A Study Of Fighting With Weapons In Zhangzhou Prefecture In The Qing Dynasty

This so-called fighting with weapons, nongovernmental fighting(Including two or more people), is a way that people use violence to resolve interpersonal conflicts in the Ming and Qing dynasties.The earliest account of fighting with weapons in Zhangzhou prefecture(漳州府)can be traced back to Yongle(永乐) period. After then the experience of social disorder, development of clans and the decline of overseas trade in the late Ming and early Qing, making the folkway of this place fierce, even fighting with weapons sometime.To the Qing Dynasty, fights intensified, seriously affecting the local stability, by the ruler's attention.We can get information from the data.Fighting in Zhangzhou prefecture, registers as fighting between clans, from neighborhood friction in Kangxi(康熙) and Yongzheng(雍正) period, clan confrontation in Qianglong(乾隆) and Jiaqing(嘉庆) period, to large-scale military confrontation with their respective clubs in Daoguang(道光) and Xianfeng(咸丰) period.In general, Fighting in Zhangzhou Prefecture starts from dispute between neighborhood or village,for example: quarrelling for trivia, financial disputes, seizing resource, local hegemony, as well as possession of geomantic place. Besides these disputes, fighting has its root causes ,that is natural and social environments in Zhangzhou Prefecture: the geographical environment nears mountains and sea, agriculture is extremely dependent on the water, the population grows, clan is powerful, officials are corrupt , business structure is single, folk custom is violent, food supply is unstable,imperial government′s control is weak.All of above results in such an environment:the local society is instable, and becomes the breeding ground for fights.Fighting, often relates to a variety of social relations,besides the main members of the general group, there are vagrants, local gentry , clubs and other forces. Fighting expends not only labor-intensive, but also resources in production and in life ,and damages the normal local order. So fighting becomes great concern of potentate. In order to efficiently deal with fighting with weapons, the Government has taken appropriate measures, mainly reflected in the emphasis on indoctrination and monitoring,adjustment of administrative divisions . However, the local community are also spontaneously re-integration after fighting.Fights has got no inhibition, but even more prevalence, leading the authority is challenged at the local community, and decline.