The Household Registration Systemand Social Mobility In Ming Dynasty

The household registration system in Ming Dynasty has dual functions of population control and tax collection,and undoubtedly belongs to the category of institutional history.However,the population is the core element of household registration system,which requires us to discuss it from the perspective of social history.After 276 years and spanning four centuries,the social and economic structure of the Ming Dynasty changed greatly,and formed a very mobile late Ming Dynasty.Social mobility and household registration system interact with each other,which is the characteristic of Ming Dynasty.Therefore,this paper is divided into two parts.The first part is devoted to the household registration system,and the next is to explore the interaction between social mobility and household registration system.Zhu Yuanzhang was the creator of the household registration system in Ming Dynasty.His idea could be summed up as "all the people are indigenous,and their own profession".The regulation of household registration system has been basically achieved in Hongwu Dynasty,but there is also a process of gradual improvement.From Zhu Yuanzhang to Hongwu three years(1370),the household registration system of Ming Dynasty mainly used the edition of Yuan Dynasty.In November of the third year of Hongwu,the Ming government implemented the Hutie and carried out national household registration statistics for the first time.Subsequently,the registered residence statistics in various places also changed because of the changes in the grass-roots organizations.In the 14 th year of Hongwu,the Ming government implemented the Huang ce system throughout the country.After ten years of improvement,the Huang ce became mature in the 24 th year of Hongwu and became the original registered permanent residence of the Ming dynasty.The Huang ce was built every ten years.During the Hongzhi period,the Huang ce system as a whole showed signs of decline.In the years of Zhengde and Jiajing,after the sharp correction of local officials,Huang ce still played a considerable role.During the period from Long qing to Wanli,the Huang ce became a mere formality,and as a system,it has collapsed.The territory of Ming Dynasty is divided into two systems,military and administrative.Accordingly,the management of registered residence can be divided into two systems,military and administrative.The military system consists of military households and civilian households under the jurisdiction of the Weisuo.The household registration of Weisuo military households is arranged at the Weisuo Military organization.The vast majority of households in the administrative system,regardless of Min,military,cook and craftsman,are included in the Huang ce and managed by the the Ministry of Revenue of the central government.However,the Ming Dynasty’s registered residence was not only a separate household management,but also many registered residence offices.For example,the military household is divided into state and County military and Weisuo military,both registered residence is the Ministry of war management.The craftsman household is in addition to the Huang ce of the Ministry of Revenue,and there is another craftsman book,which is under the management of the Ministry of Works.Salt-producing households have other salt book besides the Huang ce.there is also a management organization of.Music households,monk households and Taoist households are outside the Huang ce and under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of rites.The fishermen are outside Lijia system,and are under the jurisdiction of Hebo.From the registered residence management institutions,the registered residence is in a vertical management mode.In terms of registered residence,it is a dual management system.Under this management system,the household registration is not unified,lacking unified management,resulting in the large number of population from the state control and management,increased the difficulty of registered residence management,caused a lot of social and economic disputes,and even affected the effective management of Ming Dynasty city.In order to solve the drawbacks brought by this vertical management system,the Ming government inherited the Yuan Dynasty’s asking system,and set up the official of the inspector,advocated the law of Bao Jia,and contacted the registered residence by the system of Bao Jia.The household registration system in Ming Dynasty has its inherent evolution mechanism.The household registration system in the early Ming Dynasty inherited the system of household registration in the Yuan Dynasty.However,the foundation of the Ming Dynasty was different from that of the Yuan Dynasty,and the social and economic conditions that had changed constantly led to the transformation of the household registration system in the Ming Dynasty.The evolution of registered residence in Ming Dynasty has two opposite directions.On the one hand,from the Yuan Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty,the four registered residence of the army,Min hu,the Jianghu and the Salt-maker were gradually simplified.Its essence is that Ruhu,Zhanhu and other households gradually integrate into the Minhu.This process is the process of nationalization.On the other hand,the registered residence of Ming Dynasty also has some tendency of complication.For example,the emergence of dual nationality,such as military and Minhu,military craftsman and military salt,broke the laws of "people and households are determined by Household register" and "military and Minhu are determined Household register ".Registered residence is a metamorphosis that occurs in the actual operation of household registration system,and is an effective implementation of household law in household registration system.Because the registered residence has different status and role in the social and economic status of the country,the process of the registered residence in Ming Dynasty is quite different.The refugees in the Ming Dynasty were one of the main forms of social mobility.The solution of the problem of refugees mainly depended on the implementation of the naturalization policy.However,due to the constraints of the real environment,the differences within the central government and the loopholes of the policy itself,the central government appears to be wavering in the implementation of the naturalization policy.The Ming government changed the conditions of whether to allow refugees to naturalize.In Chenghua dynasty,the policy of local attachment was actually established.However,the policy of local registration of refugees has not become a national law,but a way to deal with refugees in a customary way.The implementation of the policy of naturalization has its regional differences.In some areas,not only refugees are allowed to naturalize,but also forced refugees to naturalize.On the contrary,some areas refuse the naturalization of refugees due to the concept of local protectionism,making it difficult to implement the naturalization policy.Depending on the scale of the refugees,they adopt different management methods.The number of huge people is established in the state and county,the second is in the Li Jia,and the scattered retail households are enrolled in the way of the existing Li Jia.Among them,the arrangement of a certain scale of refugees can disperse the refugees and control each other,but it also hinders their integration into the local society and brings inconvenience to the collection and payment of taxes and servitudes.From the perspective of refugees,the subjective demands of refugees are mixed with their interest.Only by becoming a registered citizen of the country,can the economic interests obtained be protected from infringement.At the same time,only by becoming a gang member and getting registered residence can we take part in the imperial examinations and finally achieve the mobility of social classes.The social mobility in Ming Dynasty is closely related to household registration system.Household registration system has both obstacles and a positive side to social mobility.The restrictions on the social mobility of the household registration system in Ming Dynasty were mainly implemented by the concept of "registered residence".The household registration system has many aspects of promoting social mobility.First,the registered residence of Ming Dynasty was established by registered permanent residence,and the household registered residence required a continuous social mobility due to the need for service.Secondly,the registered residence of the Ming Dynasty was uneven,and some registered residence households could not afford heavy services,so they had to be forced to flee,resulting in social mobility.Thirdly,because of the need of registered residence arbitrage,households voluntarily carry out social mobility.The prominent influence of social mobility on household registration system is the emergence and development of commercial membership.The Shangji was first established in Lianghuai,which came from the study of Hedong Yunsi.However,the study of Hedong Yunsi had nothing to do with the salt merchants.The real reason for the establishment of salt merchants lies in the expansion of their economic status.After the establishment of Shangxue,it gradually expanded geographically,from Lianghuai to Liangzhe,and then to Shandong,Changlu and Ningxia.At the same time,the commercial status has gradually broken through the regional restrictions.Guanji is another form of social mobility in household registration.Official status can be divided into three types: officer status,ordinary official status and official status of special institutions.Official membership is a representation of social identity,not a registered residence.Anyone who has been born is a registered residence.Besides,after the middle Ming Dynasty,some scholars gained some social status by social mobility,and they sought to change their registered residence,hoping to get rid of the heavy and heavy servants.In the case of lax decrees,these influential scholars were able to fulfill their selfish desires.Finally,the influence of social mobility on registered residence also shows its downside.Forced by the demands of taxes and servitude,many households turned to be filled with powerful people and did not hesitate to become slaves of the Dalit class.The conclusion of this paper is that the management system of registered residence in Ming Dynasty is not uniform.From the perspective of territory,there are two management institutions: military and administrative;From the perspective of institutions,the vertical registered residence management system exists.The household registration system in the early Ming Dynasty was inherited from the Yuan Dynasty and increased slightly.With the development of social economy,the household,such as army,Minhu,medical,Bu,and Ruhu,gradually evolved into four families in the early Ming Dynasty,namely,the four household registration system of the army,Minhu,the Jianghu and the Salt-hu.This evolution is essentially the localization of registered residence.The social mobility caused by refugees is mainly solved by the policy of naturalization.However,the central government’s naturalization policy is lack of coherence,and the local governments have different degrees of implementation of naturalization,but the refugees have maintained their own expediency with the help of the naturalization policy.The interaction between household registration system and social mobility is very close in Ming Dynasty.Household registration system restricts social mobility subjectively,but objectively promotes social mobility.Social mobility also affected the household registration system in Ming Dynasty,the establishment of registered residence and the publication of official titles were all caused by social mobility.In short,the household registration system in Ming Dynasty is a very social economic system.