baojia, traditional Chinese system of collective neighbourhood organization, by means of which the government was able to maintain order and control through all levels of society, while employing relatively few officials.
A collective neighbourhood guarantee system was first instituted during the Warring States Period, when groups of 5 households formed a wu. This method of organization was revived in a different form during the Northern Wei dynasty (ad 386–534/535) but did not take on the name by which it is now known until the Song dynasty (960–1279), when a baojia system was instituted by the great reformer Wang Anshi as a military measure. Under Wang’s scheme, 10 households formed a bao, and 5 bao a dabao. Each baojia was made responsible for supplying the government with a certain number of trained and armed militiamen.
During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the baojia system often coincided with the lijia system, which had been established for the collection of land and labour taxes. But it also began to assume the separate function of overseeing the moral conduct of members of the community. The Qing dynasty (1644–1911) perfected the system. Under the Qing, a baojia unit ideally consisted of 10 families formed into a jia and 10 jias formed into a bao, all under the supervision of an elected chief. The chief of each unit was responsible for preserving the public order; he also maintained the local census records and acted as an intelligence agent for the central government. Baojia organization began to deteriorate about the middle of the 19th century, when central control over local government began to erode.
From November 1934 until 1949, the baojia system was practiced throughout China; it was abolished after the communist government took control in 1949.