Ming-Qing Documents

Deeds and contracts

Deeds and contracts (契約文書)

Deeds and contracts all belong to the category of private documents. Unlike other private documents such as personal diaries, letters, notebooks and etc. that were mostly produced by the literate elites, the majority of the deeds and contracts of the Late Imperial period discovered so far were produced by ordinary people for daily functional purposes, and are mostly preserved in the households as opposed to archives.

Despite a lack of reference to deeds and contracts in the legal codes, while in their incipient forms in the Han dynasty, they were already upheld and enforced by the state, by means of practice instead of in written forms. Moreover, such deeds and contracts already possess characteristics that are shared by their later counterparts: their content covered a wide range of life activities, they were used in various contexts, and their format was uniform across the empire.   

In theory, for deeds and contracts to be enforceable, after being established they need to be taken to the Yamen to be sealed with a red stamp, which indicates that the accompanied taxes had been paid in full. Those with the red stamps are called red deeds (紅契), whereas those without are called white deeds (白契).  In reality, though, the situation varied across the empire. In Sichuan, the majority of the deeds discovered so far are red ones, whereas in Fujian, most are white – such difference shows how the legal system operated differently at different places.

As for the content of deeds and contracts, many expressions are formulaic and thus should not be taken at face value. That said, in addition to legal and economic information, deeds and contracts first and foremost provide researchers with important information regarding the social relationships of the local community. After all, they were produced and used at a local level, and hence embedded in them are messages about the daily lives of the local people.       

Discovery of deeds and contracts are far from exhaustive. Each year publications on the compilation of newly-discovered deeds and contracts continue as an evolving process. The items listed as follows are simply examples of such publications, and are far from inclusive. So far, three logics of compiling the deeds and contracts are most common in their publications: organized according to the locality of discovery; organized according to the archives that preserve them; and organized according to the individual collectors. Despite that voluminous deeds and contracts have been discovered across the nation, amongst the regions, Huizhou (徽州), Qingshuijiang 清水江, Shicang 石倉, Fujian and Taiwan are the most celebrated places for preservation and collection of such documents.  

Collections of deeds

Organized According to the Locality of Discovery

Huizhou Qiannian Qiyue Wenshu 徽州千年契約文書, 清・民國編 20 vols, Shijiazhuang: Huashan Wenyi Press (1993),  宋・元 ・明編 20 vols, Shijiazhuang: Huashan Wenyi Press (1991).

These are two series of collections, 20-volume each, of the facsimiles of deeds and contracts discovered in the region of Huizhou, Anhui province. Various kinds of deeds and contracts are included, such as leasing contracts, land contracts, slave trading deeds, pawn contracts, etc.

Ming Qing Fujian Jingji Qiyue Wenshu Xuanji 明清福建經濟契約文書選輯, Beijing: Renmin Press (1997).

This collection contains more than 1700 Ming-Qing deeds and contracts of Fujian province. The deeds and contracts largely concentrate on middle, east, south and north of Fujian, while sources about west Fujian are absent. In the preface of the book, the author mentioned the difference between "red contract" and "white contract". However, a conclusion about difference between the two has not been reached. 

The Promising Land: the archaic contracts in Taiwan-Fujian region 大地之約 : 臺閩古書契 Lin Guanqun, Lin Guoliang et al. eds. Gaoxiong, Gaoxiong Shili Bowu Guan (2009).

This collection contains not only land deeds and contracts from Taiwan and Northern Fujian, but also analytical articles discussing the relationship between humans and the land. 

Taiwan minjian qiyue wenshu 臺灣民間契約文書. 1-2, Yan Lianfu comp. Beijing: Jiuzhou Press; Xiamen: Xiamen University Press (2004).

This volume of contracts from Qing and Japanese-era Taiwan is split into two sections. The first contains facsimile reprints of land contracts (visually irresistible, though not uniformly legible) from multiple counties and families, including Xinzhu, Danshui, Taizhong; the Zhonggang 中港 and Houlong 後龍 tribes of Miaoli; and the Chens of Beitou, Taibei. There are also Qing-era tax collection dockets, deposit receipts, and counterfoils. The second section contains typeset versions of land sale and mortgage contracts from the Li family of Luzhou, Taibei, spanning 1796-1904. The contracts are arranged chronologically, and have been typeset to preserve their original format.

Qingdai Ningbo Qiyue Wenshu Jijiao 清代宁波契约文书辑校, Wang Wanying eds. Tianjin: Tianji Guji Press (2008).

This collection contains deeds and contracts discovered in the Ningbo area. 

Shicang Qiyue 石倉契約. 8vols. Cao Shuji, Pan Xinghui, Que Longxing comp. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press (2011).

Shicang is the name of a village in Songyang, Zhejiang province. In this village large quantities of local documents and well as Ming-Qing architectures have been preserved intact. In this series of publications approximately 8000 deeds and contracts from Shicang are published.

Jichang Qiyue Wenshu Huibian 吉昌契约文书汇编, Sun Zhaoxia et al., comp. Beijing: Shehui Kexue Wenxian Press (2010).

This volume consists of over 400 documents ranging from 1733-1961, arranged by content and chronology, collected by a research team headed by Sun Zhaoxia of Guizhou University of Nationalities in 2009. An image of each original document is reproduced above a typeset transcription.

Guizhou qingshuijiang liuyu Ming Qing tusi qiyue wenshu (Liangzhai pian) 贵州清水江流域明清土司契约文书 (亮寨篇), Gao Cong 高聪 and Tan Hongshi 谭洪沛 eds., Beijing: Minzu chubanshe, (2014).

 

This collection contains approximately 500 deeds and contracts preserved in Jinping county, where the majority of the residents are of Miao and Dong ethnicity. It covers a time period starting from 1546, thereby providing great information as to the daily life and social organizations of the ethnic groups other than Han Chinese of Late Imperial China.

Organized according to the Archives

Chengdu longquanyi bainian qiyue wenshu 成都龍泉驛百年契約文書(1754-1949). Hu Kaiquan ed. Chengdu: Ba Shu shushe, 2012.

This collection contains 293 deeds and contracts collected in the local archive of Longquanyi, covering a time period of approximately 200 years starting from the Qianlong reign to the end of the Republic period. 

Zigong Yanye Lishi Dang'an Qiyue Juan 自貢鹽業歷史檔案 契約卷, 18 vol. Zigong City Archive comp. Fenghuang Press (2017).

This series of collection contains approximately 2500 deeds and contracts preserved in the Zigong city archive, covering a time period starting from the Kangxi Reign until 1953. The deeds and contracts provide rich information on the development of the salt industry in Zigong. HYL does not have this series of collection yet.

Qingdai Yilai Tianjin Tudi Qizheng Dang'an Xuanbian 清代以來天津土地契證檔案選編. Tianjin: Tianjin Guji Press (2006).

This collection contains 637 deeds and contracts collected by the Tinjin municipal archive, and is organized according to the categories. Collections as such help researchers to trace and understand the development of this port city in the Qing dynasty and the Republic period.   

Tōyō Bunka Kenkyūjo shozō Chūgoku tochi monjo monkuroku, kaisetsu 東洋文化硏究所所藏中國土地文書目錄・解說, 2 vols. Hamamatsu Takeshi et al. eds. Tokyo: Tokyo University (1983-86).

An introductory book about the contract and deed that Tokyo University collected. Most of them are about land contracts and tax license. 

Organized according to the Individual Collectors

Tian Cang Qiyue Wenshu Cuibian 田藏契約文書粹編 3 vols, Tian Tao, Song Gewen, Zhen Qin eds. Beijing: Zhonghua Shu Jv (2001).

A personal collection of contract and deeds. The collector, Tian Tao, selected around 950 deeds and contracts out of the 5000 or so local documents that he collected, and published them in this book. They cover a time period ranging from 1408 to 1969. 

Qingdai zhi Minguo shiqi Guihua cheng Tumote bu tudi qiyue  清代至民国时期归化城土默特部土地契约, Xiao Ke ed. Hohhot: Nei Menggu daxue chubanshe (2011).

This is a collection of land contracts from the Tümed, a Mongol subgroup living near Hohhot that was incorporated into the Qing Empire in the 17th century. Some of the contracts include signatures in Mongol (though the texts are entirely Chinese). The dates range from mid-Qianlong through to the early PRC (with the vast majority from the Jiaqing-Guangxu period), with a variety of contract types, including loans, land sales, and land rentals.

Kyo Jo Hakushi shozō shōgyō oyobi tochi keiyaku bunsho (Kantairyū bunsho) 許舒博士所藏商業及土地契約文書 (乾泰隆文書), Tōkyō : Tōkyō Daigaku Tōyō Bunka Kenkyūjo Fuzoku Tōyōgaku Bunken Sentā, (1995).

The collection of contracts by Dr. James Hayes was published in two volumes containing land contracts and business deeds that were handled through the entrepot trade shop Qiantailong in Hong Kong. The business deeds mainly include the records of shop's financial incoming and outgoings, debit and credit, remittance, tax payment, etc. The land contract collection contains information of the family's land purchasing activities in their hometown Chaozhou Prefecture and nearby regions, from 18224 to 1949. 

 

For a more up-to-date list of such publications, see:

Douban list, listing over 50 texts: http://book.douban.com/doulist/1128136/. 

Luan Chengxian, Mingqing Difang Wenshu Dang'an Yicun Shulue, 2018.

 

Online Resources

Old Deeds in Taiwan lishi shuwei tushuguan 台灣歷史數位圖書館. 臺灣大學數位人文研究中心

This database collects deeds and contracts in Taiwan from Qing to Japanese Colonial Period. The documents come from various public and private sources in Taiwan, covering northern, middle, and Southern Taiwan. Until 2015, there are over 40,000 pieces of documents in the database. The database also offers tools to analyze the locations of the documents and the names appeared in them. Analyzing names in documents help to trace the transaction of lands and properties through time.

Chūgoku Shincho Minkoku ki bunsho 中国清朝民国期文正文書 link: https://rmda.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/item/rb00019831/explanation/01

A small but intriguing collection of contracts, legal plaints, and various other documents primarily from Zhejiang, in the collection of Kyoto University Library.  The site is supremely easy to use, and the relatively small number of documents makes it a less formidable beginning prospect.  The digitizations are high quality, and can be viewed in Mirador, the same system Harvard uses for its rare materials.  The documents primarily date from Qianlong through Guangxu, but there are several from the Republic, including one government dispatch dated the first year of Hongxian 洪憲, the short-lived reign name of Yuan Shikai 袁世凱.  

Bibliography

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