration of state finances, the replenishment of stored silver was continuously postponed. As the silver reserve was depleted, and the revenue from donations declined,the system eventually collapsed in the Xianfeng Reign. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Land Mortgage and Rent Mortgage: The Land Market and Financial Market in Southern Fujian in the Qing dynasty Cao Shuji 2019, 0(4): 62-73.  Abstract ( )   PDF (9059KB) ( )   This paper analyzes newly discovered documents such as land-mortgage agreements and rent-mortgage agreements from southern Fujian during the Qing dynasty. The analysis of these documents highlights a fundamental difference between land-mortgage and rent-mortgage. Namely, a rent mortgagor only transferred his earning right rather than his right to use the land and may or may not transfer the right to dispose of the land. In the example of southern Fujian in the Qing dynasty, there was a credit market with rent-mortgage as its major form. In this market, the mortgage agreement was circulated as a debit-credit note or part of debit-credit note set. Therefore, we can understand rentmortgage as the penetration of financial capital into the land market. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Wasteland Problem and the Changing Social Structure in the Luliang Mountain Area of Shanxi Province in the Early Qing Dynasty: The Example of Shilou County ZHANG Li 2019, 0(4): 74-87.  Abstract ( )   PDF (11366KB) ( )   In the early Qing Dynasty, the problem of wasteland in the Luliang Mountains of Shanxi Province was the result of the war, disasters, and tax burdens. Despite tax exemptions and adjustments, various problems related to wasteland remained and had a lasting impact on local society. On the one hand, the lijia system was restructured by the tax exemption for the population who had fled and for the wasteland, but the disadvantage of exemptions and reclamation made it difficult to rebuild the lijia system. On the other hand, under the pressure of reclamation, some places gradually formed divisions between households that reclaimed land and their tenants, and problem household becoming tenants for generations. At the same time, a large amount of wasteland had not been reclaimed, and new wasteland was constantly emerging. Influenced by the payment and compensation for wasteland, the lijia and households also showed a tendency to separate. In the Yongzheng period, a series of adjustments and the reasonable allocation within the lijia re-established the combination of population and land in system and fact. These problems and adjustments reflect the process of structural social change that tended to be dispersed in the barren areas of northern China. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Geographical Names of Changbaisan and Baegdusan in Korea during the Ming and Qing Dynasties Li Huazi 2019, 0(4): 88-97.  Abstract ( )   PDF (7971KB) ( )   During Ming Dynasty the Korean geographical name“Baegdusan” indicated today’s Changbai Mountain. The Korean term“Changbaisan” did not necessarily refer to today’s Changbai Mountain but may have referred to Gwanmobong (located west of Kyongsong City, at an altitude of 2541 meters) in Northern Hamgyong-do, which is the second highest peak of the Korean peninsula. Gwanmobong was included in the three famous mountains of Hamgyong-do, and its status was much higher than the Baegdusan (present-day Changbai Mountain) which was still in the area that Jurchens occupied. To the Qing Dynasty, especially after the boundary demarcation by Mukden in Kangxi 51 (1712), the status of Baegdusan exceeded Gwanmobong. Baegdusan not only symbolized the cradle of Joseon Dynasty, but also developed an awareness that all the Hamgyong-do Mountains arose from the Baegdusan, when the Korean scholars call it“Baekdu daegan.” At the time of the Mukden demarcation, the area, which was not under Korean control, was located north of Hyesan, west of Musan, south of Changbai Mountain and north of Gwanmobong. Among these mountains, although the Gwanmobong was the main peak of the current Hamgyong mountain range, the geographical name“Changbaisan” of the Joseon dynasty, did not refer to the mountain system including the Hamgyong mountain range and Pujonyeong mountain range, it was also not the northern boundary of Korea during of Mukden demarcation. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Dredging Project of the Qiantang River and the Transition in Tidal Defense Strategy in the Qing dynasty WANG Shen 2019, 0(4): 98-109.  Abstract ( )   PDF (9834KB) ( )   The dredging project in the Qiantang river was an important water conservancy measure forpreventing tidal waves throughout the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns in the Qing dynasty. Thispaper systematically analyzes the environmental background, decision-making process and implementation process of the dredging project in the Qiantang river in Qing dynasty, and analyzes the different concepts of water management of the three emperors. Emperor Kangxi took dredging the river as an auxiliary measure to protect against tidal flooding, which was stopped as the tidal inundation subsided. Emperor Yongzheng firmly pushed forward the river diversion project, hoping to change the river channel and tidal situation. Emperor Qianlong devoted himself to the construction of the seawall, but he vacillated on the diversion project. The different attitudes among emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reflected the transition of tide defense strategy in Qiantang River in the Qing dynasty. The Qiantang River dredging project and seawall construction were mutually beneficial but there were also tensions: while the dredging project alleviated the pressure on the north shore seawall, the construction and management of the dredging project itself dispersed the funds, manpower and energy for the prevention of tidal flooding. References | Related Articles | Metrics