Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2015

 

Draft Agreements and Documents: Concluding Property Contracts in the Jiangnan Region under the Qing

(Abstract)

 

Fan Jinmin

 

 “Draft agreements” (草议cao yi) referred to documents drawn up before a formal contract for immovable property (real property) was concluded. They were already in existence in the Jiangnan region no later than in the 10th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign and were used thereafter under subsequent reigns and even into the Republican period. Unlike draft contracts such as “white deeds,” which had not been stamped with the official seal, draft agreements for the purchase or sale of land or buildings were based on negotiations involving the middleman, the buyer, the seller, and their relatives. They took effect before the conclusion of the formal contract and became invalid afterwards. The buyer would pay a deposit at the time of the agreement. The pre-contract agreement drawn up by buyer and the seller had a certain legal force, but this was weaker than that of a formal contract. A draft agreement took preliminary effect but did not show ownership, whereas a formal contract took permanent effect. It was generally possible to pull out of or revise a draft agreement, but this was not the case with a formal contract.