Entry into Banner Dependency (*Touchong*)

Social relationship and registration

Touchong described the entry of civilians and others into a dependent service relationship under banner households in Qing China. It was not identical to short-term wage labour, nor to a tenancy in which cultivators merely paid land rent. Determining whether a person or family had entered such a relationship could require examination of contracts, banner registration, reports to government offices, and actual ties between master and dependent.

Legal consequences

The Qinding Baqi tongzhi and institutional regulations set out rules concerning the punishment of dependents, the responsibilities of banner household heads and company officers, and the prohibition on falsely classifying separately registered people as slaves. Other provisions addressed misrepresenting attached dependents as ordinary tax-paying civilians, or alleging that property-holding relatives of household slaves were themselves descended from dependents. The disputes show that the classification could have substantial legal and property consequences.

Some forms of touchong were connected with land or settlement under a banner household, including daidi touchong ('entering dependency with land'). Yet purchase of banner land or tenancy on a banner estate did not by itself establish dependent personal status. Subsequent emancipation, establishment of a separate household, and transfer to civilian registration each had distinct authorization and documentation requirements. When a historical source records only submission to the Later Jin without specifying dependency, an editor should not invent a servile status. Where touchong is documented, the receiving household and historical date should be retained.