Southern Shaanxi Offcials in Early Nineteeth-Century China.

This essay examines an influential group of lower and middle level Qing administrators who served in southern Shaanxi in the early nineteenth century. These officials distinguished themselves pacifying the 1796-1804 White Lotus revolt, were promoted during the 1799-1805 Jiaqing reforms, and then were retained up to two decades in southern Shaanxi on the basis of their local expertise and effective administration. Accounts of rebel pacification, water management, and temple construction show that this cadre of field officials possessed considerable bureaucratic backing, regional prestige, and exibility in local action. These assets strengthened their ability to mobilize, supervise, restrain, and instruct increasingly self-managed local communities and aided the post-war restoration of southern Shaanxi. Their long tenure and regional authority likewise foreshadowed the rise of provincial "strongmen" in mid-nineteenth century China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]