The Jinniu Mines in Huize 会泽县金牛厂
Records and questions:
The Mines were officially opened in 1798 and appear in the tax records of 1829 and are reported to have been productive in the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods (Daoguang Yunnan tongzhi 1835 and Xinzuan Yunnan tongzi 1940). A tax income of 289.814 liang is recorded for 1829. Huang Mengju’s Diannan shishi, however, reflects more detail and a rather different history. Huang, who served as magistrate of Huize from 1843 to 1846, recorded that the mines were productive from 1788 or 1789, reached an output of 1000 liang per day in 1797 or 1798, but encountered serious problems in intruding water from 1799 and barely paid taxes of 7 to 8 liang twenty years before his time of writing. that they were no longer productive during his period in office. With the tax quota of 289 liang still in the books, other mines in the vicinity in fact had to produce the metal. He mentions a site at 开仓箐, at 20 li from Jinniu, where small workings existed in his time.
Jinniu is a site that probably was productive for only a relatively short period and at the same time a rare case of specific records. The goal of the fieldwork was gaining an impression of the scope of workings and to find evidence that would support or contraditct the reliability of Huang Mengju’s record.
Fieldwork by Nanny Kim, with Yu Hua 余华, Zhang Yemei 张叶梅 and Zhang Zhicheng 邓智成 of the History Department of Yunnan University, 12 -13 November 2016
Supported by: the Department of History of Yunnan University by providing a car with driver and by the village government of Jinniu
Main informant: Xu Donghai 徐东海 of Jinniu village
The group reached Jinniu towards 2 pm, with the car having a flat on the road from Daibu 待补 along the valley that runs straight SSE towards the southern end of the Guniuzhaishan 姑牛寨山 Massif. Jinniu is a large village with many new buildings on a tongue just above the confluence of two streams. It happened to be market day. Yemei started asking about old mines and quickly hit on a group of old men drinking and chatting. One guy became specific almost instantly: Xu Donghai 徐东海, 63 years, 4rth generation in the village, his ancestors moved in from Daibu. His son is the village mayor (cunzhang 村长), so he arranged for us to stay and promised to lead us around to show all sites of old mining on the next day. He claimed that walking into the mining area would take 2 hours at least, so at about 3:30 pm is was too late for today. He alluded that he had lost money in an attempt at exploiting ores and mentioned that a couple of “intellectuals” from Hebei had spent 2 days to explore the historic mines a few years ago. [Presumably these were prospecting for a mining company]. He told us two stories: about 3 brothers who entered an old mine and died in there, presumably this happened relatively recently. The other involved a saying that 28 (?) tables were needed at mealtime at the smelters when the mines were in operation, suggesting large numbers of workers. [He repeated this story the following day with a different number of tables, “some 20”]
In the afternoon went for a stroll along the slope to the east of the village. Two streams join a short way above, on coming through a gap in the ridge to the east. We got a good look into the valley of the Qingshuihe 清水河, where the historic mines were located.
We were put up in the village government building that was still partly under construction and empty at night, but equipped with 5 beds.
Met Old Xu Left about 8 am and followed him a couple of km into the valley, then up a steep side valley to the south, seemingly leading right up a southern flank of Guniuzhaishan. Old Xu pointed out a caved in mine entrance on the western slope right next to the path. A rectangle in the rocky slope, about 4-5 m high and 5-8 m wide, covered in debris, evidently not a natural dent in the slope, boggy at the bottom. Shortly above this site we crossed the stream and followed a zig-zag path up the eastern slope. The path had a name that I forgot. Partly visibly cut into the rock. About 150 m up the slope, the valley widens into a half-bowl. Old Xu told us that there were 8 known mine entrances in this bowel. He took us to the lowest, a quite large entrance, about 2 m across, 1.5 m high, partly waterlogged. Potato terraces all around the amphitheatre, also in the side valleys above and below, now all abandoned. According to Old Xu, they were abandoned about 10 years ago and are now used for grazing cattle and goats. Passed by 2 more mine entrances. At the first, Old Xu noted that the three brothers died in this mine. He also pointed out several more further up the slope, facing roughly north. Xu pointed out saddles on the ridge southwestwards, about 100 m above our level. These were called Dayingpan 大营盘 and Xiaoyingpan 小营盘 and according to local traditions were the sites of housing for the miners and shops. We climbed out of the bowl on the eastern slope and around a nose above the valley of the Qingshuihe. Turning back along the ridge we got to a saddle on that according to Old Xu was the former temple site. The name of the temple was not known to him. Beyond the saddle, the ridge becomes very steep, rising to the lower peaks at well over 3000 m. From this point a well visible caravan trail heads down towards Jinniu village. Old Xu told us that the ore used to be carried down this road. We walked down and reached the village in roughly half an hour. Old Xu pointed out two more mining entrances on the slope of this side-valley, at a similar height as the lower mines of Jinniu. These mines were called Luoma dong [if I understood correctly].
The smelting site was on both banks of the stream (Qingshuihe) near the valley mouth, on the fields along the northern bank still lots of slags. Some people came and bought up slags in the 1990s. The site on the other bank is now built up with new houses. Xu completed his story: there used to be 18 furnaces, 28 tables.
Also told a story that the name of the mine owner was Xiao Fu 萧富, he dug for ore for 8 days but didn’t strike any, then a man from Xuanwei 宣威 came by and told him to dig on, yet after 5 days they still found nothing. The man told them they would strike silver ores on the 6th day and left, and they did. Later on, this man was enticed to come back from Xuanwei, and stayed at Jinniuchang for 10 years, pointing out the sites of new mines. Finally, another mine in Xuanwei enticed him away again, and Jinniu went in decline.
At breakfast-lunch at the village government, Old Xu received a call that his son had an accident, whereupon he had to go to the hospital at Daibu. Small Xiyue gong [Hunan temple] is in present center of the village. The temple is now used as a meeting place for the elderly, but key could not be found. Reportedly and as far as visible, no stele had survived. The structure consisted of a single, quite small courtyard. Old Xu had also mentioned another site without any remains called Lao guanfang at the upper end of the village, and a rather large mine above Dapengzi, a village of 40 households about 5 km into the valley of the Qingshuihe. This mine is known as the Hongxingdong 宏兴洞. Another village used to exist even further up the valley [forgot the name]. Due to the accident we did not see these sites but instead decided to explore the next valley downstream.
Headed back about 2 pm, stopped at the next turnoff and inquired for Qingmenkou 箐门口 and Dapingzi 大坪子/Daopingzi 道坪子/Pingkai 坪街 and mining up that valley. An old couple at/before Qingmenkou directed us on the track to Pinggai, headed up the valley, easy walking. Asked several more old people, Could not identify the villages. Short way before Pinggai got told yes, there were to mining entrances nearby, now overgrown. Not certain about the dating. Further up (beyond Pinggai) got told that there were a number of mines further up, and slags near the old graves. Found the site easily. Graves quite old, no legible inscriptions left, but some with small tablets, some still being looked after. Slags on slope below, extension small, possibly in and along a small brook and extending under the graves. Decided to walk up a little further, met an old man (who told us he was 75, looked very well, his family moved in 5 generations ago) that this village was Lufang 炉房/Liufang 六房, that a few years ago (about 2010) a mine had been operated, there people built the driving track, gave up because of permit problems (presumably illegal). We reached the main valley and the car about 4:30 pm and drove on to Huize.
Results:
No oral histories of conflict, therefore an end of mining before the civil wars probable. Also all informants confirmed that mining had ended by the time their ancestors moved into the area.
A relatively brief history of exploitations from the late 18th to the early 19th century hence appears probable, with the 8 mines of Jinniu under a single owner not improbable. It also appears convincing that these mines, possibly together with the Hongxingdong at Dapengzi were the main productive workings. The amount of slags at Jinniu is not known. The former slag dump as indicated by Mr. Xu is sizeable but not huge, supporting a relatively brief period of intensive exploitation. The slag dump near Liufang was relatively small. The distance and the name of Guancangqing in the vicinity strongly suggests that this is the site of which Huang Mengju recorded minor exploitations in the 1840s. The fieldwork findings support the situation reported by Huang Mengju.
This result has major implications for the reliability of tax records: If Huang Mengju’s account is correct, the Jinniu Mines began exploitation on a sizeable scale in 1788/9 and became highly profitable around 1797/8, before underground mining had to be abandoned due to intruding water only a year or two later. The official opening of the mines involved the setting up of a mine yamen on site and took place in 1798, soon after the profitability became known. The tax quota evidently was set then. It remained in place through the following three decades, despite the fact that outputs plummeted the following year. We have to conclude that the tax quota was set when a mine became sufficiently productive to require formal supervision or legitimation. It might reflect the output at this moment, but cannot be extrapolated in any way across the time period during which the quota remained in place.
The distribution of mines, the temple, the yamen, and the smelting site at Jinniu were clear and complete and therefore important for a better understanding of the geography of a mine of moderate size.
To further ascertain the local traditions, the collection of more oral histories in both valleys would be useful. Finding the families who tend the graves near Liufang and hear their stories would be particularly useful.
