Marginal People and New Regime:The Making of Fujian Lan Li Family during Early Qing Dynasty
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Lin, Rong-Sheng
Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between Ming-Qing transition and local societies, including the incorporation of southeastern coast of China into the ruling order of Qing dynasty and the making of local lineage organization during political turmoil. The case study of the Lan Li family in Zhangpu, Fujian contributes to our new understanding of the operation of state institutions and local peoples’ survival strategies in southeastern coast of China during the Ming-Qing transition period. In terms of methodology and materials, in addition to the interpretation of elite literature, the thesis focuses more on field research. Through fieldwork, not only can we collect unpublished local materials, such as genealogy, stone inscriptions and literati collections, we can also reconsider the historical significance of these materials in the field. The findings of the thesis are as follows. First, the pirate raids along the Zhangpu coasts since mid-Ming gravely undermined Ming’s rule in local societies, and at this time, “defense against pirates” became an official statement that hastened people’s building fortifications for self-defense. In fact, behind the fortification and militarization in this area, there were also the conflicting factors such as resource competitions and internal contradictions among local peoples. The background was that peoples along the coasts offered their military force as bargaining chips for survival to seek cooperation with the Qing Regime as Qing conquered southeastern coast of China. Second, during the confrontation between Qing and Koxinga, the Qing Regime actively implemented the policy of pacification, which on the one hand became a good incentive for local peoples to collaborate and on the other hand achieved the actual effects of enlisting local armed groups. Lan Li and his co-interest groups joined the Qing navy under the policy of pacification, and with the awarding institutions for their military feats, they laid the very foundation of their pseudo-family in Zhangpu. Third, in accordance with the tax reform of “allocating tax households to clans” in Fujian in early Qing, Lan Li renovated the ancestral hall, “Jade-growing Hall,” to establish an institutionalized lineage organization so as to compete with their long-term local competitor: the Wang family in Hengko. Finally, through layers of genealogy and literary works, Lan Dingyuan and his “clansmen” fabricated a collective identity with Jade-growing Hall as its symbol and enlarged the definition of Lan clan. Such discourse of textual construction has been practiced till present day and has incorporated the ethnic identification of the minority She people.
Subjects
Lan Li
fictive kinship
lineage organization
local militarization
historical anthropology
SDGs
Type
thesis
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