For commoners in the Qing dynasty, the most salient agents of the imperial state were not the emperor’s appointed officials but rather the clerks and runners of the county yamen, the lowest level of functionaries in the Qing state’s administrative hierarchy. Yet until now we have known very little about these critically important persons beyond the caricatured portrayals of cor...(展开全部)

For commoners in the Qing dynasty, the most salient agents of the imperial state were not the emperor's appointed officials but rather the clerks and runners of the county yamen, the lowest level of functionaries in the Qing state's administrative hierarchy. Yet until now we have known very little about these critically important persons beyond the caricatured portrayals of cor...(展开全部)