Autore
Chen, Ming-Zong

Titolo
Confronting the Monopoly on Forestry Commerce from the 18th to the 19th Century in Guizhou Province, China. Strategies for Addressing the Sentiment of Injustice in Writings
Periodico
Quaderni storici
Anno: 2024 - Volume: 176 - Fascicolo: 2 - Pagina iniziale: 461 - Pagina finale: 487

With the arrival of the Qing Empire in the Miao territories of Guizhou Province in the early 18th century – driven by the need to procure timber for imperial construction in Beijing – the central state granted three local Miao villages a monopoly over timber exploitation. This decision provoked long-standing contestation from downstream Han villages. This article traces the evolution of this dispute into the 19th century, focusing on the written petitions addressed to provincial authorities. These writings were not merely descriptive records of events, but active interventions in the dispute itself. Viewed as forms of action, they offer a valuable lens through which to analyze how timber-related actors expressed a sense of injustice in relation to the imperial legal system. This article argues that these petitions were not only local grievances but also political texts that actively engaged with – and helped shape – changing local dynamics of power.



SICI: 0301-6307(2024)176:2<461:CTMOFC>2.0.ZU;2-A
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.1408/116989
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1408/116989

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