“Household and Obligations” Translation Workshop

 December 4-8, 2014 -  Harvard University 

From December 4 to 8 the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies will host a translation workshop. They will be asked to translate selections from the 15 laws and 47 sub-statutes found in the huyi (戶役) or “Households and Obligations” sub-section of the hulü (戶律) or “Household Law” section of the 1740 Qing Code.

This section includes statutes pertaining to the imperial system of household registration, the function of the household as the basis of taxation, the inheritance of household status, the distribution of taxes and corvée obligations among subjects, and a series of definitions of the household as a unit of taxation, of family life, and of administration. No comprehensive study of these laws as a discrete unit of the Ming or Qing law has been made, but it contains laws on a range of subjects that were critical to defining the relationship between the imperial state, the territorial bureaucracy, the subjects under its jurisdiction, and the relationship between the individual and his or her household. This section of the code, more than any other, may be said to contain the fullest legal expression of what it meant to be a subject of the Ming and Qing empires.

The main focus of the workshop will be several intensive translation sessions. In addition to these meetings, participants will also have discussions about general translation problems, approaches to the study of late imperial legal history, and materials used in the study of the Ming and Qing codes. Before arriving at the workshop, each participant will be asked to bring one historical source related to the law being discussed in his or her group. The small collection of materials in each group will hopefully add some historical dimension to our discussions about translation, and will serve as immediate referents in our conversation about law in practice and theory.

Proposed Schedule and 凡例

The participants will be divided into three groups, with at least one member from the Harvard translation group and one from the LSC group each. Groups will choose two laws from the following list to translate (with the expectation that hopefully at least one law and all of its substatutes will be translated in full by the end of the week):

律/lü 75 | Tuolou hukou 脫漏戶口

律/lü 76 | Renhu yiji weiding 人戶以籍為定

律/lü 77 | Sichuang anyuan ji sidu sengdao 私創庵院及私度僧道

律/lü 78 | Li dizi weifa 立嫡子違法

律/lü 79 | Shouliu mishi zinü 收留迷失子女

律/lü 80 | Fuyi bujun 賦役不均_{賦，取於田產；役，出於人丁。}

律/lü 81 | Dingfu chaqian buping 丁夫差遣不平

律/lü 82 | Yinbi chayi 隱蔽差役

律/lü 83 | Jinge zhubao lizhang 禁革主保里長

律/lü 84 | Taobi chayi 逃避差役

律/lü 85 | Dianchai yuzu 點差獄卒

律/lü 86 | Siyi bumin fujiang 私役部民夫匠

律/lü 87 | Bieji yicai 別籍異財

律/lü 88 | Beiyou sishan yongcai 卑幼私擅用財

律/lü 89 | Shouyang gulao 收養孤老

Before arriving at the workshop, each participant will be asked to bring one historical material related to the law being discussed in his or her group. The small collection of materials in each group will hopefully add some historical dimension to our discussions about translation, and will serve as immediate referents in our conversation about law in practice and theory.

Schedule

December 4 (1:00 to 5:00, plus dinner)

1:00-3:00: Introduction of members, introduction to LSC project
3:00-3:30: Coffee and pastries (provided)
3:30-4:00: Introduction to LSC data analysis
4:00-5:00: Introduction to Harvard reading group data analysis
6:00-8:00: Dinner

December 5 (9:00 to 5:00)

9:00-12:00: Translation breakout session
12:00-1:30: Lunch (individual arrangements)
1:30-2:15: General discussion
2:15-2:30: Coffee and pastries (provided)
2:30-4:00: Translation breakout session
4:00-5:00: Materials Report Group 1

December 6 (9:00 to 5:00)

December 7 (9:00 to 5:00, plus dinner)

December 8 (10:00-1:00)

10:00-11:00: Translation breakout session
11:00-12:00: General discussion
12:00-1:00: Discussion about future activities

Last update on Monday 1 December 2014 (11:42) by G. Foliot