Worms In Local Authorities: A Study On The Phenomenon Of Local Rouge Officials In Late Ming Dynasty

The essay focuses on the study of the phenomenon of rogue officials in the late Ming Dynasty,focusing on the infiltration of local rogue officials into the group,as well as the common interests of officials and rogues in the fields of administration,justice,economy and supervision benefit,leading to the historical phenomenon that affects the normal execution of local affairs and the stability of social order.Through the analysis of the phenomenon of "rogue officials" and the excavation of relevant historical materials in the late Ming Dynasty,it is helpful to promote the research of officials and rogues,and to provide a vivid and reasonable way to explain the problem of "official worms" in the Ming Dynasty.The first chapter chooses 46 cases in the late Ming Dynasty as the main material,trying to restore the concrete operation process of the phenomenon of rogue officials.As a kind of judicial document which records the original process of the local case,the judgment material has the unique advantages of vividness and detail in reflecting the phenomenon of local "rogue officials".After combing the case and analyzing the text,the phenomenon of "rogue officials" in the operation of local affairs is as follows: stealing the letter,controlling the official ticket,and intervening in the preparation and communication of the official document(administration);extorting the extra money,embezzling the government’s money(economy);terrifying people for robbing,bringing lawsuits(justice).In addition,there are several special types of "professional" rogue groups,in the process of social activities and gains of benefits with the officials,including fighter,pettifogger,and group of supervision.The rogues,for their own benefit,or by displaying violence,deceit,false accusation,etc.,to make them the wing of the rogues’ crime,or by inviting,inducing,in the illegal activities initiated by the rogues themselves,to make profit,or by directly soliciting the authority of the local officials to steal the power of the local government,it is easy to put the local affairs into inefficiency and disorder.The second chapter uses the statistical method to further analyze the information contained in the case of rogue officials.The selection angle includes the rights and responsibilities in the case and the hierarchical status,the motive and realization form of the case,the interaction of the social group in the case and the judicial measure of the case,so as to give full play to the double value of the social record and the judicial expression.The article points out that although most of the cases of rogue officials are discussed by the authors in the framework of "crime of officials ",the most important reasons for the cases are the inducement,solicitationand even threat of rogue officials.It can be seen that the occurrence of the phenomenon of rogue officials covers the social space from the city,the town to the countryside;the officials involved in the case include a wide range of state and nominal officials,prefecture officials,amateur officers,and officials in other local institutions;the main motive of the case of rogue officials is undoubtedly the acquisition of money,the implementation process of division of labor is clear and flexible;the case of rogue officials reflects the complex social relationship between the rogue officials and the rogue officials in the local government and daily life,the internal and external interests of interpersonal relations,the resistance and attachment of different social groups,directly or indirectly promote the phenomenon of rogue people in different social groups,reflecting the variable faces of society reality in late Ming Dynasty.The article gives full play to the textual nature of the judicial documents,and briefly explains the possible ways and flexible attitudes of local officials in dealing with the phenomenon,compared with the degree of conformity between the case and the actual law.In the third chapter,the author discusses the local governor’s perception and management of the phenomenon of rouge officials with some governor’s guidebooks.As far as the guidebooks of late Ming Dynasty are concerned,the local officials pay attention to the phenomenon of local rouge officials,and regard it as one of the main manifestations of the disadvantages of the officials,especially in the three fields of lawsuit,supervision and servitude.The increasing phenomenon of local rouge officials caused local governors to worry about the abuse of power and local society disorder,so local governors put forward targeted countermeasures.Not only these measures are from the administrative skills and experience,but also refers to the habits and facts of the local,including serious drafting and cutting,the integration of the local village rules,the regulation of litigation,selecting right supervisors,counting and assisting and so on.While some of them remain only at the conceptual level,there is no lack of insight and implementation.The fourth chapter based on the summary of the full text,from a more macro point of view and analysis of the local rouge officials in the late Ming Dynasty,put up four major causes.Firstly,inn the late Ming Dynasty,the system of officials was becoming more obsolete,so it is difficult to filter the rogue officials and maintain the quality of the officials,and become the system hotbed of the phenomenon.Secondly,the growth of the number of rogues and the formation of the organization made it produce the demand to represent the interests of the group,thus showing a strongwillingness to adhere to the official forces.The trend of rogue make them be close to officials automatically.Thirdly,the civil society opinion and the governors’ arrangement have the discrimination and the exclusion attitude to the official group,causes people turning into the other property,indirectly stimulates the rogue to occupy the official’s post.Fourthly,the local official governors treats the officials to be lenient and strict,indulges,colludes with the official’s behavior also can cause the local official to turn into the rogue phenomenon to accumulate the malpractice difficult to rule.