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15 August 2012, Volume 0 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue
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Further Study on the Power of Local Government in the Late Qing Dynasty: The Concurrent Weakness of Central and Local Governments in the Late Qing Dynasty LI Xizhu 2012, 0(3): 1.  Abstract ( )   PDF (924KB) ( )   Scholars have long believed that “the local government was more powerful than the central government” during the last decade of the Qing. After probing changes of local government power during the New Policy Reform in the late Qing Dynasty, the author argues that “the local government was as powerless as the central government.” With the New Policy Reform， especially the Preparation for Constitutionalism, during the decade preceding the Revolution of 1911, the Qing government took measures to strengthen its centralization of authority and limit the influence of local government but these efforts were ineffectual and were undermined by the intensification of the internal contradictions within the government. This is why the power structure took the form of “the central government being as powerless as the local government.” On one hand the Qing court neither established a strong central government nor really controlled the military and financial power. On the other hand, no local governments effectively controlled local military and financial powers. On the eve of the Wuchang Uprising local government was obviously weaker and the Qing court had failed to centralize its authority． Related Articles | Metrics

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A Study of the Profitability of Yunnan Copper Monopoly in the Qing Dynasty WANG Detai 2012, 0(3): 10.  Abstract ( )   PDF (505KB) ( )   The Qing government implemented the policy of the strictly monopolized the operation of Yunnan copper mines, buying the copper for several times lower than the free-market price and wholesaling at relatively higher prices to coinage agencies. By earning the price differences of the centralized buying and selling, the government got a great deal of monopoly profit—the so-called “Copper Interest.”  By using the cheaper copper obtained at below-market prices, the coinage agencies reduced the coinage cost vastly and secured rich rewards—the so-called “Coinage Interest.” Furthermore, coinage agencies maximized the“Coinage Interest”through approaches such as selling coins or offering military pay, and taking advantage of the high market price of copper coins. “Copper Interest”was direct profit to the Qing government that resulted from the monopolized operation of Yunnan copper mines. “Coinage Interest”was the indirect profit of the copper monopoly, which was the transfer of profit from copper monopoly to coinage． Related Articles | Metrics

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Changes in the Production, Supply, and Demand for Grain and Local Society and Economy in the Qing Dynasty: The Example of Southern Hunan WU Xiaozhen 2012, 0(3): 30.  Abstract ( )   PDF (465KB) ( )   Hubei and Hunan Provinces were sparsely populated at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, however, most of southern Hunan had occurred because of the land development all overpopulation problem.This directly affected the local traditional agricultural economy and caused hardship and impinged upon the people's food supply.Southern Hunan was the first region to introduce maize, sweet potatoes and other high-yield upland grain crops. In Hubei and Hunan Provinces,such man-land relationships had objectively stimulated diversified economic development in the region. The two crops were widely planted after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the hardship of food scarcity in southern Hunan was effectively alleviated. Southern Hunan also experienced rapid population growth.The introduction of new crops and the demographic expansion were powerful factors promoting the further development of the local community's economy. What needs to be pointed out is that population pressure and labor substitution forced economic development,but there was no general improvement in the living standards of the people. These economic developments had the obvious historical limitations． Related Articles | Metrics

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The Grand Minister Resident of Xining and the Qing Local Governance in Qinghai JIA Ning 2012, 0(3): 40.  Abstract ( )   PDF (464KB) ( )   To be a sizeable part of the historical Amdo, the present day Qinghai was a vital arena in the power contest between three major forces during the Ming-Qing transition: the growing Yellow Sect population of Tibetan Buddhism centered in heartland Tibet, the Mongol groups from Northeast first and then from Northwest, and the rising Manchu dynasty from the East. The arrival of the Han Chinese and the Muslim population ( both the Chinese-speaking and the Central Asian Muslims) further increased the regional diversity in terms of nationalities and their social systems. Emerging as the political headquarter of the region, the administrative office of the Grand Minister Resident of Xining as a branch of the Lifanyuan at the central government started its operation since the Yongzheng reign ( 1723—36). This office played a key role to transform Qinghai into a distinct administrative sector inside the Qing Empire under its modern label. Its unique governing experience in managing Amdo Tibetans in their traditional tusi system, the Mongol groups in the banner system, and the Han and Muslim population in the Chinese province-country system has left a significant mark in the regional as well as the national history of China. The history of this office, neglected in the previous Qing studies, helps us to realize that the Qinghai study deserves to be a self-standing academic field as the Tibetan studies and Mongolian studies have been． Related Articles | Metrics

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A Reexamination of the Pre-Opium War Trade in Canton and Cohong-Foreign Credit System CAO Wen 2012, 0(3): 50.  Abstract ( )   PDF (572KB) ( )   This article reexamines foreign trade in Guangzhou. The Chinese government’s object was to protect the security of its borders and the timely and complete collection of customs revenue. Chinese Cohong Merchants protected their commercial interests and worked hard to avoid the dangers of bankruptcy. Under this system of trade foreign merchants profited greatly, especially British traders who did everything possible to reduce the regulations and institutions that reduced their profits. This is what the author refers to as the Hong System. This article also points out the benefits and harm arising from the Cohong credit system. The harm came from the local and even central government involvement. The control of ports was increasingly strict but the benefits took the form of a development of a common Chinese-foreign financial behavior in the Canton trade． Related Articles | Metrics

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Gentry Benevolence or Pursuit of Self-interest: The End of the Sino-British Opium Trade YAN Se 2012, 0(3): 60.  Abstract ( )   PDF (497KB) ( )   In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the opium trade between British India and China brought tremendous disasters to Chinese economy and society, while earning British government and businessmen huge profits.In 1907, However, British government proposed,and two countries agreed, to reduce and eventually terminate opium exports to China. This article examines the changes in the economic,political and social structures of Britain,India and China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.The author finds that the structural changes in British domestic industry led to similar changes in foreign trade.The aim of British industrial capitalists to expand their exports to China was the fundamental reason that British government curtailed opium exports to China． Related Articles | Metrics

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"Women Are Ignorant: "Magistrates and Lower-Class Women in the Trials of Civil Cases during Jiaqing and Daoguang Reigns MAO Liping 2012, 0(3): 70.  Abstract ( )   PDF (394KB) ( )   This article probes into the legal status and consciousness of lower-class women in the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of Qing Dynasty ( 1796—1850 ) from the perspective of magistrates' judgments on women and women's Responding. Although women were given some special treatment by magistrates， they were not considered as people with full capacity for civil conduct. Women were still seen as men's dependents with limited legal status and rights. During the process of the trials, most magistrates did not focus on justice for women, but on correcting social customs. On the other hand, many lower-class women were clear about their legal status and had a certain legal consciousness. They communicated positively with the magistrates in plaints and confessions, and made good use of their weak position to get magistrates' sympathy, to escape punishments and to protect their interests． Related Articles | Metrics

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A Study on Adding the Fugitive Law to the Qing Code HU Xiangyu 2012, 0(3): 80.  Abstract ( )   PDF (333KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

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An Examination of a Jesuit Mathematician in the Qing Dynasty-Jean de Fontaney LV Ying 2012, 0(3): 90.  Abstract ( )   PDF (293KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

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Gazetteer and Building of Local History: Comparative Study on Gazetter of Jiangxia District and Unofficial Gazetter of Longquan Mountain ZHANG Xiaoye 2012, 0(3): 100.  Abstract ( )   PDF (384KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

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“Intorduction ” of Rerienting the Manchus: A Study of Sinicization 1583-1795   HUANG Pei; DONG Jianzhong 2012, 0(3): 110.  Abstract ( )   PDF (519KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

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Intoduction：The Significance of the Qianlong-Jiaqing Transtion in Qing History William T. Rowe 2012, 0(3): 120.  Abstract ( )   PDF (299KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics