Li Pingliang: The evolution of the new style of community and rural social power structure in the late Qing Dynasty and early Min

Source: Chinese Social Sciences Digest, No. 1, 2023, P75-P76

Author's institution: College of History, Culture and Tourism, Jiangxi Normal University, extracted from Academic Monthly, Issue 8, 2022, Zhou Xuejun

In the study of modern Chinese history, political change and changes in rural power structures have always been one of the hot spots in academic circles.

In traditional Chinese society, the township and the state are political forces that coordinate multiple modes of production, and jointly assume the public function of maintaining social order. Whether it is a family, guild and yicang, or a literary association, temple and society, it is an important part of the "village clan". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, these civil society organizations not only used independent property and management mechanisms to provide an institutional basis for social groups other than the gentry to participate in public undertakings, but also obtained the "legitimacy" to participate in rural social governance by obtaining government "authorization" and social recognition. In the late Qing Dynasty, civil society organizations such as clans, literary associations, and Yicang formed a rural power network.

Since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, clan organizations have gradually integrated into the state system. They not only act as a national tax collector, but also as partners and spokespersons for local governments in governing grassroots society. In order to strengthen control over clan organizations, since the Yongzheng period, the local government of Jiangxi has implemented the "clan orthodox system", requiring the clan to assume the responsibility of "preaching the holy oracle to promote education" and prohibiting the clan from using public property for litigation. In addition to clans, the club was also an important organization in rural society during the Qing Dynasty. The rise and development of the club organization has undergone a historical process of long-term evolution. From the folk religious associations of the Han and Tang dynasties to the literati associations and industrial groups of the Song and Ming dynasties, the types and functions of the association organizations have become increasingly diversified, penetrating into many fields such as politics, economy, military and culture in Chinese society, and gradually integrating with the administrative system of grassroots society. After the Qing Dynasty, with the changes of the country's political system and ideology, social and economic development, the evolution of religious policies and the transformation of grassroots administrative organizations, social organizations and clan organizations together became the common organizational forms and cultural methods used by different social groups to carry out rural governance and social control. In the Qing Dynasty rural control system, Shecang, Changpingcang and Yicang constituted tools to control famine and maintain security. This warehousing system played an active role in the early Qing Dynasty. Since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the corruption of officials and successive natural disasters have led to the collapse and deterioration of the storage system. As far as Jiangxi is concerned, by the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the social warehouse and the Changping warehouse were fading, and it had become a trend for the gentry to create a community righteous warehouse. With the help of the implementation and management of Yicang, they achieved control over the grassroots society.

In short, with the reform of the enlistment system and the shrinking of the functions of local governments, civil society organizations represented by clans, cultural associations, Yicang and even water conservancy organizations and gangs have become the leaders of rural social political, economic and cultural life, leading to the autonomy of grassroots society. Although some of these organizations are linked by blood, some are intermediated by region, some are combined by blood and geography, and some are based on occupation, in the process of development, they often exceed boundaries, merge with each other, and constantly expand, weaving into a dense and flexible web of power, which became the "tradition" that the "New Deal" of the late Qing Dynasty had to face.

Beginning in the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), the Qing government issued a series of edicts to carry out reforms in the military, economic, political, and educational fields. In order to implement various "new policies", the Qing government not only set up organizations such as the Supervision and Administration Office, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Commerce in the central government, and formulated policies such as developing industry, rewarding industry and commerce, promoting new learning, and urban and rural autonomy, but also required all provinces to set up corresponding organizational structures to develop industry and commerce and new education, and promote local autonomy.

The implementation of the "New Deal" in Jiangxi began with the revitalization of industry, with "ensuring business as the key to prosperity". In addition to revitalizing industry, the promotion of academic affairs and the implementation of constitutionalism are also the focus of the "New Deal". From industry to education to constitutional reform, various new associations such as chambers of commerce, education associations, and autonomous associations were born. Education associations and academic offices are another new type of society that is commonly established. In addition, new types of associations that emerged in Jiangxi during this period included "farmers' associations" and "autonomous associations". The emergence of self-government associations is the result of the implementation of local self-government. In the first year of Xuantong (1909), the Qing government successively promulgated the "Charter of Autonomy of Prefectures and Prefectures and Counties" and the "Regulations on Local Autonomy of Towns and Townships", stipulating that all localities must set up autonomous offices, and the movement of autonomy in all provinces, prefectures, counties, and towns was immediately launched. With the implementation of the "New Deal", all kinds of new-style associations have shown a trend of spreading from cities to towns. In the early years of the Republic of China, a number of new-style associations were established in various counties and villages in Jiangxi. There are as many as a dozen or even dozens of new-style associations in some counties. It is worth noting that although these various societies from top to bottom have a clear division of labor, they are intertwined under the connection of gentry, clans and other cultural traditions, forming a three-dimensional new power network.

In short, in the late Qing Dynasty, in order to implement the "New Policies", the local government of Jiangxi set up a number of new administrative institutions, which led to the formation of various new associations such as chambers of commerce, education associations, autonomous associations, counseling centers, and agricultural associations. The establishment of these associations not only came from the institutional design of the state, but also played the function of auxiliary officials in practice, so since their birth, they have become an important force for promoting local autonomy. The establishment of these associations needs to rely to varying degrees on the original socio-economic and cultural traditions, resulting in a state of integration between them and the "traditions" of rural society.

The hierarchization of new-style associations in the late Qing Dynasty and early Min Dynasty was the result of the top-down implementation of the "New Deal" and the active organization of the gentry. In terms of their objectives, functions and statutes, these associations are undoubtedly distinct from civil society organizations. However, when we look at the actual state of operation, these new associations, especially at the county and township levels, are inextricably linked with civil society organizations.

The autonomous association was one of the institutions that blended "tradition" and new associations in the late Qing Dynasty and early People's Dynasty. The establishment of new-style associations has both phases and differences between urban and rural areas.

The composition of the members of the township autonomous council is intertwined with civil society organizations such as clans and academies. This point is epitomized in the history of the Ji'an County Township Autonomous Association. In addition to political status, the acquisition of leadership by township-level autonomous associations is also deeply constrained by cultural associations and clans. Similarly, judging from the composition of the leadership of the township autonomous associations in Nanchang County in the late Qing Dynasty and early Min, the power resources brought by the new institutions were still in the hands of a small number of clans. Some control the township councils by one ethnic group, while others are multi-ethnic joint autonomy.

The relationship between the new style of society and "tradition" is also concentrated in the transformation of the school office or education association from the Benthorn organization. The relationship between gangs, clans and chambers of commerce is also a reflection of the interweaving of civil society organizations and new-style associations. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen was the "capital of pottery", attracting artisans and merchants from all over the world to engage in porcelain firing, commercial trafficking and money farming. With the combination of industry and region, Jingdezhen has formed a pattern of "capital gang", "hui gang" and "miscellaneous gang" co-governance. From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, although the commercial organization of Tangjiang has undergone "changes from clan guilds, public offices to chambers of commerce", the power of clans has always existed in different organizational systems. This reflects both the contemporary nature of this new type of association of the Chamber of Commerce and the adaptability of civil society organizations.

In short, the emergence of new-style associations in Jiangxi at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic of China was both the result of the implementation of the "New Deal" and the help of civil society organizations. Whether it is an autonomous association, an education association or even a chamber of commerce, their establishment is either transformed from the Binsing and cultural associations, or they are deeply influenced and restricted by the gangs and clan organizations, presenting a mixture of "new" and "old". The new-style community could become an organization that created official administrative institutions, but also incorporated various civil society organizations such as clans, gangs, and associations, and thus became the object of competition among local elites, and built new rural social power around it.

In the "New Deal" at the end of the Qing Dynasty, as the "foundation of the constitution", local autonomy became the focus of attention of both the government and the opposition. With the promulgation of the Charter of Prefecture and County Autonomy and the Charter of Local Autonomy in Towns and Townships, local autonomy was promoted from top to bottom, forming a new power order centered on local elites. After entering the Republic of China, local autonomy was still implemented at the township level, and the power order formed in the late Qing Dynasty was maintained.

In the first year of Xuantong, Anfu County implemented local autonomy, and Daonan Town established an autonomous association. The Daonan Town Self-Government Association plays a variety of roles in rural self-government. First, the town self-governing bodies became the mother body for the creation of official institutions. Second, the creation of village self-governing associations extends autonomy to the village level. Finally, the town self-government took over public affairs such as Yicang and child-rearing that had been carried over from the traditional period. In addition to tidying up the warehouses, the township council also reformed the prevalent bad habits of infant drowning, gambling and smoking paper cigarettes.

In short, by virtue of its status as an official auxiliary organization, the Daonan Town Autonomous Association has not only become a "starter" for administrative branches such as agricultural and forestry branches and police to enter the village, but also comprehensively took over and rectified traditional public affairs such as Yicang, baby-rearing, and gambling ban. Undertaking public affairs such as Yicang and childcare is an effective way for non-governmental organizations to become a link and intermediary between the government and the people, and play a unique role in the grassroots order. In other words, it is the organic combination of civil society organizations and new associations that has enabled local elites to achieve a high degree of autonomy and overall control over rural society.

In the late Qing Dynasty, under the joint shaping of the dynastic system and social economy, Jiangxi's rural society formed a multi-level and multi-dimensional network composed of clans, Yicang, cultural associations and associations, and this power pattern became the keynote of the "tradition" and the evolution of rural society in the face of political reform in the late Qing and early Min. Although there is an inherent continuity between new-style associations and civil society organizations, incidents such as the "hukou survey trend" show that there are still conflicts and contradictions between civil society organizations and new-style associations. The upsurge is actually an impact on local autonomy by civil society organizations such as clans, associations, and religious groups. Therefore, the transformation of rural social power structure from civil society organizations to new-style associations does not mean that new-style associations have completed the dissolution of social and cultural traditions, but reflects the continuity and complexity of the transformation of traditional Chinese society into a modern state.