Ordering the world : Qi Biaojia and the public management in late Ming Shaoxing = 燮理天下 : 祁彪佳與晚明紹興的公共管理

Abstract

In this dissertation, I argue the significance of Confucian teachings of ethics, propriety and rituals (lijiao) on political order in traditional China by systematically analyzing the evidential studies on the terms of Jürgen Habermas’s “bourgeois public sphere” and “civil society” applied in Chinese history. Based on the works by Qi Biaojia (1603-1645) and a number of primary materials of the late Ming dynasty, discussion includes an analysis of the social processes in Shaoxing during the disaster-and famine-hit late Ming period, particularly Qi Biaojia’s role in disaster relief. I attempt to use the concept of patriarchy as a methodological tool to highlight the distinctive features of Chinese society, particularly the Confucian li, as the basic element used to establish social control and enforce the moral order, having some significance for the study of public management in modern Chinese history. The dissertation comprises three chapters. Chapter One details a comprehensive study of the metabolic progress of lijiao in mid-late Ming Shaoxing. By exploring the tradition of the Qi family in Shanyin county, as well as Qi Chenghan’s (1563-1628) exemplary teaching, I argue that the family is of great importance to the cultivation of Qi Biaojia. Also, learning and discussion meetings (jianghui) flourishing in late-Ming Shaoxing play a central role in communicating Confucianism to the literati community. An analysis of the stage of Qi Biaojia’s unofficial public management during 1636-1639 is also offered. Chapter Two focuses on the process of disaster relief from 1640 to 1642. By discussing the process of formation and the operation of the rescue team, I argue that the team is like an extended family, with Qi Biaojia as the leader. In addition, I examine the drought of 1641 in Tianyue subdistrict, Shanyin county as a case study of relief activities below county level. I also explore how Qi Biaojia’s paternalistic management ideas contribute to the grand work, A Complete Collection of Famine Relief (jiuhuangquanshu), which is a product of the process. Chapter Three turns to the discussion of the definition of “li-ruled public management”. By exploring the similarities and differences in collective actions that exist among associations of six areas, I argue that environments are basic sources of uncertainty for organizations. These case studies provide a panoramic view of late-Ming China’s social and political landscape reshaped by collective actions in disaster relief. Taken together, I seeks to revitalize the concept of patriarchy by proposing a new theory named “li-ruled public management” , as well as discussing its foundations, rules of operation, characteristics and application prospect. The appendix examines the struggle over the Jute Creek Embankment (Maxi ba) in Tianyue subdistrict, which offers a detailed interpretation of “de-democratization” in a so-called “new political régime”. An analysis of the episode provides considerable insight into the value of Confucian tradition and its development dilemma in a weak state and a strong statist discourse.