Qing Governors and Their Provinces: The Evolution of Territorial Administration in China, 1644–1796 (review)

A book on Qing governors and governors-general (collectively called dufu 督撫) is certainly something to be treasured by all of us who have started with Hummel,¹ have read Qing documents for years, and are faithful users of that bible of Qing historians, Qian Shifu’s 錢實甫 Qingdai zhiguan nianbiao 清代職官年表 (extensively used by Kent Guy to build statistical tables).² With the Qing system being what it was, most communications between the field and the throne passed through the dufu, meaning that the vast majority of the memorials found in archives and published annals bear dufu signatures; consequently this gives us a sense of familiarity with these men, who seem to be the main actors in the government of the Qing territory, when in fact many, if not most of them, are just names to us—seemingly interchangeable names that repeatedly appear in documents issuing from one province after another and year after year, but are borne by Chinese or Manchu individuals (and the occasional Mongol) whom we almost never know as individuals.³

Do the governors and governors-general whose careers are reported in this book stand out as individuals—that is, as personalities beyond the bare facts of their political and administrative paths and occasional accomplishments? Only to a limited extent. Guy insists on the importance of biography, and he provides a number of biographical sketches, some of them quite extensive. These deal with both completely unknown persons and celebrities, as well as with characters ranging all the way from corrupt and ineffectual types to superb and faultless statesmen—men in the league of a Yang Xifu 楊錫紱 or a Chen Hongmou 陳宏謀. Characteristically, the more vivid accounts concern governors who lived during the Ming-Qing transition, broadly defined, before political stability set in and careers became more predictable. (At one point, discussing factional alignments, Guy nicely contrasts the founding decades, “when loyalties were larger than life,” with the late Qianlong “era of epigones.”) For the most part, the sources used are the standard biographies, as found in such collections as Qingshi liezhuan 清史列傳 or Guochao qixian leizheng 國朝耆獻類 徵 and in the biographical section of the Qing dynastic history,⁴ and the published memorials of the personalities discussed.

However rich they may be, these sources, which constitute what Guy calls the “primary source record,” are severely constrained by the conventions inherent in the genres to which they belong. Going beyond what they actually say is largely a matter of interpretation, or imagination.⁵ Given the large number of individuals discussed in Qing Governors and Their Provinces, the accounts of their actual work, range of responsibilities, and personalities could be only cursory. Still, we must not forget that there is a lot more evidence around. Thus, looking into the extensive published anthologies of proclamations, correspondences, and other administrative papers (gongdu 公牘) by governors such as Tian Wenjing 田文鏡 or Chen Hongmou—to mention two outstanding collections⁶—can add considerable depth to our understanding of their relations with their terrain and subordinates, and of their personalities and idiosyncrasies, at least in their public dealings. In addition, there is a world of anecdotes and private testimonies, found in particular in biji-type jottings and unofficial histories: although not always regarded as respectable sources by historians, they tell us much about how their subjects were perceived by their contemporaries. One example among many is the testimony about the famous Yu Chenglong 于成龍, then Liang-Jiang governor-general, found in Linian ji 歷年記, the engrossing autobiography left by a modest citizen of Shanghai named Yao Tinglin 姚廷遴 and covering the years from 1628 to 1697. Yao was thrilled to catch a glimpse of the impassive old statesman passing through Shanghai on an inspection tour, and on this and other occasions is ecstatic about Yu’s benevolent policies, his legendary integrity, and especially his ability to control his subordinates. The appointment of Yu (a Chinese...