The Research On The Charitable Ferry In Hunan Province And Local Society In The Late Qing Dynasty

Hunan,with a lot of rivers,has a developed water system.While river crisscross provids sufficient water resources for the people,it also hinders cross-strait traffic between the two sides.Bridges and crossings are the most effective way to solve this traffic obstruction.Compared with the limitation of bridge technology,financial and environmental constraints,ferry crossing is a more convenient and feasible measure.Charitable ferry,a non-profit convenient ferry,plays an important role in people crossing rivers.In the late Qing Dynasty,due to the influence of natural and social conditions,it urged local governments to set up charitable ferry to protect people’s livelihood.In Hunan Province,the river network is densely distributed.In addition,because of the rainy season concentrated and the river overflowing,people’s travel is hindered,and there are many inconveniences.Although there are official ferries in the local area,there are many disadvantages in the local official ferries in the Qing Dynasty.The private ferries are not good for the people’s livelihood,while the local elites are deeply influenced by the traditional benevolence,coupled with the local social reform,the charitable ferry has mushroomed and flourished.According to the main body of establishment and management,charitable ferry can be divided into two parts in Hunan Province in the late Qing Dynasty: the official establishment and the people’s establishment.The official establishment of charitable ferry is a non-profit ferry which is directly participated by the officials or presided over by the official supervising gentry office.The people’s establishment includes the non-profit service ferry which is jointly built by the local gentry,the Jiefu and the local people in the county.To build charitable ferry for the benefit of the people,the operation management of charitable ferry is also required to be detailed and detailed to ensure the safety of ferry production,which is mainly divided into three aspects: First,operation management,including ferry construction,the charitable ferry operation and organizational construction;and second,asset management,asset raising in the early stage,land property management,industrial maintenance and property flow;The third is personnel management,including principal management and boat management.Through a comprehensive review of the operation and management of the charitable ferry in Hunan Province in the late Qing Dynasty,we can have a comprehensive and direct understanding of the charitable ferry’s structure and the role it plays.Throughout the development process and operation situation of charitable ferry in Hunan Province in the late Qing Dynasty,the overall trend was increasing,which was the result of the development of The Times and social reform,the performance of local social and economic development,and the inevitable result of the development of civil society.As a local infrastructure dominated by local gentry and under the macro-supervision of the government,charitable ferry has fully demonstrated the interactive relationship between the local government and the elite group in the process of construction and management.At the same time,as a local infrastructure,charitable ferry also shows certain local cultural characteristics and folk customs.Through charitable ferry,we would glimpse of local society,the interaction between the official and folk,traditional society in the state and society,government and private,unity between officials and gentry,more clearly understand the relationship between state and society.We need to know more about the dynamic interaction between the state and the local society from the perspective of their interaction.