Liu Yinglei Measures the Fields and Removes the Flying Grain, 1571

Background

In 1569 the gazetteer records that the single-whip method was memorialised, and that the river police office at Xujiabu was abolished. With the new method the actual area of fields became the basis for corvée and grain quotas; the problem of inaccurate areas and uneven burdens had been created by practices of the "flying grain" kind. The gazetteer does not explain what flying grain was, recording it only as the abuse that Liu Yinglei removed.

What was done

五年辛未，知县刘应雷丈量田亩甚明，并却飞粮四千余石，永除民害。民深德之，刘死，立祠祀焉。详《传》并《祠记》。 — Kangxi Lishui County Gazetteer, 卷之一·邑纪·五年辛未

Translated: In the fifth year, the zhixian (county magistrate) Liu Yinglei measured the fields very clearly and removed more than four thousand shi of flying grain, ending the abuse for good. The people were deeply grateful; when Liu died, a shrine was built to him with offerings. See the biography and the record of the shrine for details.

The entry has three layers: the measurement was clear; more than four thousand shi of flying grain were removed; and the abuse was ended for good, which is the gazetteer's own verdict. The last sentence records that after Liu's death the residents built a shrine to him, with a note referring to the biography and the shrine record.

Consequences

After the survey the field quota of Lishui rested on a more reliable base, and more than four thousand shi of flying grain were removed. In 1581 the magistrate Chen Zizhen measured the fields again and found a shortfall of more than 84,693 mu against the original quota, which the gazetteer attributes to land gradually washed away by the lake. The survey of 1571 therefore did not settle the long-term loss of registered fields.

Supplements from other chapters (juan 4, Finance; juan 6, Biographies)

Two further passages in the Kangxi gazetteer record Liu Yinglei's survey; they belong to the same book as the annals and add detail.

Juan 4, "Administration: Land Tax", gives the registered figures after the survey of 1571:

明隆庆五年，知县刘应雷丈量田地，亏折熟田八万九千八百六十一亩六分九厘八毫、熟地一千六百八十一亩七分一厘二毫八忽五微，实在：熟田四十九万三千四百九十四亩八分七厘二毫……

Translated: In the fifth year of the Longqing era the magistrate Liu Yinglei measured the fields and found a shortfall of 89,861 mu and more of cultivated land and 1,681 mu and more of cultivated plots, the actual total being 493,494 mu and more of cultivated land…

The survey itself thus reported a shortfall, not merely the clarity the annals describe.

Juan 6, "Biographies of Notable Officials", entry on Liu Yinglei:

刘应雷，江西万安人。由进士，隆庆三年任。时傍邑有以粮数千石幸嫁溧水者，公力争，致当道以胜气临之，执益坚，决于纳绶，事竟直。又丈量田亩无尺寸漏，因高下制赋克当，见于歌谣。被召去，卒于涂。民怀厥德，立祠祀之，并入名宦。事详傅御史应祯记。

Translated: Liu Yinglei was a man of Wan'an, Jiangxi. A jinshi, he took office in the third year of Longqing. When a neighbouring county sought to shift several thousand shi of grain onto Lishui, he fought it hard, until the authorities pressed him with an overbearing manner; his resolve only stiffened and he was ready to give up his seal, and in the end the matter was put right. He also measured the fields with not an inch missed and fixed the tax well by the quality of the land, as the songs record. He was summoned away and died on the road. The people cherished his virtue, built a shrine to him with offerings, and he was entered among the notable officials.

He left office because he was "summoned away" and died on the road to that summons; a shrine was built and he was enrolled among the notable officials, matching the annals' "when Liu died, a shrine was built to him."

Uncertainties

First, the gazetteer does not explain how flying grain worked; this entry does not read the term literally and records only the name and the amount.

Second, the name, site and date of the shrine to Liu Yinglei are not given beyond the note referring to the biography and the shrine record, neither of which is in this volume.

Third, the year of Liu Yinglei's death is not recorded; the shrine follows the survey in the gazetteer but that does not mean he died in the same year.

Fourth, the gazetteer does not define which year's figure is the "original quota" used in the survey of 1581 — that of 1385 or that of 1571.

Fifth, a search across all seven source layers found that the survey, the removal of the flying grain and the shrine to Liu Yinglei appear, outside the annals, only in juan 4 and juan 6 of the same Kangxi gazetteer; no independent record was found in the standard histories, the veritable records, the provincial gazetteer or any other source. Juan 4 and juan 6 are still part of the Kangxi gazetteer and count as one source, so this matter rests on the county gazetteer alone and confidence remains medium.