Minding the Minders: Overseeing the Brokerage System in Qing China

The Qing dynasty’s predilection for using extra-bureaucratic groups to govern the empire is well known. Yet the interests of these groups and those of dynastic officials did not always coincide, and officials often lacked the resources to resolve conflicts when they arose. This article explores how these limitations were overcome in the case of one extra-bureaucratic group, brokers. Lacking other means, officials forged a relationship with merchants, workshop owners, and others hurt by brokers’ illegal behavior. As people with a stake in established society and well-ordered markets, these stakeholders petitioned officials to notify them promptly when brokers acted abusively. They requested that the officials issue prohibitions and allow their carving on stelae. The stelae erected strategically in local communities extended the reach of the dynasty, demonstrated popular support for the dynasty, and frequently authorized the stakeholders to report future abuses. While it certainly did not eliminate all abuses, this relationship prevented brokers from dominating local markets and competing with the dynasty for economic surplus.