清代国家设官止于州县。州县之下的基层社会何以运作,或者说州县官如何实现对地方社会的控制,历来为治史者所关注。自上世纪40年代以来,西方学界掀起一股乡村社会研究的热潮。最负盛名的、也是最为系统化的研究当属萧公权、张仲礼、瞿同祖等华裔学者。他们通过对地方社会运行的 Qing Dynasty set up official state government in the county. How the grass-roots society under state and county operations, or state magistrates how to control local society, has always been the concern of the historians. Since the 1940s, western academic circles set off a wave of rural social studies. The most prestigious and systematic research is the Chinese scholars such as Xiao Gongquan, Zhang Zhongli and Qu Tongzu. They run through the local community