Study On Pariahs System In Ming And Qing Dynasties

The pariahs are a special status that has existed throughout Chinese history,usually referring to a special class of people that was divided separately from the four class: the gentry,the peasant,the worker and the merchant,and consisting mainly of slave girls,advocates,officials and other groups of pariahs.They are discriminated against in a universally public and widespread manner,legally,institutionally and socially,and find it difficult to be promoted under regular circumstances.Most obviously they are not allowed to apply for donations,nor are they allowed to sit for the imperial examinations or enter the civil service.As slavery gradually disintegrated in the mid-and late-Warring States,untouchability emerged as an alternative to slavery,and the system of untouchability that governed it came into being.By the time of the Qin and Han dynasties,when society was in transition,untouchability and its associated institutions had not yet taken shape,and by the time of the Wei,Jin and Northern Dynasties,the distinction between social hierarchies had become more pronounced.During the Sui and Tang dynasties,the legalisation of untouchability accelerated,and by the Song and Yuan dynasties,untouchability had largely taken shape.During the Ming and Qing dynasties,untouchability was legalised and perfected,and had a strong political and ethical dimension.The Ming dynasty officially did not allow ordinary people to keep slaves,but after the mid-Ming period,slaves became the norm throughout society and even had a huge impact on Ming politics.The untouchability system of the Qing dynasty was largely inherited from the Ming dynasty,but at the same time had ethnic overtones that distinguished it from previous generations.The Yongzheng emperor reformed the pariah system in the mid-Qing dynasty period,with considerable success.The end of the Qing Dynasty suffered from the impact of Western capitalism and untouchability tended to disintegrate along with traditional society.The introduction of this article contains an overview of the research value of pariahism in the Ming and Qing dynasties,a review of the research,the content of the research and the research methodology.This article begins with a discussion of the value of untouchability,then describes the historical development and current state of research on untouchability in the context of its emergence-development-disappearance,followed by a brief introduction to the content of this article,and finally explains the innovations of this article.The main text is divided into six chapters.Chapter 1 examines the historical origins and evolution of untouchability.This part describes the emergence,development and changes of untouchability before the Ming and Qing dynasties.In the second part,the development and changes of untouchability during the Ming and Qing dynasties are described.As this period was a time of completion and transition for untouchability in traditional Chinese society,the chapter makes specific reference to the development of untouchability in the late Qing dynasty in response to the impact of Western capitalist factors.Chapter 2 focuses on the types of pariahs in the Ming and Qing dynasties.The various categories of untouchability in the Ming and Qing dynasties can be divided into the legal and customary pariahs.Legitimate pariahs are those who were prevalent in society at the time and were defined by state law,mainly consisting of slave girls,prostitute and servants,who were the backbone of the pariah class.The slave girls were the most representative group,and the regulations of the Ming and Qing dynasties relating to good and bad were basically made for them.The customary pariahs,also known as the special pariahs or regional pariahs,are special in that although they are not explicitly defined as pariahs by law,they are still traditionally regarded by society as inferior to ordinary people.The more representative ones are the beggars,the tenant servants,the boat-dwellers and the fishermen of the nine surnames.They were scattered throughout the southern region and lived in different ways,but their legal status was similar and they were all at the bottom of the social hierarchy.Chapter 3 studies the main sources of pariahs in the Ming and Qing dynasties.The legally defined pariahs were large in number,large in size and mainly defined by law,so their origins are clearer,mostly for economic and political reasons.As the main part of the pariahs of the Ming and Qing dynasties,the slave girls were the most widely sourced and the most likely to reflect the particularities of pariahism in different dynasties.Customary pariahs were smaller in number,smaller in scale,and most groups had been known for generations and had low levels of education,so their origins are difficult to verify and,with the exception of tenant servants,are mostly based on folk or local legends.Chapter 4 examines the legal status of the pariahs in the Ming and Qing dynasties.This chapter focuses on the legal status of untouchability and the various restrictive rules for untouchability during the Ming and Qing dynasties.At this time,at the end of traditional society,all social institutions had matured and perfected,and the pariah system had been removed from its original slavery and legalised as an important part of the social status hierarchy.During this period,pariahs were subject to many legislative and customary restrictions and limitations,and had fewer rights and an uneven distribution of rights and obligations.The legal status of the various categories of pariahs is reflected in their rights and obligations under criminal,civil and administrative law,as well as in their social status.Chapter 5 focuses on the change in the identity of the pariah in the Ming and Qing dynasties.Since the Han dynasty,governors have often preached benevolent policies to win over the public’s support.Chapter 5 studies the changes in the status of the Pariahs.Since the Han dynasty,governors have often preached benevolent policies to win over the public’s support.One form of benevolent rule was to pardon a specific group of pariahs by way of pardon edicts and laws.This allowed the fate of some of the pariahs to be changed,as happened in the Ming and Qing dynasties.Among these exclusions,the Yongzheng Emperor’s policy of exclusion was historically significant,as he removed a large number of customary pariahs and some legally defined pariahs through a series of orders,leading to a certain loosening of the untouchability system and thus the social basis for its abandonment.In Chapter 6,this article summarises the characteristics of pariahs in the Ming and Qing dynasties.There are five main features: reduced opportunities for change in untouchability,the consolidation of the untouchable class,the existence of oppressors within the untouchable class,the influence of ’untouchability’ on untouchability,and The girl slave policy is out of sync with society.Considering the importance of economic factors to social,this chapter also summarise the impact of the commodity economy on pariahism.On the basis of the above studies,the article then provides a comprehensive review of the historical significance of pariahs from a legal history perspective.The chapter concludes with a positive assessment of the Republic’s role in the abolition of pariahism.In the concluding section,the author provides a general overview of the rise and fall of pariahism,revealing the principle that improvement will eventually overcome backwardness.