Qing dynasty market towns and society on the Chengdu Plain: The example of Zhenzichang in Jian prefecture

Abstract

The author proceeds from reconsideration of G. William Skinner’s theory of the “standard marketing community” to propose an alternative understanding of a “marketing community” on the Chengdu Plain, through a concise analysis of guild halls, ancestral shrines, Buddhist and Daoist temples, academies, and other social organizations in Zhenzichang, Jian prefecture, during the Qing dynasty. The establishment of social organizations in market towns on the Chengdu Plain during the Qing dynasty was closely associated with the brokerage system and the appointment of administrative bailiffs: through the intervention of government authority, these social organizations integrated the market towns with the surrounding villages, gradually forming a community identity. Between the late 18th century and the early 19th century, a number of distinct social units centered on market towns, or marketing communities, took shape on the Chengdu Plain. The logic of “standard marketing communities” as established by Skinner is untenable: the marketing communities must be understood on the basis of the formation and significance of social organizations within the market towns.