Study On The Gentry And Local Society Of Baoqing Prefecture In Hunan Province In The Early And Middle Qing Dynasty

The early and middle period of the Qing Dynasty,the population increased rapidly,and the local government made more use of the local gentry to maintain the stability of the local society.Baoqing Prefecture in Hunan Province is located in the interior of many provinces.Southwest of the prefecture is a place where the Han,Miao and Yao ethnic groups live together.Its economy and culture are relatively backward compared with the developed areas such as Jiangnan,but it was influenced by the local education and imperial examination system of the Qing Dynasty,there are still a certain number of local gentry groups with low-ranking names of Gongsheng and Shengyuan,and they play an important role in the local society.Examining the social disorder in the early Qing Dynasty,the Gentry of Baoqing’s response was mostly passive choice based on personal and family interests,less collective action of the whole class.In the middle of Qing Dynasty,in the face of local turmoil,they organized mass organizations to protect the local areas,not only to maintain local stability,but also to provide an opportunity for the emergence of the chu-yong group represented by Jiang Zhongyuan and Liu Kunyi.The gentry maintained the local order by controlling the clans and collecting taxes and corvee.Active participation in various local public affairs,including local charity undertakings such as local relief and bridge construction,local education and compilation of local chronicles,and local cultural construction in the interior all play important roles in organizing,managing and raising funds,made up for the deficiencies of the government and the system.In this practice,not only promoted the operation and development of Baoqingfu local society,but also improved the gentry’s ability to deal with various local affairs and influence in local society.Taking the Ganlong Dynasty as the boundary,the Baoqing Gentry in the early Qing Dynasty acted relatively passively in various affairs,mostly in cooperation with the government.In the middle of the Qing Dynasty,with the improvement of their own ability and prestige and thefurther "absence" of the government,they showed more initiative.This also provided the necessary organizational ability and prestige for the Baoqing Gentry to take the initiative to deal with the local unrest in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.The investigation of the Gentry class in the specific time and space of Baoqingfu local society in the early and middle period of the Qing Dynasty not only provides a case of the non-cultural developed area for the gentry study,from the angle of Gentry,we can better understand the operating mechanism of Baoqingfu local society in Qing Dynasty,and make clear the historical origin and background of the prosperity of talents in Baoqingfu and Hunan province in the late Qing Dynasty.