Research On Yao Xiguang's "Lian Wan Cun Tablet"

In the late Qing Dynasty,people lived in sore poverty in Wanjiang area of Anhui Province,where disasters occurred frequently.Under the influence of western commodity economy,Anhui local ethos has also changed from tradition.Yao Xiguang,an educator and military thinker who was keen to reform,was transferred to Shidai,Huaining,and Hezhou in Anhui Province for two years as local officials.Official Documents in Governing Anhui Province is a compilation of political documents during Yao Xiguang’s tenure from 1899 to 1901.And the book is based on the official day-to-day documents.The main types of documents related to the administrative affairs,judicial cases and many other aspects.,such as claims,letters,judgments,etc.It can be seen from the specific contents of the document that Yao Xiguang has taken forward-looking and pioneering measures in the fields of education,agriculture,disputes of religious believers and citizen,villager military training,flood management and so on when facing the problems of government affairs.Through the research on the dynamic circulation of documents,we can see the diversity of fund-raising when Yao Xiguang provided disaster relief and villager military training.In addition to the government intervention,the gentry at home and abroad is also an indispensable backbone.Yao Xiguang’s innovation and due diligence have strengthened the government’s control over disaster relief and villager military training.However,due to financial and manpower constraints,the implementation of official documents is often not guaranteed.As a compilation of the first-line administrative documents,Official Documents in Governing Anhui Province not only shows the characteristics of Yao Xiguang’s writing which combine the reason and sense,literary and quality,but also a typical teaching material for future generations to learn.Although Yao Xiguang’s idea of governance is limited and difficult due to corruption of officials and one-man government,his outstanding qualities such as going deep into the common people,expanding communication channels between officials and people,and quality of integrity and self-discipline are worth studying by modern officials.