Abstract: During the reigns of Emperors Xianfeng and Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty,a certain number of immigrants from Juye and Yuncheng of Shandong Province moved into Pei-tong areas in the northern part of Jiangsu Province.They reclaimed and cultivated a tract of lakeside wasteland abandoned by people who moved to other places when the land was submerged.They built a new society over this land and even formed paramilitary for self-defense purpose.This claim of wasteland by external immigrants was welcomed and encouraged by the local government.However,conflicts ensued when the former owners of these lands returned from vagabonding.With the escalation of crisis,the local government was in danger of losing control of the situation.This case was brought to and ended only under the intervention of the Imperial Commissioner,Zeng Guofan.This case shows two conspicuous characteristics of the grassroots political life in traditional China:it was quite common for the local government to enter certain kind of cooperation with the rural society,but the solution for great crisis could only come through the intervention from the top of the government.

Key words: shoalyland, immigrants, rural society, state power, Zeng Guofan