Description
Book SynopsisAsserting that litigation in late imperial China was a form of documentary warfare, this book offers a social analysis of the men who composed legal documents. Litigation masters emerge as central players in many of the most scandalous cases in 18th- and 19th-century China.
Trade Review"A fascinating account. . . . [Macauley] has put forth sophisticated arguments which will guide the next round of archival discoveries in Chinese legal and social history." --
Eighteenth-Century Studies"Macauley's book will be important reading for those who want to understand both the stereotypes and the realities of legal culture of imperial China. It is wonderfully rich in archival material, and its treatment of case materials constitutes document reading at its very best." * American Historical Review *
"This work pushes the reader to move beyond interpretive clichés to consider new ways of looking at Qing law, legal institutions, and judicial administration, and Macauley has broadened the methodological and interpretive approaches to all three." * China Review International *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: legal culture and historical change 2. Statecraft legalism and administrative despair 3. Mechanics of litigation mastery: who, where, how 4. A clientele empowered 5. The disputation of the body snatchers: judicial depravity and legal culture 6. Entrepreneurs of power: land, lineage, and litigation mastery on the Southeast coast 7. Trickster tales: cunning power and the invocation of an alternative male ideal Conclusion: 'lawyer' bashing and litigation loathing Appendix Notes References Index.
