Manor Overseer and Able-Bodied Men
摘要
Before the Qing army went through the Shanhaiguan Pass and came to dominate the central china, the manorial system had already been implemented for agricultural production across the vast expanse of land in Northeast China. After entering the pass, to sustain the livelihoods of the Eight Banners, the rulers resorted to violent means such as forcible enclosure and attachment. They plundered a substantial amount of land and farmsteads on the North China Plain for the Eight Banners and established numerous country estates on the banner lands. Those managed by the Imperial Household Department were referred to as imperial manors and official manors. The others belonged to the royals and ministers, or ordinary households of the Eight Banners and were called prince’s manors and banner manors. These manors also adopted the manorial system, employing able-bodied men for agricultural work and appointing manor overseer to handle the manor affairs. Manor overseers and able-bodied men were, in fact, servants in the production of manor lands. However, despite all being servants or able-bodied men, there were numerous differences in their statuses. This chapter will introduce the statuses of manor overseers and able-bodied men in the manors.