Abstract: Studying the governance of clan organizations enhances our insight into the nature of local governance of traditional society. From the late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, clans played a significant role in local governance, especially in that of taxation and corvee, a undeniable truth which has been explained by a large amount of literature. However, opinions of scholars have been divided regarding the nature of clans and their significance in the governance, especially on the former issue, i.e. whether clans are spontaneously evolved blood groups or artificially constructed patriarchal clan systems. On account of this, it is necessary to explore the transformation of clan roles, and the incentive and constraint mechanisms behind the governance role of clans against the background of taxation and corvee reforms in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and further probe into their nature and significance in local social governance. An analysis of the understanding of relevant subjects on the property ownership relationship and their opinions on the way in which taxes and corvee are apportioned, and a discussion, from the perspective of institutional implementation, of the boundaries of property ownership, the principles of tax and corvee bearing, and the effectiveness of contract implementation in the patriarchal clan society, reveal that in addition to blood ties, the identification of patriarchal concepts plays an important role in clan governance. As a result, groups such as Fang Zhang and Shen Shi, as spokespersons of imperial power, dominate local governance, and by patriarchal relationships, the patriarchal property rights system is strengthened and public affairs cooperation is constrained.

Key words: local governance, clan governance, taxation and corvee system, patriarchal property rights