Qing Dynasty Fu Hui Quan Wen (Complete in Three Volumes)

Author: (Qing) Peng Yuanrui
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features:
★ 32-page hardcover, published by Beijing Library Press (predecessor of the National Library of China)
★ Peng Yuanrui, a Qing Dynasty bibliographer, book collector, scholar, and renowned couplet master. During the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), when Ji Yun served as the chief compiler, Peng Yuanrui was one of the ten deputy compilers, together with Jiang Shiquan known as the "Two Famous Scholars of Jiangxi." In court, he was called the "Wisdom Treasury," and major works on court rituals and systems were often decided by him. It is said that during an imperial banquet, Emperor Qianlong presented a half-couplet: "Cold wine, one drop of water, two drops of water, three drops of water." Peng Yuanrui immediately responded: "Lily of the valley, one hundred-character head, a thousand-character head, ten thousand-character head," and the four seats were deeply impressed.
★ Reprinted from a stone-printed edition of the Northeast Manchu-Japanese Cultural Association from the Republic of China era, preserved in the National Library of China
★ The book is divided into ten categories: General Exemption of Taxes and Tribute, Reduction of Old Assessments, Imperial Visits and Exemptions, Exemption of Labor Services, Remote Areas and Exemptions, Remote Areas and Loans for Relief, Allocation of Surplus Food, Price Reduction of Grains, Regular Relief in the Capital and Factories, and Exemption of Accumulated Debts
★ Particularly, the categories on exemption and relief measures in the book provide significant inspiration for the institutional history research of Qing Dynasty famine relief, holding great academic value.
During the Qing Dynasty, especially under the reigns of Kangxi and Qianlong, to maintain national stability and ensure the normal functioning of social reproduction while regulating conflicts between rulers and the ruled, the government never increased land taxes and often exempted taxes and grain payments, forming a relatively famine relief system. The expenditure on famine relief during the Qianlong era far exceeded that of previous dynasties, with exceptions of exemptions and relief often occurring. The main famine relief measures included exemption, relief, grain redistribution, loans, pest control, resettlement, and comfort. Among these, exemption and relief were the most important.
Peng Yuanrui, then serving as Vice President of the Imperial Academy and Minister of the Ministry of Works, compiled the Fuhui Quanshu in the 60th year of Qianlong's reign (1795). This book is essentially a compilation of "actual policies" for Qianlong's famine relief, drawing on Ma Duanlin's Wenxian Tongkao (Comprehensive Examination of Literature and History) to establish a section on "Exemption and Relief." It organizes and arranges the contents by month and year, categorizing imperial poems and edicts into ten categories: General Exemption of Taxes and Tribute, Reduction of Old Assessments, Imperial Visits and Exemptions, Exemption of Labor Services, Remote Areas and Exemptions, Remote Areas and Loans for Relief, Allocation of Surplus Food, Price Reduction of Grains, Regular Relief in the Capital and Factories, and Exemption of Accumulated Debts.
This book is a rare compilation of official documents, providing great convenience in reducing the effort of collecting, arranging, and verifying materials. Moreover, the records and summaries of official famine relief activities during the Qianlong era in the book offer valuable clues for understanding disasters and government finances and administration at the time, aiding in the study of Qing Dynasty social, economic, and political history. Especially, the categories on exemption and relief measures in the book provide significant inspiration for the institutional history research of Qing Dynasty famine relief, and its academic value cannot be overlooked.