Institutional Reform and Social Changes in Northeast China During the Late Qing: A Case Study of Appeal Trials

Institutional reform and social changes in northeast China during the late Qing period are usually attributed to the Qing dynasty changing its policy on immigration to northeast China. However, institutional reform because of debt appeals between civilian creditors and the Mongolian princes is often overlooked. Using administrative cases from Fengtian Governor Archives and Kirin Prefecture Archives, this study identifies how the governor officers of northeast China changed Mongolian land rights and official finance institutions through appeal judgments in the late Qing dynasty. Appeals were related to Mongolian land rights reform and promoted the financial institutional reform in northeast China. This study concludes by arguing that the judgments affected the profits of the litigants and changed the local society.