Title: Imperial Power Down to the Village: Printing, Circulation, and Social Management of the Imperial Calendar in the Qing Dynasty
Date and time: June 17, 16:00
Venue: Room E200, SCA Building
Abstract: During the Qing Dynasty, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau (Qintianjian) in Beijing compiled the almanac for the coming year. After receiving imperial approval, the Ministry of Rites issued a sample copy to the provincial administrative offices (布政使衙门), which then reprinted it and distributed it to all prefectures and counties on the first day of the tenth lunar month – a process known as bestowing the new calendar (颁朔). As the population expanded dramatically in the eighteenth century, the number of officially printed calendars fell far short of social demand, leading to widespread circulation of privately reprinted copies. Faced with this challenge, the Qing court gradually reformed its policies from the Yongzheng to the Jiaqing reigns, and by the early nineteenth century it had effectively achieved an integrated, nationwide management of the printing and circulation of the imperial calendar. In this process, imperial power penetrated directly down to the village level via the calendar, forming a striking contrast with the long-observed administrative principle that imperial power does not reach below the county level (皇权不下县). This helps us understand the complex interactions between the state and society in Qing China.
Speaker: Wang Yuanchong (Wang Yuan-chong), Ph.D. in History, is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Delaware, USA. His research focuses on Sino‑foreign relations in the Qing dynasty and the formation and transformation of early modern Chinese states.