Talons and Teeth

the long version

"During the Qing dynasty, the agents of the imperial state with the greatest immediate power over the lives of commoners were not the eniperor's appointed officials. Rather, they were the clerks and runners of the county yamen, the functionaries at the very lowest level of the state's administrative hierarchy. Yet despite the critical importance of these people, until now we have known very little about them beyond the portrayals left by Qing high officials and elites, portrayals that emphasize near-universal corruption and venality.". "Drawing from the archival records of Ba county, Sichuan, Talons and Teeth challenges the simplicity of earlier, one-sided views by taking us inside the county yamen to provide the first detailed look at local administrative practice from the perspective of those who actually carried it out."--BOOK JACKET.