In normal circumstances, the Qing government operated its usual social control mechanisms with the assistance of the local gentry, who mediated between the local government and the people. However, the gentry could come into direct conflict and confrontation with the government if their interests were not satisfied or were encroached on. The government-local gentry conflict in the Changsha Rice Riot of 1910 can serve as a typical case. Because of complex and intricate conflicts of interest, the local gentry not only failed to help the local officials suppress the riot, but took advantage of the mood of the famine victims to confront the local officials. This threw them into disarray, rendering them unable to control the development of events. The Qing government suppressed the local gentry by force and inflicted severe punishment upon the representatives of the old gentry who had incited the riot, so that they lost their ties with government. The new gentry, on the other hand, had also lost faith in the government because of the delay in the preparation of the constitution. The escalation of the government-gentry conflict led to cleavage between the government and the local gentry. The failure of this traditional mechanism of social control undermined the rule of the Qing dynasty and accelerated its fall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]