Macabe Keliher

I am a historian of pre-modern and modern China. My primary research interests are political culture and law, with a particular focus on state formation. I received a BA in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an MA in history from the George Washington University. My master’s thesis re-examined American East Asia policy in the nineteenth century, a chapter of which was published in Diplomatic History. I received my PhD in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University. The title of my dissertation is “The Manchu Transformation of Li: Ritual, Politics, and Law in the Making of Qing China, 1631-1690.”

My dissertation research explores the role of political culture in the Manchu conquest of China. Beginning with the establishment of the six administrative boards in 1631, and culminating with the codification of the rules and regulations for administrative procedure in 1690, my work argues that Qing state-makers formed a coherent system of administrative practices and codes, which were informed by a certain interpretation of what contemporaries called li (often translated as ritual or rites). Both historical actors and modern day scholars have long recognized the importance of li in the organization and operations of the Qing state. But, whereas contemporary actors frequently spoke of li as a system, historians have focused on specific practices and their relation to politics. Delving into the particularities and congruencies of li as constructed by the Manchus, my work addresses the lacuna in our understanding about li as system for organizing Qing politics and law. I argue that the Manchus transformed the institution and practice of li, and thereby developed a unique administrative apparatus. The dissertation builds upon recent insights into the nature of the Qing as a multiethnic, expansionist empire, and shows that the Qing neither adopted traditional Chinese understandings and practices of li, nor copied Ming dynasty administrative institutions, as often assumed; rather, the Manchus transformed li in the immediacy of their context, which facilitated the development of a new administrative order.