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15 November 2008, Volume 0 Issue 4 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Administrative Regulations and the Penal Code Set in Table Form WEI Pi-Xin, ZHANG Shi-Ming 2008, 0(4): 33-52.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1976KB) ( )   This essay is devoted to a particular type of official handbooks that emerged around 1730, in which the contents of the Penal Code and of the regulations on “administrative sanctions” ( chu fen) w ere set in tables of varying complexity. The aim was to facilitate access to a corpus o f law s that w as both proliferating and constantly updated. Part One proposes a history of the genre by describing a series of works some of which were revised and reprinted through the end o f the nineteenth century. Them ilieu of administrative specialists that produced the authors, the practices of the publishers, and the targeted public are discussed along the way. Part Two discusses in more detail the logic of table presentation, in other words the various methods employed to abstract and reorganize the text of the legislative compendia to make them “plain at first glance.” Related Articles | Metrics

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Two Issues Concerning Causation in the Imperial Chinese Legislation on Homicide JIE Fu-Li-?Mai-Ke-Ma-Ke, SUN Jia-Hong 2008, 0(4): 53-62.  Abstract ( )   PDF (427KB) ( )   This essay discusses two issues re la ted to causation in the law s on homicide contained in the Tang, Ming, and Qing codes. Material is drawn from the Tang code, as well as the Ming and Qing codes. The earlier code takes the same approach to causal questions as the later two. The main differences are, first, the nature of the terms used and, second, a more extensive use of explic it causal language in the later codes, especially in the Qing code and its commentaries Related Articles | Metrics

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The Firm in Early Modern China ZENG Xiao-Ping, FENG Yong-Ming 2008, 0(4): 63-80.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1157KB) ( )   The Chinese shareholding entity had a long history supported by cultural and legal practices pre -dating the introduction of European business forms in China. In the absence of codified or systematic precedent -based private law, a culture in which contract was deeply embedded in daily practice and the state enforced private agreements sustained a growing commercial sector. Kinship practices were adapted to the needs of a merchant community seeking ways to pool capital and sustain firm longevity. These institutional developments help exp lain Chinese adaptability to Western practices and the paradoxical persistence of Chinese practices after the promulgation of a Western -style company law. Related Articles | Metrics

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Quantitative Analysis of Tea Trade of Shanxi Merchants in Qing Dynasty: Taking the Jiaqing Reign as an Example SHI Tao, LI Zhi-Fang 2008, 0(4): 81-95.  Abstract ( )   PDF (618KB) ( )   After all, what were the dimensions of the profits spurring the arduous Shanxi merchants to engage in the long distance tea trade between Kiakhta and Fujian. The question of the profits and managerial achievements of the Shanxi merchants has drawn the wide spread interest of economic historians including Liu Jiansheng and Wu Limin’s Analysis of the Accomplishments of the Shanxi Merchant Tea Trade for example analyzed this problem1 But, regrettably, due to the lack of historical resources these discussions place greater emphasis on analysis and pay less attention the profits the Ming and Qing Shanxi tea merchants earned. At present on one has yet published a quantitative analysis. Taking the Jiaqing reign as its focus, this article undertakes an analysis of literary sources on long -distance tea trade routes, the daily average amount of tea transported, average daily per capita expenditures, average transportation costs to obtain the transportation cost1 Comparing the average price of various types of Wuyishan teas and the selling prices of tea in Kiakhta the author calculates the profits-ability of the Ming -Qing tea trade. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Social Change in Guangxi Province before the Taiping Rebellion:An Examination of Historical Materials in the Archives Held in Palace Museum in Taibei JU Chi-Xiu-Ming, LIANG Wen 2008, 0(4): 96-112.  Abstract ( )   PDF (978KB) ( )   In the first half of the 19th century Guangxi witnessed the development and opening up of harsh wastelands in the western districts of the province that were ruled by the tuguan1 The new social elites, who were mainly emigrants, emerged and become the backbone of land reclamation1 At the same time, local leaders also emerged in the process of dealing with tax problems. Local leaders actively put forward various issues about the local official’s governance. In terms of local government whose domination fall into a deadlock, although these new forces did not have access to imperial titles, their ascent filled in a gap of official administration and restored the peoples’confidence in government1 Qing government did not fully understand the importance of these emerging forces and took measures to suppress them, therefore greatly deepened the contradiction between the imperial elites who have a exclusive right of political priority and non -imperial elites1 This was precisely the social background of the Taiping peasant up rising. Related Articles | Metrics

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"The Redemption of the Rascals":The Xingzheng Reforms and the Transformation of the Status of Lower-Level Central Administration Persnnel LU Kang, LIU Ya-Cong 2008, 0(4): 113-126.  Abstract ( )   PDF (898KB) ( )   Personnel issues were one of the two main practical problems which confronted the Xinzheng reforms of the late Qing. In fact, the majority of new officials had not received the new training. Clerks in local administration who abused their power to seek remuneration were called“rascals”and the overstaffing of government administration continued. The article focuses on two key events that occurred in 1910. The first was a feud between the lower -level personnel of the new Board of Civil Affairs and the president of the Board. The second event was the internal examination undertaken by the same board in 1910. Both events illustrate the permanence of high levels of competition for official positions in the newly reformed central bureaucracy, and demonstrate the attractiveness of the bureaucratic career as a way to achieve prestige and influence remained unchanged by the reforms. Related Articles | Metrics