Estadística y probabilidad

50 E.g. V ia Yuyuan qing difang shendong j i Yueji jushang"

[invite local gentry-managers and Cantonese important merchants to the Yuyuan Garden] (ibid. p. 52); "xing luochengli kaihui, guan shen shang daozhe nan nü bin sanbai

y u r e n " A [they organised a meeting to

celebrate the completion [of the project]; officials, gentry, merchants: more than three hundred guests, men and women, came] (ibid. p. 55).

itr £ 51, zhu jun i f f * 52, and weng 53. These terms are deliberately chosen so as not to disclose the background of the person concerned: "regular" or "irregular" gentry.

Such punctiliousness in the use of titles became less pronounced with the passing of time. The Local G azetteer o f Chuansha County -

Republican Period (Minguo Chuansha xian zhi

JHiMlrife),

U±)

Mr Chen Xuyuan, Zhejiang gentry.54

The category of shen-shang became clearer by the beginning of the twentieth century, and it is possible to distinguish individual members, such as Zhu Baosan, mentioned above. By this stage, however, its usage was even looser, and the term shen-shang could be applied to anyone with money and a high social position, whether he had an official title or not.55

51 Xu Run, Nianpu, p. 32 52 ibid. p. 137

53 ibid. p. 29, p. 37, p. 38

54 Zhu Peng, Shanghai-shi yange dili, pp. 17-18.

55 There is a photograph, dated 1904, of Li Boyuan with a group of shen-shang, most of whom did not even have a purchased degree. They were: Jin Zuxun^tfill^of Suzhou, a comprador in the silk section of the Japanese firm Mitsui; Lu Hengfu , of Shanghai, a flower-nursery manager, Song Gengtang , of Haining, land-owner, Xin Zhongqing , of Nanjing, a silk merchant; Xu Renjie , of Haining, owner of a silk factory; Xi Xifan $§31 , of Suzhou, a comprador in a number of foreign banks; Gu Songquan , the founder of the Sino-Western Medicinal Company; Shi Fengxiang , of Zhejiang, who started his career in the building industry; Lu Yizhen , of Nanxun, the son of the owner of the Yucang Silk Shop, and the accountant of a well known foreign lawyer, Zhou Hongsun , of Ningbo, an expectant Daotai, and also a land-owner in Shanghai; Gu Jingzhai , of Nanxun, a silk merchant; Ge Leyi , a Frenchman (his mother was from

Shaoxing, and he himself could speak the Ningbo and Suzhou dialects), the proprietor of the Liangji Medicine Shop; Cai Yuanqing of Jiaxing, a xiucai, who acted as interpeter for several foreign lawyers; Huang Jinchen 5 , of Huzhou, a silk

Ho Ping-ti has expressed the opinion that "it is ill-advised to regard irregular kung-sheng as being inferior in status to regular kung-sheng".56 In my view, however, purchased degrees did not bring the same respect and status that degrees acquired through the regular examination process did. Ho argues that social realities were different from the picture shown in legal texts, and notes that "subtler social realities must be sought in social novels and private literary writings".57 My study of similar materials leads me to a conclusion rather different from that of Ho Ping-ti. A commentary in the D ianshizhai dated 1894, entitled "In Search of Glory, but Finds Humiliation", tells of a nouveau-riche rickshaw puller who purchased an official title. He was completely illiterate, but was full of his self importance. His son was stupid, but the father hoped for nothing more than he would distinguish himself in the imperial examinations. This plan did not meet with success, and he only succeeded in losing a lot of money.58

In 1897 another tale, under the tide "Not Acknowledging a Graduate of the Same Year", tells of a certain rich man from Suzhou, who had been granted the title of "Elevated Scholar" in recognition of his contributions to military expenditure. From that time on, "one often hears that, since he has attached himself to the gentry he frequently goes to the yamen to bully the weak. A few days ago a certain tenant owed a small amount of rent, so this man sent his servant [to the magistrate] with a name-card indicating that he was a graduate of the same year, with a request to evict [the tenant]. The merchant; Cheng Yaocheng , the manager of branches of the Sino-Westem Medicinal Company in Beijing, Tianjin and other places; Chen Xingting 15$ ^ VT , of Shanghai, a tea-merchant; Hui Yuting , of Shanghai; his father was English, with the surname Huite S # (White?); Hui Yuting had Chinese nationality, and was a comprador for various foreign banks in Shanghai; Lu Shaoxiang , of Shanghai, a xiucai, an expectant magistrate (zhixian) and a landowner. (From Wei Shaochang

H

56 Ho Ping-ti. The Ladder of Success in Imperial China. (Columbia University Press,