Empire and Identity in Quizhou: Local Resistance to Qing Expansion

7/27/2019 Empire and Identity in Quizhou: Local Resistance to Qing Expansion

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EMPIRE& IDENTIT Y IN GUIZHOULocal Resistance to Qing Expansion

J O D I L . W E I N S T E I N


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Stevan Harrell, Editor


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Cultural Encounters on Chinas Ethnic Frontiers,

edited by Stevan Harrell

Guest People: Hakka Identity in China and Abroad,

edited by Nicole Constable

Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China,

by Jonathan N. Lipman

Lessons in Being Chinese: Minority Education

and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China,

by Mette Halskov Hansen

Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power

in Late Qing and Early Republican China, ,

by Edward J. M. Rhoads

Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China,

by Stevan Harrell

Governing Chinas Multiethnic Frontiers,

edited by Morris Rossabi

On the Margins of ibet: Cultural Survival on the Sino-ibetan Frontier,

by shild Kols and Monika P. Towsen

Te Art of Ethnography: A Chinese Miao Album,

translation by David M. Deal and Laura Hostetler

Doing Business in Rural China: Liangshans New Ethnic Entrepreneurs,

by Tomas Heberer

Communist Multiculturalism: Ethnic Revival in Southwest China,

bySusan K. McCarthy

Religious Revival in the ibetan Borderlands: Te Premi of Southwest China,

by Koen Wellens

In the Land of the Eastern Queendom:

Te Politics of Gender and Ethnicity on the Sino-ibetan Border,

by enzin Jinba

Empire and Identity in Guizhou: Local Resistance to Qing Expansion,

by Jodi L. Weinstein

Chinas New Socialist Countryside: Modernity Arrives in the Nu River Valley,

by Russell Harwood


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Empire and Identity in Guizhou

Local Resistance to Qing Expansion

.

/


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Publication o this book was supported by a generous grant rom

the Association or Asian Studies First Book Subvention Program.

2014 by the University o Washington Press

Printed and bound in the United States o America

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All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced

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retrieval system, without permission in writing rom the publisher.

University o Washington PressPO Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145, USA

www.washington.edu/uwpress

Library o Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weinstein, Jodi L.

Empire and Identity in Guizhou : local resistance to Qing expansion /

Jodi L. Weinstein. 1st edition

p.cm. (Studies on Ethnic Groups in China)

Includes bibliographical reerences and index. 978-0-295-99326-3 (hardback : alk. paper);

978-0-295-99327-0 (paperback : alk. paper)

1. Bouyei (Chinese people)ChinaGuizhou ShengHistory18th century.

2. Guizhou Sheng (China)Ethnic relationsHistory18th century.

I. itle.II. itle: Local resistance to Qing expansion.

793.84442014

951'.3400495919dc232013020635

Te paper used in this publication is acid-ree and meets the minimum requirements

o American National Standard or Inormation SciencesPermanence o Paper or

Printed Library Materials, 39.481984.


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Foreword by Stevan Harrellvii

Acknowledgments xi

Maps xiv

1 / Guizhou and the Livelihoods Approach to Zhongjia History 3

2 / Natural, Human, and Historical Landscapes 11

3 / Te Consolidation of Qing Rule 37

4 / Livelihood Choices in the Mid-Eighteenth Century 59

5 / Te Nanlong Uprising of 83

6 / A Legacy of Fragile Hegemony 119

Notes 135

Chinese Glossary 179

Bibliography 185

Index 201


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vii

An old Chinese saying goes, Tose on top have policies; those belowhave counterstrategies (Shang you zhengce, xia you duice). Tis adage

sums up several millennia o relationships between East Asian imperialregimes, which ruled rom the productive and powerul center in China,and their poorer, less powerul subjects living in the borderlands. It is stilltrue in the twenty-rst century: the Peoples Republic tries to consoli-date its control over its border regions and solidiy the loyalty o borderpeoples to the regime, while border peoples (now called shaoshu minzu, orminority nationalities) deal with the states efforts in various ways. Teydo not always resist or always accommodate, but they act strategically,

joining in when it appears advantageous or when they have no choice, butresisting when it appears intolerable not to. Since the regime they dealwithassumes itsel to be morally as well as economically and materiallystronger, peoples on the periphery ace the prospect not just o beingruled, but o being absorbed into the more civilized culture and polityo the center.

Tis kind o relationship is not new. Te last empire with an actual

emperor, the Qing (16441911), was not even ruled by ethnic Chinese, butrather by Manchus, originally a peripheral people rom the northeast. Butin its southwestern domains, the Qing, like its predecessors, assumed themoral superiority o the center and attempted to balance the advantages


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vi ii /Foreword

o letting peripheral peoples be, against the costs o trying to consolidatetheir control and assure the peripheral peoples loyalties.

One o the peripheral peoples the Qing regime had considerable trou-

ble controlling were the Zhongjia, a ai-speaking group o Guizhou, nowincorporated into the Buyi or Bouyei minzu, or nationality. Well beorethe Qing, the Zhongjia were ormulating counterstrategies as both Chi-nese immigration and imperial policy impinged on their livelihoods andsocial structures. By the time Jodi Weinsteins narrative begins, in themid-Qing, the Zhongjia were practicing the amiliar mix o going alongand joining the civilization with resisting and deending their local auton-omy and their own livelihoods.

Weinstein tells the story o the counterstrategies o the Zhongjia inthe eighteenth century. She begins with the history o Qing attempts toconsolidate their rule, switching rom indirect rule through native leadersto direct rule by appointed magistrates. She then gives us a rich accounto how some Zhongjia resisted, indirectly through schemes o trickeryand evasion and more directly through rebellion, in the Nanlong area in1797. Importantly, though, not all Zhongjia resisted, and not all resistance

was direct conrontation, let alone military conrontation.Tis story points out to us, in clear and lively ashion, how little has

changed even as so much has changed. Te Peoples Republic is orders omagnitude more powerul than the Qing state; it can deploy not onlyorce but also persuasion much more pervasively than could its Qing pre-decessor. But it still aces the same problems, and peoples o the border-lands buy in when they see it as advantageous or resist when they see it asnecessary.

Tis story is also important or another reason. Te state narrative othe Peoples Republic stresses that the Qing was a Chinese regime, anearlier version o themselves. Tat the rulers were Manchus is o littleimport in this telling o history; Manchus were then and are now one othe many groups that makes up the Chinese nation. Tis state narrativehas been strongly challenged by advocates o the New Qing History,who are much more inclined to see the Qing as a multinational empire

than they are to see it as a Chinese nation that happened to be ruled by amonarch in sumptuous robes instead o by a committee o bureaucrats indark, pinstriped suits and red neckties. But Weinsteins book tells a morecomplex story: the Qing emperor and the twenty-rst-century bureau-


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Foreword/ ix

crats were acing the same problems: ethnic and cultural difference com-bined with unequal power leading to the disinclination o ruled people tosubmit uncritically, but leaving open to them various strategies o accom-

modation and resistance.Finally, the book is noteworthy because it introduces another historicalnarrative alongside those coming rom the center and rom outside critics:the narrative o the Zhongjia themselves. As Weinstein examines the di-erent stories o the rebellion coming rom the offi cial Qing history andthe oral history collected rom the rebels descendants, we see clearly thatnot only are policies rom above opposed by counterstrategies rom below,but also historical narratives rom above are countered by different stories

rom below. Weinsteins sensitive and multiaceted account o one smallcorner o Guizhou in the eighteenth century helps us, in the words oPrasenjit Duara, rescue history rom the nation.

June 2013


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xi

In the many years since I started this project, I have beneted rom theadvice, wisdom, and encouragement o many people, and it is now my

pleasure to acknowledge them. First, I must thank Beatrice S. Bartlett ordrawing me into the world o eighteenth-century China and inspiring meto explore the uncharted landscapes o Guizhou. Tanks are also due toJonathan Spence, James C. Scott, John Faragher, Annping Chin, and Jona-than Lipman, whose work inspired many o the theories examined here,and to the late Hugh Stimson or his instruction in literary Chinese.

Tis book would not have been possible without support and encour-agement rom my students and colleagues in the Department o Historyat the College o New Jersey. I wish to express my gratitude to the depart-ment chair, Proessor Celia Chazelle, or creating such a welcoming placeto teach. I also wish to thank the current and ormer students who havecontributed to this book in more ways than they can image. I hope theywill enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed crafing it. I am especiallygrateul to Proessor Daniel Crofs or his comments on successive drafso the manuscript, and or our many ruitul conversations about Gui-

zhou history. Proessor Cynthia Paces also offered much encouragementduring the nal weeks o revision and pointed me toward a ne cartogra-pher in Bill Nelson. Special thanks must also go to Megan avares or herassistance with the technical aspects o manuscript and CD preparation,


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xi i /Acknowledgments

and to the staff at the CNJ Library or accommodating my numerousinterlibrary loan requests.

My research received generous unding rom a variety o sources. Te

Yale Council on International Studies provided a grant to support researchin Yunnan and Guizhou. Grants rom the Yale Council on East AsianStudies and an Enders Grant rom the Yale Graduate School o Arts andSciences nanced my research in aiwans Palace Museum. A FulbrightGrant administered through the Institute o International Education sup-ported eleven months o research in Beijing and Guizhou. In subsequentyears, I received support rom the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation androm an East Asian Studies Prize Fellowship provided by the Yale Council

on East Asian Studies. I wish to thank all those who reviewed my workand awarded these grants. Special thanks must also go to James Millwardand Robert Jenks or commenting on my East Asian Studies Prize Fellow-ship proposal, and to Abbey Newman or administering the grant. Inaddition, I wish to record my gratitude to the Association or Asian Stud-ies or providing a subvention to support the publication o this book.

I am also indebted to a number o people in China and aiwan or their

assistance. In Kunming, I received a warm welcome and much supportrom Proessor Lin Chaomin o the Yunnan University History Depart-ment and his students. My research at the aipei Palace Museum wasgreatly acilitated by museum director, Chin Hsiao-i, the library directorWang Ching-hung, Chuang Chi-a, and the entire library staff. In Beijing,I received guidance rom Proessor Cheng Chongde o the Institute oQing Studies at Peoples University. Also in Beijing, Zhu Shuyuan, Li Jing,and other members o the staff at the Number One Historical Archivesoffered advice and assistance. Proessor Zhou Guoyan o the CentralMinorities University in Beijing provided many hard-to-nd books andjournals on the Buyi ethnic group. I am also grateul to Dan St. Rossy,ormerly o the Education Section at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, or hislogistical support and hospitality. In Guiyang, Proessor Weng Jialie o theGuizhou Minority Nationalities Research Institute supplied backgroundinormation on the history o that province and opened his home to me.

Invaluable help and support also came rom Proessor Yang Shaoxin othe History Department at Guizhou Normal University, rom his studentLi Yuanpeng, who served as my tireless guide on the long trip rom Gui-


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Acknowledgments/ xii i

yang to Xingyi and back, and rom the staff o the rare books collection atthe Guizhou Provincial Library.

Over the years, Yong Xue, Shou-chih Yan, Jacob Whittaker, Charles

McKhann, James Z. Lee, John Herman, David Bello, C. Patterson Giersch,David Atwill, Jean Michaud, Sarah urner, Christine Bonnin, John Kelley,Candice Cornet, and Kenneth Pomeranz have all offered suggestions onthe work in progress. Yu Luos many insights on Buyi history, culture, andreligion proved invaluable throughout the revision process, as did Bea-trice Kwoks comments on early drafs o Chapters 2 and 5. I am alsograteul to Alice Davenport or her careul copyediting and her manyhelpul suggestions, and to Roberta Engleman or her expert work in com-

piling the index. Finally, I thank Lorri Hagman, Stevan Harrell, Marilynrueblood, Jacqueline Volin, Beth Fuget, Rachael Levay, and im Zimmer-mann o the University o Washington Press or their condence in mywork and or their detailed eedback and patient guidance throughout thereview, revision, and production process.

Tis work would not have been possible without my amily and riends.My husband, Rob Barrish, has traveled this long journey alongside me with

patience, good humor, and kindness, cheering me on when I needed itmost. My parents, Stephen and Felice Weinstein, have also offered unag-ging support, and I am thankul to them or instilling in me a lielongdesire to read, learn, and explore the world. Warm encouragement alsocame rom my in-laws, Gil and Lois Barrish, rom my brothers and sisters-in-law, rom Dr. Eliana Perrin and her amily, and rom my training part-ners on the Jersey Area and Princeton Area Masters swim teams. My cats,Cougar and Ketzel, bemusedly observed the entire endeavor. o all, I amgrateul.


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1. Guizhous location in China and eighteenth-century administrativedivisions within Guizhou


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2. Guizhous location in the Southeast Asian Massi


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3. Distribution o the Zhongjia (Buyi) and Nong (Northern Zhuang)


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Empire and Identity in Guizhou


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3

Chapter

Chinas imperial offi cials seldom had anything positive to say about Gui-zhou province. In his account rom the mid-eighteenth century, Guizhou

governor Aibida offered this blunt analysis o the regions harsh terrain,limited economic prospects, and unruly non-Chinese inhabitants:

Te [Guizhou] countryside is gloomy and impenetrable. Heavy rains are

requent. Te elds must be terraced [because] the soil is stony. Slash and

burn agriculture prevails. Te paddies and marshes yield no abundance,

and the mulberry trees and hemp do not yield much prot. Te annual tax

revenue does not equal that o a large county in China Proper (neidi). . . .

Miao, Zhong, Ge, Luo, Yao, and Zhuang tribes swarm like bees and ants.

Many o them still believe in ghosts and spirits. Tey are addicted to vio-

lence, whether it be major retaliatory attacks or smaller acts o banditry

and plunder. Tey are easy to incite and diffi cult to paciy. As a result, it is

not easy or the imperia l court to nd steadast and competent local offi -

cials. Tose who are appointed place little importance on their positions.

Tey disdain and neglect Yi barbarians and Han alike. Tey are dissolute

and let matters drif; nothing is o consequence to them. In this way, poi-son brews and becomes thick. Once released, it cannot be stopped. . . .

Tus it is that no benet can be derived rom Guizhou.


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4 /Guizhou and Zhongjia History

Aibidas pessimistic assessment obscured a undamental reality. Teimperial ambitions o Chinas last dynasty, the Qing (16441911) extendedto Guizhou and beyond. However much government offi cials disdained

this remote corner o southwestern China, they had to create some sem-blance o order there. During the eighteenth century, the Qing drive orexpansion, centralization, and social stability encountered a tenaciouseffort by Guizhous local residents to deend their autonomy and liveli-hoods. Tis book investigates the resulting tensions in three contiguouspreectures (fu), Guiyang, Nanlong, and Anshun, during the period rom1725 to 1797.

Although this study strives to create a panoramic view o all three pre-

ectures, its ocus is most ofen limited to Zhongjia ethnic communities inNanlong and Guiyang. A ai-speaking people concentrated in central andsouthern Guizhou, the Zhongjia are now called the Buyi (also spelledBouyei in the Peoples Republic o China) []).oday, the Buyi are oneo the lesser-known ethnic minorities (shaoshu minzu) in Guizhou, atleast relative to such groups as the Yi, the Miao, or the Dong, but this quietexistence in contemporary China belies an eventul past. Troughout the

eighteenth century, Zhongjia communities and individuals challengedthe imperial enterprise in Guizhou with striking regularity and creativity.Indeed, two major Zhongjia clashes with Qing authority provide both thestarting point and the endpoint or the narrative in this book, as well asmany o the intervening episodes. At one end o the time rame are thereorms implemented in southwestern China during the reign o the thirdQing emperor, Yongzheng (r. 172335). In an effort to exert greater controlover non-Han communities in Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan, andSichuan, the central government implemented a program known asreorming the native and returning to the regular (gaitu guiliu).Underthis policy, Qing offi cials used a combination o moral suasion and mili-tary orce to depose hereditary native rulers (tusi) and incorporate theirdomains into regular administrative units. Te ultimate goal was to bringhitherto autonomous communities under direct imperial rule and trans-orm non-Han peoples into law-abiding Qing subjects.

Long considered the most intractable o Guizhous non-Han popula-tions, the Zhongjia became the rst targets o this campaign. In 1725,Zhongjia communities in the Guiyang region served as the provingground or the earliest prototypes o the Yongzheng-era initiatives.


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Guizhou and Zhongjia History/ 5

Reorms in the Nanlong region ollowed two years later. Many Zhongjiaacquiesced to the new order and settled into quiet lives centering on agri-culture, textile production, and small-scale commerce.More enterprising

individuals developed illicit business ventures that mixed local religiousbelies with anti-dynastic slogans and millenarian rhetoric. Tese schemessent a clear signal that the states presence was not altogether welcome inthe Zhongjia heartland, and that Qing priorities were seldom compatiblewith the needs and values o local residents. In 1797, a hal-century osporadic unrest culminated in ull-scale rebellion when Zhongjia insur-gents rom Nanlong laid siege to every major town in central and south-western Guizhou. Tis book provides the rst Western-language account

o this rebellion, which Chinese historians usually call the NanlongUprising.

Te purpose o this study, then, is twoold. One goal is to introduce theZhongjia to a wider readership and illuminate their role in the history olate imperial China. A related goal is to show how members o this ethnicgroup created viable livelihoods and maintained their identity whilenegotiating the imperial states plans or standardization and centraliza-

tion. My understanding o livelihoods draws inspiration rom JeanMichaud and his colleagues in anthropology and human geography. Itencompasses not only the activities that people use to make a living, butalso the social, ethnic, and religious resources at their disposal, and thedecisions they make in view o local conditions and external orces.Anexploration o livelihoods can reveal the unexpected ways in which peo-ple on the margins do not just get onboard and accept . . . modernizationbut, rather, use their agency to maintain direction over their lives and

livelihoods despite current and ar-reaching changes to economic condi-tions and political authority.

Tus ar, the livelihoods approach has mostly been applied to twenty-rst-century communities in the Southeast Asian Massi, an area denedas the highlands o all the countries sharing a large chunk o the south-east Asian portion o the Asian land mass. Tese lie roughly east o thelower Brahmaptura River, in India and Bangladesh, and south o the

Yangzi River in China, all the way to the Isthmus o Kra at its south-ernmost extension.Tis is the same region that James Scott denes asZomia, a reuge or stateless people and populations seeking reuge romsurrounding civilizations.Michaud and other scholars engaged in live-


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lihoods research seek to expand on Scotts analysis with a more renedreection rom the ground up and a more dynamic understanding o therelationships between (marginal) local subjects, (global) market orces,

and (national) states.

Christine Bonnin and Sarah urner have shown, or example, howHmong and Yao armers in northern Vietnam resist or selectively imple-ment Hanois attempts to project modernity into their communities. Inrecent years, the Vietnamese government has sought to increase grainproduction by introducing hybrid rice and maize varieties to uplandareas. Although the new strains yield larger crops, Hmong and Yao villag-ers ofen reject them in avor o indigenous varieties that produce superior

rice, both as a ood product and as material or distilling alcohol. Villagersacknowledge that the new seeds might be more protable, but local tastesand cultural preerences clearly outweigh economic considerations. More-over, amilies with land to spare use it not to plant hybrid rice and sell thesurplus, but instead to continue planting the indigenous varieties. Lesswell-off armers purchase or barter small quantities o the traditional rice,especially or ritual purposes. In this way, a lively inormal trade in indig-

enous rice ourishes beyond the connes o the state-directed marketeconomy.

In this book, I suggest that the livelihoods approach can be applied tohistorical settings as well as modern ones. It offers a particularly ruitulway to examine Zhongjia interactions with the Qing state. Te Zhongjiaheartland is, afer all, located on the northeastern edge o the SoutheastAsian Massi. Its eighteenth-century inhabitants conronted many o thesame ecological and economic challenges now acing modern-day inhab-

itants o China, Vietnam, and Laos, and they responded to these chal-lenges in similar ways. Like the Hmong, the Yao, and many other com-munities living in the Massi today, the Zhongjia did not submituncritically to state demands. Tey weighed all o their options and madelivelihood choices that best suited their immediate needs and accordedwith their understanding o the world.

In order to provide a ull understanding o Zhongjia livelihood choices,

I seek to give equal voice to imperial and indigenous perspectives on theevents described in this book. Te Qing states perspective is easy to locateand analyze, thanks to the abundance o archival sources and other offi -cial and semi-offi cial writings. It is more diffi cult to nd indigenous


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voices. Unlike other non-Han groups in southwestern China such as theNasu Yi and the ai, the Zhongjia did not maintain written records otheir encounters with Chinas rulers.Tey did, however, cultivate a rich

oral tradition to preserve and transmit memories o important events.Tis study utilizes Chinese translations o Zhongjia poems and olksongs, treating them less as accurate historical records than as selectivehistorical memories, or a way communities have chosen to perceive andremember their past.Although the Zhongjia did not commit historicalevents to writing, they did use modied Chinese characters to producereligious texts such as creation stories, prayers or the souls o the dead,entreaties to various spirits, and incantations to dispel evil and bring

good ortune.Many o these scriptures are available in Chinese trans-lation, and a ew have been published in English.Troughout this book,I use some o these texts as a window on the belies and rituals that shapedZhongjia worldviews and inormed their livelihood choices. When indig-enous sources are unavailable, I ollow the advice o James Scott and PeterPerdue and read against the grain to glean local voices rom offi cial Qingdocuments.

Te sources reveal a complex dynamic between state entities and localresidents. Despite its sophisticated bureaucracy and technologicallyadvanced armies, the Qing could never claim a total monopoly on politi-cal or cultural space in the Zhongjia heartland. Even afer the gaitu guiliureorms o the Yongzheng reign, regular administrative rule was largelyconned to preectural seats and a ew smaller administrative centers.Much o the countryside remained under the control o indigenous land-lords who, though nominally subordinate to the provincial bureaucracy,

nevertheless enjoyed considerable autonomy in day-to-day affairs. Equallyimportant, indigenous belies, customs, and priorities did not melt awaywith the arrival o Qing offi cialdom. Imperial rule did not deprive theZhongjia o the capacity to think and act or themselvesthat is, tochoose the livelihoods they considered optimal. Local residents accepted,adapted, circumvented, or rejected state directives as they saw t.Indi-viduals could make risk-benet analyses to determine when it made sense

to ollow Qing legal and cultural norms, and when it made more sense tobend or dey them. Te decision to ollow these norms had the advantageo keeping the state at a sae distance, as Qing offi cials rarely intervened inthe affairs o law-abiding Zhongjia, but it could also mean passing up


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opportunities or social and economic mobility. Conversely, the decisionto pursue illicit activities might bring greater prosperity and an enhancedsense o autonomy, but only i plans were executed well enough to elude

detection by local authorities. I plans ailed, the masterminds and manyo their ollowers were likely to ace imprisonment or even execution.Local residents were ully cognizant o all choices and their possible con-sequences.Tey exercised the sort o agency that Sherry Ortner describesas the orms o power people have at their disposal, their ability to act ontheir own behal, inuence other people and events, and maintain somekind o control in their own lives.

Te livelihoods approach to Zhongjia history adds a new dimension

to the terrain charted by C. Patterson Giersch, John Herman, and JacobWhittaker. Gierschs work on southern Yunnan demonstrates how eigh-teenth-century Qing offi cials and ai indigenous leaders established arelationship based on mutual respect and common strategic concerns. TeQing used the ai polities as a buffer against potentially aggressive South-east Asian kingdoms, while the ai maintained some autonomy by play-ing regional powers against one another. Hermans work on the Muege

kingdom o the Nasu Yi people in northwestern Guizhou illustrates howindigenous rulers took advantage o the Ming dynastys (13681644) polit-ical and economic institutions to enhance their own power. Whittakerexamines another Nasu Yi state, the Lu-ho polity in Yunnan, to show howindigenous elites appropriated elements o Conucian culture or theirown purposes while preserving rituals and institutions that distinguishedthem rom the Chinese.

Te idea o indigenous agency is clearly at the heart o these stories, but

it resides primarilythough by no means exclusivelywith indigenouselites. Te livelihoods approach in this book ocuses on the agency ocommoners such as armers, vagabonds, disgruntled intellectuals, andsel-styled magicians. Tese people all employed the resources at theirdisposal to engage the state in a meaningul way and assert their ownsense o identity.

Tis book is organized chronologically, pursuing the twin trajectories

o Qing expansion into Guizhou and the ways in which Zhongjia liveli-hoods adapted to changing political and economic circumstances. Tediscussion begins with an overview o Guizhous natural environment,ollowed by an introduction to Zhongjia history, culture, and socioeco-


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nomic organization (chapter 2). Te next chapter describes the Qingstates gradual penetration into central and southwestern Guizhou duringthe late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Te Qing conquest

and reorms o the Kangxi period (16621722) mainly affected native elitesand did not have an immediate impact on local communities. Te socialand political landscape o the region was orever altered with the ascen-sion o the Yongzheng emperor in 1723. Te new emperor took deepoffense at what he perceived as endemic lawlessness in Guizhou and else-where in southwestern China. ogether with a coterie o trusted offi cials,he engineered a plan to make the region tractable by eliminating nativerulers and bringing local populations under direct Qing control. Among

his rst targets were Zhongjia communities in the central Guizhou regiono Dingan-Guangshun (Guiyang preecture) and the Guizhou-Guangxiborderlands (Nanlong preecture). Chapter 3 suggests that Qing reormsin these regions constituted an exercise in what James Scott calls seeinglike a statean attempt to transorm peripheral territories into more gov-ernable spaces.

Gaitu guiliuin southwestern Guizhou highlighted the imperial states

ability to create new administrative spaces and staff them with unction-aries, but it did not guarantee greater control over the human activitieswithin those spaces. During the mid-eighteenth century, Qing offi cialsound themselves conronting a series o criminal cases that underscoredthe undamental discrepancies between imperial visions or the regionand realities on the ground. Tese cases involved moneymaking schemesmasterminded by individuals whose livelihood choices made perectsense in the context o their own lives, but little sense rom the perspectiveo imperial authorities anxious to maintain the hard-won order in south-western China. Although these cases never involved armed violence, theydid eature symbolic attacks on Qing authority that hinted at the potentialor more serious unrest (chapter 4). Tese latent tensions erupted in late1796, when government troops stationed in southwestern Guizhou werecalled away to quell rebellions in other provinces. Within weeks, a localreligious leader rom Nanlong took advantage o the sudden power vac-

uum and organized a rebellion against the Qing. Spurred on by theircharismatic leaders and by supernatural belies, the rebels soon controlledall o central and southwestern Guizhou. Qing troops eventually regainedcontrol o the region, but sporadic unrest and illegal activities continued


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into the nineteenth century, an indication that local residents persisted inmaking livelihood choices that conicted with state ideals (chapter 5).

Te nal chapter (chapter 6) situates Guizhous indigenes in the Qing

vision o multicultural empire. James Millward has proposed a modelcalled Five Nations Under Heaven in which the empires ve majorethnic groupsHan, Manchu, ibetan, Mongol, and Muslimoccupyparallel positions in relation to the Qing imperial house.Conspicuouslyabsent rom this model are the indigenes o southwestern China and ai-wan. Emma eng suggests that this omission signals that the native ai-wanese were superuous to the Qing conception o great unity.Chap-ter 6 will discuss whether or not this held true or the Zhongjia as well;

and will also examine the legacy o Qing ethnic policy in contemporaryChina, with particular reerence to the livelihood choices available to theBuyi.

Empire and Identity in Quizhou: Local Resistance to Qing Expansion

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