Studies in Qing History

Coal Mining in Beijing and the Abuse of Miners during the Qing Dynasty

QIU Zhonglin

2017, 0(3): 1-20.

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This article examines coal mining and labor-management relations in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty from three different perspectives．First，the article considers the growth and decline of coal mines．During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries，there were more than 360 coal mines in Xishan，a suburb of Beijing． During the warfare of the Ming-Qing interregnum，the number of coal mines fell to about 170 in 1649，but gradually increased to nearly 270 by 1762．However，due to drainage problems，the number of coal mines fell to 185 in 1801 and 115 in 1886 and the supply of coal tightened．Realizing the gravity of this problem，emperors Qianlong and Jiaqing both ordered officials to lend money to merchants to dig drainage ditches to resume the operation of some mines，but the effectiveness of this measure was very limited．The second perspective is the management of coal mines．According to regulations，a mining license application had to be filed with the authorities before a mine could be opened．Rather than directly manage the mines most investors asked the applicants to oversee the mines or entrusted managers to employ foremen，miners and full-time workers to drain the mining pits．Miners’work was extremely hard，and exhaust devices were also installed to avoid gas poisoning．Third，there were contractors similar to labor resource companies，who built the so-called guohuo，a combination of dormitory and canteen，to provide accommodation for miners and hydraulic workers．Because many of the miners were unreasonably held in captivity in the guohuo，the Qing court launched several crackdowns on unlawful practices and promulgated regulations on the management of guohuo and miners in 1822．Even so， similar situations still existed at the end of the nineteenth century．

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Isidoro Lucci S. J. (1661－1719) and Joao Baptista Lima (1659 －1733) at the Qing Court: The Physician，the Barber-surgeon，and the Padroado’s Interests in China

Beatriz Puente-Ballesteros

2017, 0(3): 21-50.

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This article provides a detailed account of the life and work of Isidoro Lucci S. J. and Joao Baptista Lima at the imperial court in late 17th-century China．Lucci，accompanied by the barber-surgeon and Macao-born Lima，was the first professional Jesuit physician to arrive in Peking in response to a special request of the Kangxi emperor． First，their complex travel route until their arrival in Peking will be highlighted，as well as how their stay in the Chinese capital gave rise to a conflict within the Jesuit China Mission due to competing interests between Padroado members and the Mathématiciens du Roi．Second，the medical activities of Lucci and Lima at the court in Peking and on imperial tours will be depicted，including their conflicts with Chinese palace physicians．Moreover，it will be shown that caring for elite patients，among them the“Son of Heaven”suffering from diseases and thus being subjected to the crude methods of contemporary European medicine，moved them far away from the ideal of charitable physicians．Eventually，the causes will be examined that brought the stay of Lucci and Lima in Peking to an abrupt end，being triggered by a combination of political，religious and medical factors working against them．

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The Promotion and Transfer of Manchu Officials in the Early Qing Dynasty

WANG Jingya

2017, 0(3): 51-59.

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Han in the early Qing Dynasty has been a key issue in research on Qing official posts．Since Manchus dominated the ruling class during the Qing，the government granted many prerogatives to Manchus．Manchus not only had priority treatment at the institutional level，they also had more opportunities in the pursuit of practical politics． This system ran smoothly for more than two hundred years without any official bias or collective resistance in governance，so the system must have been relatively reasonable and rational．Based on historical materials which include the Official Rank Survey and the Official Selection Rules，this article further analyzes the promotion and transfer of Manchu officials and compares them to Han officials，in order to summarize some Manchu privileges in the early Qing official system．

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Inspecting Censor and the Politics of the Yongzheng Reign

CHEN Chen

2017, 0(3): 60-68.

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The Inspecting Censor was a specific supervisory official in Yongzheng Reign．When Inspecting Censors patrolled provinces，they got involved in local politics through non-institutionalized power and participated in the implementation of new policy as well as the extensive reforms that Emperor Yongzheng promulgated．On the one hand，the lack of regulation of the system made the administration of the Inspecting Censor flexible which was of great benefit to improving the age － old malpractice of local government．On the other hand，deficiencies in the system led to the contradictions among duty，power and position，so that the Inspecting Censor became a redundant element of administration and it was eventually abolished．This article will examine the institutional origin and establishment of the Inspecting Censors，their involvement in local politics and the actual extension of their power，and will explore the deep-rooted institutional reasons for its abandonment．On the one hand，the rise and the abolishment of the Inspecting Censor was related to the political trends of the Yongzheng Reign．On the other hand，the fate of the Inspecting Censor sheds light on the design and the practice of the administrative system of the Qing dynasty．

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“Provincial Friends,”Clerks and Their Role in Managing the Provincial Affairs of District Magistrates: The Activities of Song Shusen in Gansu Province during the Guangxu period

PEI Danqing

2017, 0(3): 69-81.

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“Provincial friends”( shengyou) ，hired by district magistrates and stationed in provincial capitals， were responsible for the county government＇s provincial affairs，such as handling reports and guaranties from the outgoing magistrate to the successor，drawing salaries，delivering various fees，handing over convicts to the provincial judge，seeking information，and other tasks． The obtainment of engagement letters，promised fees，and records were prerequisite for these activities． As a result，“Provincial friends”had a degree of discretionary power． However，this kind of power was not unrestricted． When dealing with provincial affairs，clerks had to act in accord with laws，regulations，rules and the attitudes of superior leaders． “Provincial friends”were subject to certain constraints by the magistrate in the payment of fees，collection of salaries，and other matters． Although this kind of operation was irregular and driven by self-interest，it played an effective and positive role in local agencies． This shows that the local administrative bodies in the Qing Dynasty needed an effective bureaucratic structure and personnel to coordinate affairs between the provincial and county government to overcome the deficient and irrational design of the local government institutions．

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The“Hour”and“Space”of the Officials’Life in the Six Ministries in the Late Qing Dynasty: The Example of Tang Xuan of the Ministry of Punishments

WANG Yan

2017, 0(3): 82-93.

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Taking an official of the Ministry of Punishments as an example，this paper sketches the outline of the duties，vacation，duties and other official activities of officials in the Six Ministries in the specific time and space of the late Qing Dynasty using insights drawn from their working schedules．From these schedules the article combs out the different responsibilities of the various officials in the Ministry of Punishments and reveals that the amount of time and the intensity of the work varied greatly．For example，“seal-holders”and“drafters”who were responsible for the specific affairs of the Division had relatively heavy workloads，while other ordinary officials had more leisure，and some，were not at the office most of the time．Some officers were on duty outside the normal working hours and others had early morning duty．Within the same ministry，official duties varied widely with some officials holding decision-making responsibilities rarely at the posts，while the clerks responsible for the bulk of the copying and logistical work，were the busiest．Among the Six Ministries，the officials of the ministries of Personnel，Revenue，and Punishments were under the greatest pressure，while the officials Ministries of Public Works and Rites were under less pressure．

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Of Personal Obligation, of National Interests: A Study of Vietnamese Envoys to China in Qing Dynasty

CHEN Guobao

2017, 0(3): 94-111.

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After the establishment of the Qing suzerainty over Vietnam，the appointment of a Vietnamese emissary to the Qing Empire became a common practice．Considering the special role played by the incumbent in maintaining the diplomatic ties between China and Vietnam，the Vietnamese dynasty attached great importance to the selection of the envoys who paid tribute to the Qing emperors for over 200 years．The selection of each envoy had become a major event in Vietnamese political life．All candidates were subject to strict assessment of their ability and rhetorical skills． The final candidates were Vietnamese national elites who had both sophisticated diplomatic skills and good Confucian education．As the implementers of tributary obligations to the Qing dynasty，the Vietnamese envoys who carried out diplomatic activities in Beijing were directly concerned with the overall relationship between the two countries．In order to ensure the normal operation of the suzerain-vassal order between China and Vietnam，the Vietnamese dynasty established a scientific and formal selection and management process．

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Re-investigating Household and Property Confiscation in the Qing dynasty

YUN Yan

2017, 0(3): 112-125.

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As a punitive measure，the confiscation of household property did not originate in Qing times．But it was not until the Qing that property confiscation was extensively imposed on guilty officials and became a hallmark of Qing politics．Investigations of confiscation in Qing have already been done，yet these studies have lacked precision in numerical terms and the subject requires more accurate description．The growth of digitalized archival materials has resulted in an increase of text-searchable literature and the work of examining large amounts of documents has become more feasible and efficient than ever before．For the first time a statistical analysis of the topic has become possible．This paper is an initial effort to provide a systematic statistical account of property confiscation employing a thorough examination of Qing Palace Archives that addresses the scale，frequency，and incidence of Qing property confiscations． For the whole Qing dynasty more than two thousands records have been captured but they were unevenly distributed in the Yongzheng ( 1723 － 1735) ，Qianlong ( 1736 － 1795) ，and Guangxu ( 1875 － 1908) reigns，both of which showed a high frequency of confiscation．This study has also found that property confiscation involved a great number of officials’subordinates，servants，relatives，and other individuals of various social statuses such as merchants，lower gentry，and commoners．As for the reasons for confiscation，although Qing statutes listed about a dozen grounds，the reality was not always in accord with the law; statistical results show that deficits，treason，and corruption were the three most common offenses，whereas malfeasance，poor military performances，and literary inquisition cases accounted for the many other confiscations．In the Qing，whether to confiscate or not depended much on the emperor’s will，and the punishment was enforced to varied degrees in different times．

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An Estimate of the Production of New World Crops in China from the Qing Dynasty to the Republican Era

LI Xinsheng WANG Siming

2017, 0(3): 126-139.

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Crop indicators is an indicator to judge its status and function in the agricultural production structure． However，due to the lack of historical data，the chaos of data statistics，American crops actual production situation from the Qing Dynasty to the Ｒepublic of China have different opinions in academic circles，unable to decide which is right，directly impact on the status and role of the American crop in the agricultural production and social economy in this period． Based on detection of forgeries，comparison，correction in a large number of first-hand historical data，using the traditional reduction statistics method，detailed estimating maize and sweet potato，two kinds of main grain crops sown area，total production， yield，to analysis the profound influence of these crops on agricultural production，to clarify the American crops in agricultural production status and influence from the Qing Dynasty to the Ｒepublic of China of the controversy and some vague understanding in academic circles．

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A Study of Wu Sangui’s Declaration of War with the Qing Dynasty

XU Kai

2017, 0(3): 140-145.

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