ABSTRACT
When a magistrate arrived to take up his post in an unfamiliar county, he faced the daunting task of mastering sufficient knowledge of his new jurisdiction to govern effectively. In his popular handbook for magistrates compiled in the 1690s, Fuhui quanshu (The complete book concerning happiness and benevolence), Huang Liu-hung advised the new appointee to read the local gazetteer. "When the magistrate makes a thorough study of the local gazetteer, he will be able to have a clear picture of its geographical layout, the amounts and rates of taxation, and the vital statistics and degree of prosperity of its population," he explained. "This information is indispensable in planning his administration." 1 Ye Ghunji, a Guangdong juren of 1552 who pursued a modest career as a local official in the last third of the sixteenth century, would have given the same advice. 2 When he arrived in the coastal Fujian county of Huian early in 1571 (or possibly late in 1570) to take up the second posting of his career, and his first magistracy, Ye Chunji went looking for the local gazetteer. He was fortunate in finding copies of four: the 1530 and 1566 editions of the county gazetteer (Huian xianzhi), and the 1525 and 1568 editions of the gazetteer of Quanzhou (Quanzhou fuzhi), the prefecture in which Huian was located.
