THESIS
1997
Abstract
The lijia or tujia ("hundred" and "tithing") system of Ming-Qing period has been regarded by many historians as an government institution for collecting tax and controlling the society below the county level. This thesis, through the analysis of the case of Yuanzhou prefecture which was one of regions in Jiangxi with many new immigrants in Qing period, shows lijia was not merely an government institution....[
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The lijia or tujia ("hundred" and "tithing") system of Ming-Qing period has been regarded by many historians as an government institution for collecting tax and controlling the society below the county level. This thesis, through the analysis of the case of Yuanzhou prefecture which was one of regions in Jiangxi with many new immigrants in Qing period, shows lijia was not merely an government institution.
In Yuanzhou prefecture, registration in lijia was a means of drawing social boundaries, identifying rights and demonstrating status. For this reason, those natives who had registered in the lijia would try very hard to exclude newcomers from the registration and to confine them in the category of keji (guest household). Thus, the social mobility of these newcomers were hindered.
In order to enjoy higher social status and more rights, the new immigrants would attempt in every means to breakthrough the blockage set by the natives and register in the lijia. One effective means was to form themselves higher order lineages.
Lineages, Iijia and immigrants were usually studied separately in current literature. By integrating these topics in a research, this thesis tries to show a clearer picture of complex traditional Chinese society.
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