First, the status of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty was low. In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary families were divided into three classes: "Min Yue, Yue Jun and Yue craftsmen", and craftsmen were at the bottom of society, so they were the most humble. In the second year of Hongwu (1329), the Ming government stipulated: "All soldiers, civilians, doctors, craftsmen, and yin and yang households are required to copy their books in the original newspaper, and the crime of violating the law is still in its original place", which established the system that craftsmen are not allowed to quit their jobs from generation to generation, and cut off all ways for craftsmen to get rid of books through the imperial examination.
The definition of political identity affects the economic life of industrialists. Artisans in the Ming Dynasty were divided into two types: living craftsmen and shift craftsmen. Living and sitting craftsmen are stationed in the capital, working ten days a month; Shift craftsmen shift according to the distance from the capital, once every three years. "If you go to Beijing again, you will lose in March." . Craftsmen work voluntarily without any remuneration, and only receive a certain monthly salary and straight rice during their work. Although the shift workers only serve for three months per shift, it takes three or four months for those who have a long journey to go back and forth, and the expenses have to be borne by themselves, which not only costs the family money, but also delays the normal livelihood of the family. So the craftsmen were exhausted and miserable. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, they often skipped classes and fled. The hereditary substitution of craftsmen does not take into account the actual practices of craftsmen.
There are many problems in the implementation of the craftsman registration system, which has caused a huge burden to craftsmen and the Ming government. As a result, the Ming rulers adjusted the shift craftsman system. "Those who are willing to pay the silver price for shift craftsmen will get nine silver dollars from southern craftsmen every month, and they will be released to the Ministry immediately. Those who don't want to, still sitting in the "class", began to use silver instead of service. During the Jiajing period, the scope of replacing service with silver was further expanded. All shift craftsmen must pay the service fee, but the living and sitting craftsmen are still on duty as usual.
Throughout the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen's low social status and hard life were closely related to the craftsman registration system implemented in the Ming Dynasty.
Second, the status of craftsmen in the Qing Dynasty changed. After the Qing army entered the customs, it broke many political systems in the Ming Dynasty. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), the status of craftsmen improved. At the same time, the government-run handicraft institutions and their handicraft workshops in the Qing Dynasty recruited and hired craftsmen in a unified way. The General Examination of Qing Dynasty Literature records that:
"In the second year of Shunzhi, in order to build the Hall of Supreme Harmony, craftsmen were needed, and the counties were ordered to send people to solve it, and they were paid by the work. In the twelfth year, the Ministry of Industry lacked craftsman services and the project was postponed. After the restoration, eight prefectures, including Shuntian, were sent to Shandong and Shanxi provinces to find out who craftsmen are willing to serve. This headquarters is available. "
Artisans are recruited to serve voluntarily, and the government "pays according to work", which is obviously more free and independent than craftsmen under the household registration system in the Ming Dynasty. As the records of craftsmen were abolished, the collection of craftsman-grade silver was naturally somewhat irregular. In the third year of Kangxi (1664), it was agreed that "all the money and grain of the temples will be returned to the Ministry, and the craftsman's price will be changed to the collection in the text".
However, craftsmen are compiled as citizens, and they have to pay Ding Yin like civilian households, and they also have the burden of craftsmen's class silver. In fact, after the Qing Dynasty wove the craftsman Ban Yin as a whip, the pressure on the craftsmen's life did not ease. As people said at that time, "The craftsmen are also people's levies, and their wages and craftsmen's prices are levied, which is a manifestation of forced labor. People provide one, craftsmen provide the other. " So, in the middle and late period of Kangxi, Jiangxi and Zhejiang began to spread artisan silver into mu. During the reign of Yongzheng and Qianlong, after the reform of Diding was carried out throughout the country, artisans' ban yin was gradually introduced into Diding, but the tax service book was still useful? .
Judging from the relationship between craftsmen and the state, craftsmen finally got rid of the shackles of the craftsman registration system and completely ended the era of unpaid slavery. Since then, in the Qing dynasty, the official handicraft industry called on craftsmen to work, instead of asking them to work for free, but adopted a more humane way of employing people according to their work. Artisans gained a certain degree of freedom in politics and improved their status.
This is a manifestation of the new changes in the identity of craftsmen in the Qing Dynasty, and it also promoted the prosperity of handicrafts in the Qing Dynasty. It was in such a relaxed political environment that craftsmen were able to devote themselves to handicraft production, and the improvement of living conditions gave them more resources for technological improvement and innovation, so local officials in the Qing Dynasty were able to continuously select skilled craftsmen and send them to Beijing. It is precisely because of the collection of elites of various handicrafts that the establishment of the office can create a magnificent situation of palace handicrafts in the Qing Dynasty.
Third, the Qing rulers' new attitude towards the craftsmen of the manufacturing factory. The craftsman registration system in the Ming Dynasty shows that the ruling class in the Ming Dynasty regarded craftsmen as objects that could be enslaved at will, so it was naturally harsh on them. In the Qing Dynasty, although the craftsman registration system was abolished, there was still the prejudice of "being born and bred" and "grovelling" in the traditional social values. However, it seems that the emperors of the Qing dynasty did not completely obey the world. From their interaction with the craftsmen in the manufacturing room, we can see the friendly attitude of the Qing emperor towards the craftsmen.
The Qing rulers' friendly attitude towards craftsmen was manifested in the behavior of "allowing craftsmen to leave their names".
Carving money on handicrafts made in the Forbidden City is the recognition and praise of opponents' handicrafts. During the Yongzheng period, an imperial edict was issued; "No matter what you do, good lettering and bad lettering are unnecessary." It shows that only a few handicrafts produced by manufacturing can be treated as carved treasures. As a rule, the emperor must allow the inscription of names. For example, on the third day of April in the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), the manufacturer presented the jade carving "Jiufu Jing" to the court, and the Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty specially wrote "Carve Zhu Cai, small officials respect this book". The famous sculptor Zhu Cai not only left famous signatures on his works, but also dentists Feng, Chen Zuzhang, Xiao and Huang Zhenxiao. Painters of Ruyige and some enamel painters who are good at painting have also been instructed to leave their names on the paintings.
Emperor Qianlong expressed his understanding and concern for craftsmen in Jade Cup: "Although the couple of hippopotamus chefs are humble slaves, their deeds are well known and well-founded, so we might as well make a biography of them. Those who remonstrate are not abolished by the classics, so the doctor recorded their words and recorded them. " For artisans who have often been neglected since ancient times, it is a rare honor for craftsmen to pay the price for their works, that is, to enter the public's sight from behind the scenes, which is not only known to the world, but also famous for future generations with the spread of handicrafts.
It is precisely because the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were considerate of the craftsmen's intentions that the craftsmen of the manufacturing institute could gain the trust of the rulers as long as they improved their skills and reached a certain level. For example, in July of the ninth year of Qianlong (1755), Emperor Gaozong ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make a orchid basin according to Ode to the Orchid Basin, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered that "the things on the basin should be made by the teahouse as usual (painting). If the teahouse can't be done, let the craftsmen of the manufacturing office do it. " This shows that emperor Qianlong recognized and trusted the craftsmanship of the manufacturing plant, so he handed over the manufacturing tasks that could not be completed elsewhere to the manufacturing plant.
In the Qing dynasty, rulers often appointed craftsmen in manufacturing offices to inspect collections and tributes. For example, in the tenth year of Qianlong (1745), the palace newly acquired 9 tiles of various types and submitted them to the manufacturing institute for evaluation. According to Gu Pin, an inkstone craftsman, the grade of each tile is "first-class real tile inkstone three, ordinary tile inkstone two, south stone imitation ordinary tile inkstone three, and model stone imitation tile inkstone one".
Because the craftsmen of the manufacturing institute are often called as "tasters" of the court, there is a special "antique appraiser" in the manufacturing institute, which is also recorded in the file. He was awarded for his meritorious service in appraising antiques:
"(December 26th, 9th year of Qianlong), a blue forging was given to Treasurer Bai by eunuch Hu Shijie for the purpose of appreciating antiques and this."
In addition, some excellent craftsmen were often specially appointed by the emperor to create, such as the dentist Ye, who was ordered to carve money on an ivory back in February of the third year of Qianlong (1738); In the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), the painter Tang Dai was ordered to copy the landscape paintings of the famous Ming painter Wang.