Shaohsing

The author shows how the people of Shaohsing responded to the competition caused by too few jobs and too little land. He shows that both Shaohsing's local society and the network of Shaohsing natives throughout the Ch'ing state responded to competition at one level by cooperating at another level. For example, competition within the prefecture was overcome through cooperation within a family or lineage, while competition at the imperial level was met by cooperation among Shaohsing’s native sons. Cole's study of Shaohsing provides not only a case study in survival by the people of one famous locale, but also new insight into the functioning of the traditional Chinese bureaucracy as well.