The gentry under the Ch'ing
Local government in China under the Ch'ing
Chapter 10
The gentry and local administration
1 the gentry as an informal power
* There was a traditional division of function between the 2(local governmental authority and the gentry):
- Chou and hsien governments（州县官府）—considered all matters concerning common good of the community to be within the scope of their activities
- 民间社会事务的分工 Many of these matters, regarded by the Chinese as within the province of governmental administration, would in other societies have been the responsibility of civic associations.
- It was the local gentry（士绅） that performed some of the functions which the local government was unable or not well qualified to perform----indispensable to the realization of certain of the government’s aims.
* gentry/local elite
- Share the control of local affairs with the government
- Informal power VS formal power—local government
- Coordination, cooperation and conflict
* Different local groups in ancient China
- The Chinese gentry
- The merchant’s guild商业行会(except a few wealthy members like those engaged in the salt business)
- The latter part of the 19th century— the merchants were allowed to join gentry in discussion of local affairs(Shen Shang 绅商)
* The gentry and officials belonged to the same group
- The politically based power was the power that dominated and only those who possessed it, actually or potentially, were admitted into the elite and allowed to participate in the act of governing.
2 definition of gentry
* gentry- borrowed from English history
- 缙绅—traced back to chin and Han—a synonym for officials
- 绅士、绅衿—used in ming and ch’ing times — degree holders(功名持有者)
* elements
- wealth, ownership of landed property—but the privileged status was not determined on a purely economic basis— receive education
- The commoner-landlords + to buy from the government an official rank or academic title (国子监学生身份，监生)
- A degree or an official appointment—poor sheng-yuan(生员), holders of the lowest degree, even received relief from the government during a famine
- All in all, membership was based upon the attainment of bureaucratic status. 2 groups: (1)officials; (2)holders of degrees or academic titles (包括文武进士、文武举人、贡生、监生、文武生员)
3 prestige and privileges of the gentry
* enjoy certain social, economic and legal privileges
4 gentry channels of influence —2 spheres
* The sphere of the commoners
- Settle disputes
- Conduct fund-raising campaigns
- Command local defense
* The sphere of the local officials
- Lack authority—exert influence upon the officials in their decision-making process
* Gentry’s connection with formal power must be examined within the institutional framework —connected with the examination system
- Teachers（主考者）
- Students (门生)
- fellow degree- holders（同年）
5 gentry families
* family：basic unit in Chinese society
* the prestige and privileges were shared by the gentry’s family members
* 封赠
* 荫
6 the gentry’s role in local administration
* magistrate was never a native of the province where he held office— he had little or no knowledge of the local situation — he find it necessary to seek advice from the gentry
* In this sense, the gentry participated in policy decisions
* the gentry assumed an intermediary role between the magistrate and the people
* it is generally assumed that the gentry shared common interests with the local people
- community sentiment—a sense of belonging to the same society
- To give cohesion to both the gentry and both peasants— both groups desired a stabilized and orderly society
- Such society is more important to the gentry because their security and privileges depended upon it
- as a privileged class the gentry were primarily concerned with the interests of their families and relatives, interests at times necessarily divergent from those of the masses
* it was only when their own interests were not jeopardized that the gentry took the general interest of the community into consideration and mediated between the magistrate and the local people.
Public works and public welfare
Educational activities
Pao-chia administration
Local militia
7 exploitation and unlawful activities
* 逃避田税land tax evasion
* 税负不均inequality between payments by the gentry and the commoners
- The commoners-taxpayers bore the greatest share of the cost of collection and of other ramen expenses
* 包揽钱粮act as transmitters of tax payments for the commoners
* 免交丁银be exempted from the labour-service tax —extended to gentry’s relatives in practice
* 干预司法、诬枉良善、诈欺钱财……
In general these officials were not in a position to control the gentry, especially those of superior status and great influence.
8 cooperation and conflict between magistrate and gentry
While there were sometimes clashes of interest between individual gentry members and individual local officials, they seem never to have been serious enough to cause a change in the power structure and the established social and political order.
