The Flow of Wood: Markets, Power, and Society in the Lower Qingshui River Region during the Qing Dynasty

Author: Zhang Yingqiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: In the towering mountains of southeastern Guizhou, a clear river quietly flows, this is the upper reaches of the Qing River, a major tributary of the Qing River. The most exciting chapters of the story of the Qing River's flow may be the hustle and bustle brought about by the floating timber along the river since the Qing Dynasty. Sparse records and some stories still, all depict a regional social and historical landscape centered around the flow of timber. This book attempts to capture the main fragments and roughly outline the process of timber flow in the lower reaches of the Qing River during the Qing Dynasty. The flow of timber in the Qing River, in fact, is a series of different stories performed by different groups in the entire basin across different times and spaces. As a regional history study, this book hopes to gradually unfold these stories. Placing the specific regional society of the lower reaches of the Qing River during the Qing Dynasty in the historical context of the empire, the state, political, economic, and social development, it aims to organize and describe the basic processes of the regional social and historical history centered around timber collection and transportation activities. It explores how the state power of traditional China interacted with the corresponding local society in the region through the development of a regional market network, thereby providing a localized understanding and historical explanation of the multiple factors and complex relationships involved in regional social change.