Description
Book SynopsisFor commoners in the Qing dynasty, the most salient agents of the imperial state were not the emperor''s appointed officials but rather the clerks and runners of the county yamen, the lowest level of functionaries in the Qing state''s administrative hierarchy. Yet until now we have known very little about these critically important persons beyond the caricatured portrayals of corruption and venality left by Qing high officials and elites.
Drawing from the rich archival records of Ba county, Sichuan, the author challenges the simplicity of these portrayals by taking us inside the county yamen to provide the first detailed look at local administrative practice from the perspective of those who actually carried it out. Who were the county clerks and runners? How were they recruited, organized, disciplined, and rewarded? What was the economic basis for a career in the yamen? How did clerks and runners view themselves as well as legitimize their role in Qing go
Trade Review
“...the book is a valuable contribution to the study of a sophisticated bureaucracy in a non-Western, nonmodern setting.”—Robin D.S. Yates, McGill University
Table of Contents
Preface; Abbreviations and conventions; 1. Illicit bureaucrats; 2. Clerks; 3. Families, friends, and factions; 4. Runners; 5. Illicit allies and the magistrate's men; 6. The economics of justice; 7. The legitimacy of the indispensable; Appendixes; Notes; Character list; Index.
