Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2014

 

From Setting up Each Contract Independently to General Contracts: The Writing of Real Estate Contracts in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty

(Abstract)

 

Fan Jinmin

 

One-off contracts appeared in Suzhou real estate transactions no later than the 10th year of Kangxi. This change was not the outcome of new economic phenomena; rather, it conformed to customary practice in local real estate transactions among civilians. The form and contents of many documents show that from the beginning of the Qianlong reign, real estate transactions in Suzhou, began to present the relevant documents in the form of a "general contract" in accordance with the requirements of Qing law. By the later Qianlong period, this practice had become dominant. The change in the form of contracts took place not only in Suzhou, but also in neighboring areas, such as Changzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou; the practice was widespread in the Jiangnan region. In fact, the process and form of drawing up the contracts and the popular practice of asking for extra payment of the buyer after closure of a real estate transaction (zhaojia 找价) show that although this practice began to weaken under Qianlong, it still existed in the late Qing, and was prevalent even in Shanghai. Accordingly, it can hardly be said that by the Daoguang reign, the last time extra payment of the buyer (jiatan加叹) existed only in name in the Jiangnan region, including the Shanghai area.