Study On Folk Characters And Transcriptions Of Beijing Contract Documents From Qing Dynasty To Republican Period Of China

The aim of the thesis is to systematically research the folk characters and conduct textual criticism on the transcriptions of the Beijing contract documents.These documents dated from the Qing Dynasty to the Republican Period of China are compiled in the book The Collection of Beijing Commercial Documents(1636-1949)and the book Traditional Chinese Contracts and Related Documents from the Tian Collection(1408-1969).Five sections are included in the paper: Introduction,three chapters and conclusion.The introductory part outlines the current status,significance,research contents and methods of the study.Chapter 1 introduces the two books previously mentioned,the types of the Beijing contract documents,and the definition of folk characters.Chapter 2 categorizes the pre-collected folk characters into six types and generalizes their features.Chapter 3 records the textual criticism on the transcriptions of the Beijing contract documents,discusses its errors,omissions and feasible resolutions of the problems in the transcriptions.The conclusive part summarizes the basic view point,originality and deficiency of the paper.The synopsis of the folk characters are appended for reference.