Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.12, 2013

“Raising to Official Rank” and “National Mobilization” in the Ming Dynasty: Centering on “Raising Money for Disaster Relief” from the Zhengtong Reign Period to the Tianshun Reign Period

(Abstract)

Fang Zhiyuan

During the Zhengtong, Jingtai, and Tianshun reign periods of the Ming Dynasty, as a means of mobilizing the population to contribute to disaster relief, the Ming government promulgated a series of policies centering on raising donors to official rank in an attempt to tap new sources of revenue. However, the constant repetition of the call for “national mobilization” meant that it became less and less effective. Once it became routine rather than a temporary expedient, it turned into a means of raising revenue instead of an emergency response. Public opinion was critical and the mass of the people were against it, forcing the Ming government to lower the threshold for access to official ranks and other national honors. The changes in the population’s identification with national mobilization show that 60 years to 100 years after the establishment of the dynasty, natural disasters and disaster relief had brought about an “altered situation” as regards state power and social wealth: social wealth, which had originally been expropriated and controlled by force, was later acknowledged and pursued, and even, to some extent, “dominated” state power.