Complaint systems have existed in China for many years, and in
2004, a debate took place in the People's Republic of China (PRC)
over the Letters and Visits System (xinfang zhidu), which was
designed to allow people to register complaints with the upper
levels of the government. However, both parties generally
overlooked several different complaint systems that had preceded
the Letters and Visits System during China's history. Indeed,
despite the rich heritage of numerous complaint systems throughout
China's past, most studies of complaint systems in China have paid
little attention to the origins, development, practices, impact,
and nature of similar institutions in the longue duree of Chinese
history. Presenting a comprehensive study of complaint systems in
Chinese history from early times to the present, this important
book fills the gap in existing literature on complaint systems in
China. Drawing on primary sources, Qiang Fang analyses the
significance of continuities and changes in historical complaint
systems for contemporary China, where the state continues to be
nominally strong, but actually fragile. Unlike other major theories
of popular resistance to the state in China, such as 'everyday
resistance', 'rightful resistance' and resistance 'as legal
rights', this book develops the theory that behind Chinese
complaint systems, there was a mentality of 'natural resistance'
that has been deeply embedded in Chinese culture, political
philosophy, and folk religion for millennia. Given this history,
Fang concludes that it is likely that some form of complaint system
will continue to exist, and by helping to mitigate the increasing
demands of the Chinese state on the Chinese, will serve to
strengthen the state. An essential contribution understanding the
strengths, weaknesses, and various roles of the Letters and Visits
System in contemporary China, as well as the systems that have
preceded it throughout China's long history, this book will be of
huge interest to students and scholars of Chinese history, politics
and law.
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