Register for a CSMC lecture

Thursday, 4 July 2024, 10:15 am – 11:45 am CEST

Warburgstraße 26, 20354 Hamburg, room 2002, and online

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The Social Life of Contracts: An Introduction to the Manuscript Culture of Contracts in the Qingshui River Society of Southwest China, c. 18th–19th Centuries

Qu Jian (China Agricultural University, Peking)

Contracts prevail in our daily life. This study aims to shed light on the social life of contracts, specifically how they were (re-)produced, modified, used, and archived/terminated by local communities in the mountainous areas along the Qingshui River in southeast Guizhou. Essentially, this study seeks to explore the relationship between the material aspects of contracts and their legal and social validity, striving for a deeper understanding of the materiality of contracts in late imperial China.

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