Abstract: Pawning clothing refers to the activity of using clothes as collateral for lending, which is closely related to citizens of the lower and middle classes, especially the poor. By analyzing the relevant cases involving pawning clothing in Manual of the Criminal Justice Department during the Jiaqing Regime in Qing Dynasty, it can be observed that the clothes commonly pawned by the common people during the mid-Qing period mainly included cotton padded jackets, cotton robes, fur coats, and Chinese traditional blouse. Most of these were clothes that the common people had worn in their daily lives, and these ragged garments still had certain pawn value to varying degrees. In terms of time, the pawning clothes by the common people followed the pattern of pawn in spring and redemption in autumn, which adapted to the agricultural seasons. In terms of purpose and motivation, most transactions of pawning clothes were driven by urgent circumstances in daily life, although there were also cases of pawning clothes for charitable purposes. The phenomenon of stripping clothes to pay debts and borrowing and pawning clothes indicates that the ownership and the right to pawn the items can be transferred during the pawning process. On the one hand, this transfer of rights facilitated emergency situations for the common people, but on the other hand, it provided opportunities for unscrupulous individuals to use pawnshops for illicit activities. The act of borrowing and pawning clothes demonstrated trust and warmth among relatives and neighbors. However, it was considered to violate the principle of emphasizing human relationships in all matters in traditional Chinese society, when creditors repeatedly pressed for the redemption of pawned clothes or even demanded stripping clothes to pay debts. The violation, therefore, led to many instances of violent conflicts.