Litigation, Legitimacy, and Lethal Violence Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key historical, legal, and economic terms from Thomas Buoye's lecture on litigation and property rights in 18th-century China.

Eighteenth-Century Watershed

An extended period of peace and prosperity in Chinese history where the population more than doubled, surpassing $300$ million by the end of the century.

Qianlong Reign

The period from $1736$ to $1795$ during which Thomas Buoye researched homicides related to property rights disputes.

Dian

The practice of conditional land sales where the seller retains the right to redeem the property at a later date.

Conditional Land Sales

A centuries-old practice in rural Chinese society that became a major source of social unrest and litigation in the $18\text{th}$ century.

Recalcitrant Tenants

Tenants who refused to pay rent; their actions were criminalized in $1727$ with punishments of eighty strokes with the heavy bamboo.

County Magistrate

The official at the lowest level of central government responsible for dealing directly with local disputes and homicides at the grassroots level.

Homicide as a Social Indicator

Considered the most accurately reported violent crime and a reliable indicator of real changes in social behavior and general levels of violence.

Yamen

The local administrative office and court where the county magistrate performed official duties and adjudicated lawsuits.

Huomai

A 'live' sale of land that, according to the revised Qing Code, could be redeemed by the original owner.

Juemai

An 'outright' sale of land that was considered final and non-redeemable.

Juemai yong bu huishu

A required phrase in contracts after $1756$ stating that an outright sale had no future possibility of redemption.

Zhaotie

Supplemental payments demanded by sellers for land previously sold under conditional terms.

Yamen Runners (chai)

Low-level employees of the magistrate's office who executed warrants and arrests, sometimes aggravating disputes through corruption or incompetence.

White Runner (baiyi)

An unofficial runner, as seen in the case of Lu Zaochun, who might engage in extortion and trigger further violence.

Coercive Power

The state's use of force or violence to define and enforce property rights, described by Douglass North as requiring a comparative advantage in violence.

Persuasive Power

The state's reliance on shared ideological convictions and ethical norms, such as cooperation and reciprocity, to constrain social behavior.

Third Realm of Justice

Philip Huang's concept describing the combination of informal community mediation and official magisterial opinion/intervention.

Great Divergence

An economic debate questioning whether Western development was a departure from a trajectory similar to the East's.

Involutionary Growth

A term used in economic history to describe a type of Chinese economic development characterized by increased labor without breakthroughs in technology.

Bu ying zhong lu

A law concerning 'doing what one should not do,' used to punish those whose actions led to social tension or deaths not covered by specific statutes.

Dibao

The local constable who assisted yamen runners in legal enforcement and maintaining order within the community.

Patrimony

The traditional notion of land as an inviolable family heritage, which was increasingly challenged by the evolving concept of land as a commodity.