COMMUNITY AND BUREAUCRACY IN RURAL CHINA: EVIDENCE FROM 'SECTARIAN CASES' (CHIAO-AN) IN KIANGSI, 1860-1895

In protest against government corruption and gentry exploitation local uprisings, then rebellion, burst out across the countryside. Ch'ing officials reacted ineffectively and, in any case, had few local control resources to fall back on. Consequently, the gentry organized militia corps to protect their property and to preserve the socio-political status quo. Their success at self-defense soon led to active involvement in county adminstrative affairs. Since involvement required funding, the gentry also took the opportunity to collect new fees and to draw revenue directly from the Ch'ing fiscal system.; Such were the exigencies created by mid-nineteenth century social disorder. But had the Ch'ing been weakened vis-a-vis its supporters as well as its opponents? Following the defeat of the Taipings in 1864, the Ch'ing moved to restore its former powers. Although other scholars have studied the T'ung-chih Restoration, they have not determined what the actual local government situation was. Only by pursuing data that reveals the daily operation of the bureaucracy and its interaction with the community can post-bellum state and society be evaluated from the local level.; In this sense, the Chiao-wu chiao-an tang ({lcub}The Tsungli Yamen{rcub} Archives on Christian affairs and on cases and disputes involving missionaries and converts) is of value because it allows us to consider two major questions. First, did the gentry continue to dominate local adminstration? Second, did the gentry instigate an anti-Christian movement, one that officials were powerless to prevent?; Information from Christian sect cases (chiao-an) that occurred in Kiangsi over a thirty-five year span indicates that county magistrates were often active and competent local administrators. In settling a wide-range of community disputes they had the assistance of "deputies" (wei-yuan), petty officials, soldiers, and sub-bureaucrats. Among the last group, ti-pao were particularly important. Ti-pao fulfilled numerous administrative duties, reporting major and minor crimes to the magistrate and serving as a conduit of information about community affairs. It appears that ti-pao were the magistrates' last organ of rural control: thus the gap left by a deteriorating pao-chia system was filled.; Chiao-an also offer a panoramic view of local society. Conflict between Christians and non-Christians was usually not over religious issues, but rather over secular matters such as unpaid rents, overdue loans, robbery, even rape and murder. A portion of such problems resulted in litigation and, finally, adjudication by the magistrate. Magistrates' generally thorough investigations and relatively equitable settlements minimized the possibility of renewed conflict, of continued missionary intervention, and of added complications for Sino-foreign relations.; From the vantage point of Christian sect cases, the Ch'ing adminstrative system and its personnel appears to have been quite resilient. Officials in Kiangsi responded to different crises with dispatch and efficiency: such action did much to re-establish government authority. Moreover, officials easily dealt with conflict involving Christians because (with the exception of Nanchang during the 1860's) there seems to have been no gentry-led or organized anti-Christian movement in Kiangsi.