Research On The Existence And Abolition Of Tumu In Northwest Guizhou In Qing Dynasty From The Perspective Of Grassroots Social Governance

Tumu,as the assistant officer of the chieftain,is an important part of the chieftain system.In the process of bureaucratization of native officers in northwest Guizhou,the chieftain relied on the power of the tumu,so that the Ming government could not solve the chieftain problem once and for all.On the 3rd year of Kangxi’s reign of Qing Dynasty,the Qing government reformed chieftain in northwestern Guizhou by force,abolished the chieftain,and sent officials.However,the tumu was not abolished together with the chieftain.Based on the needs of grass-roots social governance,the tumu was appointed as unofficial official to assist the government officials to manage the grass-roots society.At the beginning of reforming the chieftain,government officials took advantage of the management system of the management system in Central Plain to transform the local society and at the same time intervene in local social disputes,trying to establish authority in the area of reforming the chieftain and win the recognition of local ethnic minorities.After the reforming the chieftain,the tumu still occupied a large amount of land in the grass-roots society,and the people at the grass-roots level became the household slaves or tenants of the tumu,paid land rent in kind to the tumu,and performed unpaid labor,forming a strong personal attachment.In the mid-Qing Dynasty,the people gradually recognized the authority of the government officials who tried to use the national laws to protect their own rights and interests,and then counterbalance with the authority of the tumu,So there were disputes between the tumu and their slaves or tenants.While punishing domestic slaves,the government officials weakened the power of the the tumu through a series of regulations.However,the gentry class had not yet formed at this time,which determined that there would be conflicts as well as compromises between the government officials and the tumu.In the middle and late Qing Dynasty,the development of the economy gave birth to a class of landlords,and the transfer of land ownership shook the economic foundation on which the tumu depended for survival.The development of school education led to the rise of the gentry class,and the gentry began to participate in grass-roots social affairs.Establishment of grass-roots management system further strengthened the government’s control over the grass-roots society.The tumu forces were squeezed by various forces in the grassroots society.In order to break through this predicament,some Tumu actively studied Confucian culture,entered official careers,and carried out self-transformation of their identities.However,the peasant uprising in Xianfeng and Tongzhi years had a strong impact on the tumu forces.Since then,the overall power of the tumu gradually declined.From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the Republic of China,the tumu of the traditional family became the target of encroachment by feudal landlords and emerging new "tumu",which further accelerated the demise of the tumu.In the late period of the Republic of China,only a few powerful the tumu existed.After the founding of People’s Republic of China,the tumu in northwestern Guizhou completely perished.During this process,the local society gradually established the integration of politics,economy and culture with the country,and realized the complete completion of the reforming the chieftain under the overall system.