Table Of ContentThe Chinese Empire in Local Society
This book explores the Ming dynasty (1368–1 644) military, its impact on
local society, and its many legacies for Chinese society. It is based on exten-
sive original research by scholars using the methodology of historical anthro-
pology, an approach that has transformed the study of Chinese history by
approaching the subject from the bottom up.
Its nine chapters, each based on a different region of China, examine the
nature of Ming military institutions and their interaction with local social
life over time. Several chapters consider the distinctive role of imperial
institutions in frontier areas and how they interacted with and affected non-
Han ethnic groups and ethnic identity. Others discuss the long-t erm legacy of
Ming military institutions, especially across the dynastic divide from Ming to
Qing (1644–1 912) and the implications of this for understanding more fully
the nature of the Qing rule.
Michael Szonyi is Frank Wen-h siung Wu Professor of Chinese History at
Harvard University.
zhao Shiyu is Professor of History at Peking University.
Joel Wing- Lun (translator) is a doctoral student at Harvard University.
The Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society series
Series editor: David Faure, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Historians are being increasingly attracted by the methodology of histor-
ical anthropology, an approach that combines observations in the field with
documentary analysis, both of official documents and of documents collected
from local society. In China, historians have been pursuing such local his-
torical research for a generation, with very little of this work being available
in English hitherto. This series makes available in English research under-
taken by the Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society project based at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong, and related work. The books argue that
top- heavy, dynasty- centered history is incomplete without an understanding
of how local communities were involved in the government process and in
the creation of their own historical narratives. The books argue that Chinese
social history needs to be rewritten from the bottom up.
4 The Transformation of Yunnan in Ming China
From the Dali Kingdom to Imperial Province
Edited by Christian Daniels and Ma Jianxiong
5 Lineage and Community in China, 1100– 500
Genealogical Innovation in Jiangxi
Xi He
6 Islam and Chinese Society
Genealogies, Lineage and Local Communities
Edited by Jianxiong Ma, Oded Abt, Jide Yao
7 The Chinese Empire in Local Society
Ming Military Institutions and Their Legacy
Edited by Michael Szonyi and zhao Shiyu
Translated by Joel Wing- Lun
For more information about this series, please visit:
www.routledge.com/ The- Historical- Anthropology- of- Chinese- Society-
Series/ book- series/ HISTANTHCHINSOC
The Chinese Empire in
Local Society
Ming Military Institutions and
Their Legacy
Edited by Michael S and z Shiyu
zonyi hao
Translated by Joel W - L
ing un
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Michael Szonyi and zhao Shiyu;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Michael Szonyi and zhao Shiyu to be identified as the authors
of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
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ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 43184- 6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 00173- 7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Newgen Publishing UK
Contents
List of maps vii
List of contributors viii
Acknowledgments x
1 State institutions, local society, and historical continuity:
Ming military institutions from the perspective of
historical anthropology 1
MICHAEL SZONYI AND ZHAO SHIYU
2 The social impact of changing patterns of military
recruitment and logistics in Yongzhou, Hunan 26
WU TAO
3 Military colonies and localization in Yongchun, Fujian 42
MA WENRUI AND ZHENG ZHENMAN
4 The evolution of temples in Jinxiang Guard and the
localization of state institutions 65
ZHANG KAN
5 State and local society in the reform of the garrison
system in the Qing Dynasty: A case study of
Yuzhou Guard 82
DENG QINGPING
6 Where are the Western Aborigines? Ningfan Guard
and the transformation of local society in southwestern
Sichuan in Ming and Qing 99
LONG SHENG
vi Contents
7 The Green Shoots Crop Protection Associations of
Taozhou, Gansu: Ming identities/ Qing histories 115
QUE YUE
8 The “civilianization” of military colonies and the
reorganization of military households: Ningxi Battalion
and the reconstruction of rural order in south China in
the eighteenth century 128
XIE SHI
9 Military lineages and the Qing tribute grain system:
The “Xie/ Chen/ Liao Barge” of Ganzhou Guard, Jiangxi 145
RAO WEIXIN
10 The tribute grain system, military colony lands, and
transport soldier lineages in Ming and Qing: The case of
Huangzhou and Qizhou garrisons of eastern Hubei 166
XU BIN
Appendices
I Ming and Qing reign periods 183
II Ming weights and measures 184
III Glossary and character list 185
References 192
Index 206
Maps
0.1 Locations in which chapters are set xi
2.1 Guards and Battalions of Yongzhou 28
2.2 Taochuan Battalion and surrounding villages 32
3.1 Yongchun, with Ming sectors 44
4.1 Jinxiang and vicinity 66
4.2 Temples of Jinxiang Guard 67
5.1 Yuzhou and vicinity 84
5.2 Yuzhou and Xuanfu 89
6.1 The Mianning region 101
6.2 Distribution of garrisons of the Sichuan Regional Military
Commission in Ming 103
8.1 Distribution of villages in Lanshan 130
8.2 Old and New Yao Lands 140
9.1 Hereditary military household lineages of Ganzhou Guard 153
9.2 The Grand Canal 158
Contributors
Deng Qingping received her PhD in history from the School of History of
Beijing Normal University in 2006. Since then she has been teaching in the
Institute of History, School of Humanities, China University of Political
Science and Law, where she is an associate professor. Her research areas
are the history of Ming and Qing and the social history of north China.
Long Sheng graduated from the School of History at Beijing Normal
University. He is an associate professor in the Advanced Institute of
Confucian Studies, Shandong University. His research interests are in
social history and folklore studies.
Ma Wenrui received his BA and MA in history from Xiamen University,
and is currently a PhD student in the History Department of Sun Yat-s en
University. His interests are in Ming-Q ing social and economic history and
historical anthropology.
Que Yue is professor and chair of the Department of Communications
Studies, School of Journalism and Communication, Lanzhou University.
Her research interests include social change in northwest China since
the Ming- Qing, and the history and culture of Tibetan areas of north-
west China. She is the author of A second type of order: The Green Shoots
Association of Taozhou in Ming- Qing (2016).
Rao Weixin received his PhD from the Department of History at Xiamen
University, where he is now associate professor. His research focuses on
social and economic history of Ming and Qing. He is the editor of the
book Research on Genealogies (Zupu yanjiu).
Michael Szonyi is Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
and Frank Wen-H siung Wu Professor of Chinese History at Harvard
University. His books include The art of being governed: Everyday pol-
itics in late imperial China (2017); A companion to Chinese history (2017),
Cold War Island: Quemoy on the front line (2008). He is also co-e ditor, with
Jennifer Rudolph, of The China questions: Critical insights into a rising
power (2018).
List of contributors ix
Joel Wing- Lun is a PhD candidate in History and East Asian Languages at
Harvard University specializing in the social history of late imperial China
and its southwest frontier.
Wu Tao is a native of Hangzhou, China. He gained his PhD in history at
Fudan University in 2003. He is now a professor in the Department of
History of Sun Yat- sen University. He has published several monographs
and nearly sixty essays in different academic journals. His main research
fields are historical geography and the social and economic history of the
Ming and Qing dynasties.
Xie Shi received his BA in history from Sun Yat-s en University and his PhD
from the Center for Historical Geographical Studies, Fudan University.
He specializes in social and economic history, historical geography and
historical anthropology. He is a professor in the Department of History
of Sun Yat- sen University and has been selected for the National Program
of Special Support for Eminent Professionals of China. His book High
and low land: Research on the historical geography of the Lower Yangtze
Delta (11th– 16th century) (2015) was awarded the Prize for Outstanding
Achievement in Philosophy and Social Science of China.
Xu Bin is professor in the Department of History, Wuhan University. His
areas of interest include the regional history of the Yangtze basin, eco-
nomic history, and social history. His books include Lineage and local
society in eastern Hubei in Ming- Qing and Institutions, economics and
society: Fisheries, fisherfolk and waterborne society in Hubei and Hunan in
Ming- Qing.
zhang Kan is professor and chair of the Department of History, Xiamen
University. His research interests are in the history of modern China and
historical anthropology.
zhao Shiyu, PhD in literature, is professor of history at Peking University.
His research is in Ming-Q ing history, regional history, and historical
anthropology. His recent works include Time in space: From regional his-
tory to historical anthropology (2017) and The lure of historical anthro-
pology: Towards a practical history (2020).
zheng Zhenman is Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Humanities
and Director of the Center for Research in Local Documents at Xiamen
University. His many publications include Family- lineage organization and
social change in Ming- Qing Fujian (1992; English edition 2002); State and
lineage: Traditional society in Fujian and Taiwan from multiple perspectives
(2009), and Epigraphical materials on the history of religion in Fujian (series
2003– present).
