Study Of Late Qing Social Relief System

"The social relief system" is used to giving material aids or technical trainings by the state and the society to social members which are in a poor life because of many kinds of reasons so that they could obtain the most basic life guarantees and abilities to supporting themselves.The Qing Dynasty was established In 1644, and it's social relief system mostly followed the Ming Dynasty's ,Beijing established and maintained the most perfect social relief system of the country during Qing Dynasty. In late Qing period ,The national finance was declining, at the same time ,the populace's poverty became worse and new relief thoughts of the West spread day by day, Beijing's social relief system began transfer to modern style.This article's body is made up of six parts: the preface, four chapters and the conclusion.The preface: Mainly analyzing some concepts about social relief, introducing the research tendency and this article's design, the structure as well as the innovation spot.First chapter: Summarizing the complete picture of Beijing's social relief system of the Qing Dynasty. The guiding ideology of the Qing Dynasty's social relief system is kind politics, it's main relief method is providing material supports, and it's main relief objects includes the weak, the sick ,the disabled ,the widows, the children and the disaster victims. Its content could be divided into two aspects : helping the poor and providing disaster relief.During the Qing Dynasty, Beijing's main measures to help the poor includes: Yangjiyuan (养 济院) ,Yuyingtang(育婴堂),Qiliusuo(栖流所),Liuyangju(留养局) and many kinds of charities hold by squires. Yangjiyuan(养济院) adopted widowers, widows, orphans and childless, disabled or sick persons who couldn't support themselves. Yuyingtang(育婴堂)adopted abandoned babies.Qiliusuo(栖流所)was an organ adopted the refugees of Beijing and the patients on the street, and provided room and board, clothes and so on. Liuyangju(留养局) was seasonal relief organ located at Zhili (直隶) ,adopted the poor and the refugees, they were established in the QianLong era, reduced the Beijing social relief system's pressure to adopt the external refugees. In addition, there were many kinds of charities hold by squires in Beijing, which provided relieves to the poor and weak.Beijing's main measures to relieve victims of a natural calamity includes relieving and delaying rents and tax in the light disaster situation;providing relief money, opening abodes to adopt refugees and providing congee and shelters in the serious disaster situation. In the temporary shortage season after the disaster government also had the spring and the winter aid policies. Pingtiao(平粜)in Beijing is a measure coped with the rise of grain price . Beijing's social relief system had special measures to cope with the external refugees. Opening Zhouchang(粥厂)and Nuanchang(暖厂)around Beijing to avoid hungry people entering the centre of the Capital. Those hungry people already in the city would be temporarily placed at Zhouchang(粥厂)and Nuanchang(暖厂). When the disaster situation was over and the relief stopped, they usually would be repatriated.The Qing government attached much importance to the construction of Beijing social relief system, establishing many special preferential policies, including insuring water transport(漕运), other areas providing relief funds to Beijing and so on. In 1883,the Qing government set up the special outlay - Shuntianfu's (顺天府) outlay prepare for famine, which finished the history that Beijing haven't social relief special outlay ,and it strengthened Beijing's abilities of anti-disaster and anti-famine.Second chapter: Pingtiao(平粜)is one of the Most influential measures to Provide relieves to the Beijing residents. Beijing's grain price can be easily rose, the government often adopted all kinds of measures to collect grain and rice, then sold to the poor families in lower price. In late Qing period, along with the reducing of rice to north, Beijing's grain price was extremely easy to rise, so Pingtiao(平粜) became one of most influenced relief activities. Pingtiao(平粜) was superintended by Wuchengchayuan and Shuntianfu (五城察院和顺天府). The grain resource was various. The funds were mainly from the government, and included several kinds sources. Qing government set a series of systems to supervise the officials and the grain buyers to ensure the effect of Pingtiao(平粜).Third Chapter: Zhouchang(粥厂) was one of the most influencing and extensive social relief measures.In the ninth year of Shunzhi( 顺治九年 ),the system of periodically opening Zhouchang(粥厂)in winter and spring was established. In the Guangxu and Xuantong era, the numbers of Zhouchang(粥厂) in Beijing increased very quickly ,and became the mostly poor people's guarantees to depend on over the winter famine.Beijing's Zhouchang(粥厂)were divided into two major types: government-operated and squires-operated, respectively superintended by Wuchengchayuan and Shuntianfu(五城察院和顺天府).when Zhouchang(粥厂) begun to operate, the supervisor office would apply imperial government to give the grain and rice.The grain of the government-operated Zhouchang(粥厂) entirely come from the government. Some Zhouchang(粥厂) hold by the squires got grain from government ,the deficient part would raise by the squires. The government also established perfect supervised system to insure the relief result.Forth Chapter: During the late Qing period, along with the decline of the government financial power and the corruption of official's troops, the government abilities of social relief decayed and malpractices grew day by day. At that time, the south squires came to Beijing area to raise free relief(义赈). In 1883 ,the south free relief's (义赈)position became more important in Beijing social relief.Zhoujiamei (周家楣) depended on the south squires in many releif affairs because of the governmental relief abilities declining, he also protested the cooperate of squires and government in many state Counties. Zhoujiamei's (周家楣) utilized "free relief "(义赈) was a choice of the premise that governmental relief abilities declining and represented the governmental attitude's changing about "free relief " (义赈).It was a milestone of "free relief " (义赈) from self- operated to cooperated with the government, also reflected a reformed trend of government-operated relief.In the last years of Qing Dynasty, the social relief system followed the transformation period. The most outstanding characteristics was the establishment of thought that paying attention to both give material aids and vocational education.The changes on relief method were increasing of vocational education, which could make the almsman going to Jiaoyangju(教养局)and Jiaoyang factory(教养工厂) to learn technical skills, and they no longer depended on relief but on themselves. The change of thought means a leap of social relief system in the late Qing Dynasty.Along with this reformation,Qing Dynasty's social relief entered a positive developmental period.The main contents of transformation includes three aspects: the first is to reduce the number of Zhouchang(粥厂);keeping a few to help those no labor ability ,some were closed, while the others were instead by Jiaoyangju(教养局)and Jiaoyang factory(教养工厂) ,in which the poor could learn technical skills of making a living. After graduation , they would no longer depend on relief but on themselves; The second is newly establishing of Jiaoyangju(教养局)and Jiaoyang factory(教养工厂);the Third is establishing some crafts factories ,whose goal was to develop industry and provide the poor precious employment opportunities to keep them from poverty .In addition, Xiyisuo(习艺所) established in the late Qing Dynasty were social relief measure from a broad sense ,where the minor offence criminal could master technical skill ,and they could earned their own living when they were released.On the stage of the Beijing social relief in the late Qing Dynasty , fundraising in 1907 for flood victims of the north of the Changjiang River was a milestone. This activity was organized spontaneously by the social power and folks, taking help the "compatriot", " patriotic love nation" as its call, adopted new ways of speech, no benefit performance and selling pictures of refugee to raise money and send to the disaster area. The fundraising exceeded the old thought loyal to the imperial government and relief charity thought, while its slogan had the outstanding characters of the age.Conclusion: Summarizing the accomplishment about the later Qing social relief system . In the late Qing period ,there was many progress than the early period ,such as the instruction of multi-main body relief system and professional institution, the practice of relief methods both providing vocational education and living material, the socialization specialization and the market economic management of relief funds . These new factors indicated the first change step of the late Qing Dynasty social relief system from tradition to modern-times. During the period of the Repbulic of China, the social relief system inherited the new factors of the late Qing Dynasty social relief system's transformation, proving that the transformation of the late Qing Dynasty social relief system was keeping match the current of time. At the beginning of 20th centuries, the Qing government tried to promote various reformations, which included the transformation of the social relief system . because the reform was limited to minor parts , the institutional advance could not save the Qing Dynasty. Democracy and legal system was just unique path to clear the malpractice and which was impossible in that era.