Power Relationships among Local Officials, Literati, and Society: An Analysis of Yuan Dynasty Inscriptions from Puyang, Fujian

Abstract This article uses inscriptions related to public construction projects as its main source in order to explore the relationship among local government, local literati, and local society in the Yuan dynasty, using the example of Puyang, Fujian (i.e., Xinghua circuit). The massacre of Puyang literati during the Song-Yuan transition and the narrow scope of the Yuan civil service examinations resulted in reduced political opportunities and local influence for the Puyang literati compared to that of their predecessors and their counterparts in other circuits. As a result, the relationship between local officials and local literati in Yuan Puyang was relatively distant. Also, the tense relationship between the Yuan government and local society was caused by forced labor conscription of monetary donations for public construction projects. To conclude, the Puyang case shows that the governance of the Yuan dynasty at the local level brought more change than continuity to local society.