A Study On The Life Landscape Of The Villagers In The Qing Dynasty And Its Changes

The primary scholars was a special group,expecially those who lived in rural area and never gained better fame.On the one hand,they had accessed to the field of power which relid on the imperial examination,which meant that they were on “the top of the lower classes”.On the other hand,they came from and rooted in rural area which meant they were at “the bottom of the high society”.This determins that they connected the lower classes with the high society.In other words,the primary scholars played an important role in many area such as the grass-roots society structure and inherit Chinese traditional culture.The traditional rural society was supported by clan which centered on blood relationship and regional relationship,forming a unique “clan” ecology,and especially after the ruler’s release of the ban on the sacrifice of the plebeian,the clan more united in the form than ever before.In the plebeian’s eyes,the primary scholars were the few possessor of knowledge and were civilized by the Confucianism.So they played an important role in repairing the ancestral hall and disputing mediation.But by the end of the Qing Dynasty,the rural ecology was close to saturation,and the rural economy,which depended on the natural conditions,was moving towards competition by sharing and mutual assistance.In this trend,the primary scholars lossed the right in clan.This promoted primary scholars to change the activity range and seeked bigger development platform.In addition to internal competitio,traditional agriculture competed with commerce and opium for labor and land which caused the result that the living environment was extremely bad.The low wages of private teachers brought low level professional identification.Under the economic pressure,the career choice of primary scholars had diversified.And the pressure determined that all the communication with other villagers and bureaucrats were revolved around the living.To a great extent the communication of primary scholars and bureaucrats owed to the weak grass-roots organizations.Centralized political system in the vast rural society seems to be lack of strength.Due to various reasons,the grass-roots organizations which were set up by state power could not play a strenghen role.Clan and squire became the real ruler.However,there were many conflicts between them even though centralized government relied on family in the control of the village.On the one hand,the primary scholars played as negotiators;on the other hand,they fawn on political authority from nature.In addition to relying on the political sysytem,the primary scholars as the students in scientific research,consciously supported the imperial examination system,and they were even gradually solidified on their own identity,controlling their own behavior and thought,pinning the life value orientation and interests on the imperial system.After the abolished of the imperial examination system,which lasted for thousands of years,they behavide differently.Some of them worried and refused,some following into new trend,some initiativing to change and lead trend.