Law and Local Society in Late Imperial China: Northern Taiwan in the Nineteenth Century (review)

REVIEWS MarkA. Allee. Law and Local Society in Late Imperial China: Northern Taiwan in the Nineteenth Century. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. xii, 347 pp. Hardcover $45.00, isbn 0-8047-2272-2. Mark A. Allee notes, in his introduction to this valuable contribution to Chinese legal studies, that work on Chinese history has tended to be out ofbalance. Most historians have set their sights on the big picture, focusing on the nature and importance ofthe state or the dieories and influence of great men at the expense of die finer detail oflocal society and government and the lives ofdie ordinarypeople that give rise to and reflect the particular political, economic, and social forces that engender historical change. On the other hand, "history from the bottom up," in focusing on the minutiae ofdaily life without reference to the larger forces ofpolitics, government, and the state, all too often misses the forest for the trees. Allee seeks to avoid the pitfalls ofboth the grand view ofhistory and the myopia ofhistory from the bottom up by examining the legal cases of a local court in northern Taiwan from 1789 to 1895. Allee understands, however, that analysis of case law alone cannot provide a well-rounded view oflife and society. Accordingly , he devotes the first chapters to an overview ofthe geographical and historical context ofthe Dan-Xin area ofnorthern Taiwan during the late Qing. In particular , he notes that this period was characterized by great change resulting from rapid growth. The population ofthe area increased significandy as Hans from the mainland, primarily Hakkas and Hokkienese, crossed the straight in search of land and economic opportunity. Economically, tea and camphor emerged as hot export commodities, often in barter trade for opium. Politically, the local government struggled to keep up with the rapid population and economic growth. Over time, the government was able to exercise increasing control over the area. However , during much of the period in question, government control was weak. These historical factors combined to produce a volatile situation. The immigrant Hans were young, predominantly male, and single. They came seeking land and economic opportunity. Turfwars were inevitable. The newcomers not only fought with the indigenous people and earlier generations ofimmigrants, they© 1996 by University ^so rought among themselves, as the feuding Hakkas and Hokkienese carried ofHawai'i Pressover and continued long-standing interclan rivalries from the mainland. Freed from the restraints ofmarriage and family and traditional communal mores, many newcomers drifted into a life ofvagrancy and social deviance. Add to the 348 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 mix the ready availability of opium and a local government growing in strength but still unable to police the entire territory, and the Dan-Xin area ofthis time begins to resemble the wild, wild West, a place where "armed robbery, arson, assault , and private retaliation were everyday facts of life" (p. 51). Having provided the necessary background, Allee begins an in-depth analysis of five rather lengthy and complicated "core" cases. Three of the cases are "civil" and two "criminal," aldiough Allee takes pains to point out that such a categorization is drawn from Western jurisprudence and does not neatly fit the Chinese context. The cases were selected to shed light on "some of the most vexing social and economic issues" (p. 13). They were also chosen in part on the basis oftheir complexity and length, in the belief that such cases would better "illustrate many of the facets of the relationship between society and the legal system" (p. 15). The first of the core cases involves an armed robbery and reflects the frontier conditions of the times. The second case involves rent resistance, and is used to illustrate the complicated land relations arising out of the diree-tier system ofland rights. The third and fourth cases involve the export industry of tea and camphor, respectively, with the particular issue being a boundary dispute in die third case and a kidnapping in the fourth. The fifth case involves lineage division and a dispute over inheritance. Allee situates each case in context by providing a brief discussion of related issues, discussing, for example, the ins and outs of the three-tier system...