Dispute Resolution in Hui-chou(徽州)Rural Society during the Later Half of the Ming Period

Abstract

In this article, the author discusses the problem of dispute resolution in Hui-chou rural society and it's relationship to formal adjudication at the magistrate's court, by analysing documents, such as wen-yueh(分約)and ho-t'ong(合同)of the later half of the Ming period. During the earlier half of Ming, under the li^chia(里甲)system, li-chang(里長, the li-chia head man)and Lao-jen(老人, community elder)mainly resolved disputes which took place in the community, in cooperation with other informal mediation. From the 16th centry onward, li-chang often took part in the dispute resolution. In Hui-chou, the li-chia system was generally closely related to local prominent lineage organization ; therefore, li-chang was able to assume an important role in the settlement of rural disputes, mediation and investigation of lawsuits, even in the late Ming. On the other hand, lao-jen, who originally bore the responsibility of dispute resolution in rural society, far less flequently appear as mediators or arbitrators in the documents. In place of lao-jen, from about late 16th centry, hsiang-yueh(郷約, community compact)and pao-chia(保甲, community self-defence system)began to be concerned with dispute resolution and maintenance of rural public order. Moreover, mediation and arbitration by relatives, various meddlemen and local influential persons also played important roles in the settlement of rural disputes. Lineage organization often resolved disputes between lineage members. If rural disputes could not be resolved in the community, complaints were filed at the magistrate's court. When such complaints were accepted, magistrates ordinally first delegated li-chang, hsang-yueh etc.to investigate disputed points then summoned defendants and witnesses to the court in cooperation with plaintiffs. Unlike the Ch'ing period, local government runners seldom went into community to deal with lawsuites. Not a few lawsuits were settled by various unofficial mediators before the court session or magistrate's final judgement, while others were settled by magistrate's artribution or judgement as the result of cross-examination in court. In conclusion the author takes a general view of disputes resolution in rural society in the later half of the Ming, by analysing a total of 75 disputes described in the Hui-chou documents. The greater part of these disputes were land cases, especially regarding mountains, forests, and graveyards, and included disputes over ownership, land boundaries and troubles over land transaction, not a few land disputes involved various illegal acts, for example double or outright sales of land, infringements of another's real estate, cutting down of another's forests, and so on. In addition, disputes over landlord-tien-p'u(佃僕, servants/tenants)and landlord-tenant relations and lineage's common property are often revealed in the documents, and there are also a few disputes over inheritance and injury cases. Of the 75 cases, disputes between members of the same kin group were mainly settled by mediators among the kin group or relatives. On the other hand, disputes between different surname groups and between landlords and tian-p'u or tenants were often mediated by other middlemen in the community. While, li-chang were generally concerned with settlement of disputes that occured in the community regardless of relation between the parties concerned. From the 16th centry onward, as local control based on the li-chia system established during the early Ming was gradually unstabled, more and more diversified persons and groups, such as hsi-ang-yueh and pao-chia, began to take part in rural dispute resolution, while mediation by kin group, relatives, and middlemen in the community grew more and more important. Generally, the framework of dispute resolution in Hui-chou rural society were far more fluid and unstable than under the ealier half of

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