Taxation And Governmental Finance In Sixteenth-century Ming China (cambridge Studies In Chinese History, Literature And Institutions)

Originally published in 1974, this is a detailed study of the financial administration of the Chinese government during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), with particular attention to the sixteenth century, a topic about which very little has been published either in Chinese or any Western language. Professor Huang has worked through an enormous quantity and variety of source material - in particular the 133 substantial volumes of the Ming Veritable Records - and has compared the documents on financial matters with the entries in local gazetteers. The complicated workings of government finance present great difficulties to all specialists in Chinese financial and administrative history and in different branches of local Chinese history from the fifteenth century onwards. Professor Huang's study will provide all such researchers with an authoritative work of reference. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgements A note on weights and measures The Ming emperors Map of Ming provinces 1 Fiscal organization and general practices I Governmental organization The nature of the Ming monarchy and its role in public finance Palace expenditures and the eunuchs The minister of revenue and the ministry of revenue Other ministries Fiscal agencies of the central government in the provinces Provincial government and local government Fiscal administration of the army The aristocracy II Rural organization and basis of taxation The Yellow Book The li-chia system and the service levy Other service obligations fulfilled by the general population Main features of land tax assessment 2 The heritage of the sixteenth century and major fiscal problems I The level of state income and modifying factors The quota system Inadequate budgeting The expandable and contractible fiscal unit Lack of service support The palace expenditures II Land and population data Land data Population data III The maintenance of the army The legend and legacy of a self-supporting army The criss-crossing supply lines The decline of the military establishment IV The monetary problem Paper currency Copper coinage Unminted silver in tax administration and as a common mediumof exchange 3 The land tax—(i) Tax structure I The complexities of the tax structure The extent of the complexity: the case of Shun-te Causes of the complexities II Regional variations The Yangtze delta North China Other irregularities III The service levy and its partial absorption by the land taxes The divisions of the service levy up to 1500 From the chiin-yao method to Single Whip Reform The Single Whip Reform and its limitations Methods of absorbing the service levy into the land taxes The extent of absorption The consequences of tax consolidation IV Further modifications of the tax structure Military supplies Accessory surtaxes The absorption of miscellaneous and uncollectible items 4 The land tax—(ii) Tax administration I Tax administration by the local government Preparation for tax collection Tax agents Distribution and function of tax agents The tax payment Tax delivery II Factors affecting the general administration The grain quota and associate factors Complications caused by land tenure, land leases, and farm prices III The level of collection page Provincial tax quotas in piculs of grain The level of collection indicated in local accounts The level of collection estimated from miscellaneous sources An overall estimate of the collection IV Disbursement of tax income Principles governing the distribution Distribution of tax revenue: the case of Lin-fen Distribution of tax revenue: the case of Wu-hsien V A final analysis of the land tax system Were the tax rates too high ? The operating expenses of the local government: informal taxation The fallacy of'*preserving the wealth within the people'' 5 The salt monopoly I The mechanism of the salt monopoly Organization at the national level The distribution commission The distribution procedure II Governmental control and manipulation Registered salt producers Control over production The role of the salt merchants Delivery priorities and deficit financing up to 1500 III Administrative cycles in the sixteenth century The blocking of the yin The crisis of the 1520s The crises of the 1560s and 1600s IV Revenues, salt prices, and their effects on consumers Barter rates and excise schedules Projected income from the salt monopoly and its allocation Higher salt prices and lower state revenues V Responsibility for the failure Official corruption Fundamental causes of the failure Unnoticed proposals for reform 6 Miscellaneous incomes I Revenues from commerce and industry (a) The inland customs duty (b) Local business tax (shang-shui) (c) The maritime tariff (fan-p'o ch'ou-fen) (d) Store franchise fees (meng-t'an shui) (e) Duties on wine and vinegar (chiu-ts'u shui), and (/) Stamp tax on real estate transfers (fang-ti ch'i shui) (g) The forest produce levy (chou-mo ch'ou-fen) (h) Government mining (k'uang-yin) (i) Fish duty (yü-k'o) II Administrative income (j) Sale of rank (k'ai-na shih-li) (k) Ecclesiastical license fees (seng-tao tu-t'ieh) (l) Payment for 'rationed salt' (hu-k'ou shih-yen-chiao) (m) Fines and commutation of punishments (tsang-fa) (n) Profits from minting {chu-ch'ien li-yun) (o) The ' common post money' (chuang-p'eng yin) (p) Incense fees at national shrines (hsiang-shui) III Cash income from commutation of services and supplies (q) 'Speed-the-delivery money' (ch' ing-chi yin) (r) Artisan payment (chiang-yin) (s) Reeds tax (lu-k'o) (t) Supplies to the four bureaus (ssu-ssu liao-chia) (u) Horse payment (ma-chia) (v) Commutation oj'capitalguardduty (pan-chun che-yin) (w) Commutation of personal attendance (tsao-li che-yin) (x) Savings from postal service(i-ch'uan yin) (y) Calendar paper (li-jih (z) Kitchen service fees due to court of imperial entertainments (kuang-lu-ssu ch' u-liao) IV Non-cash income (aa) Income from the tea and horse trade (ch'a-ma) (bb) Other items not listed V Summary of miscellaneous incomes Estimated revenues Critical observations on miscellaneous sources of income 7 Financial management I The ministry of revenue in the sixteenth century The ministry as an operating agency The revenues of the Vai-ts'ang Treasury Disbursement in Peking II Inter-provincial and inter-ministerial administration Direction and supervision of provincial management Execution of large-scale water-control projects Palace construction III Appropriation of military supplies Rising military expenditures Military farming in the sixteenth century Support of the northern army posts Supplies of military establishments in the interior IV Fiscal retrenchment under Chang Chii-cheng The record of Chang's administration The background of the administration On the threshold of a major reform Governmental finance after Chang Chii-cheng 8 Concluding observations I The risks of over-simplification The dynastic cycle theory The Ming dynasty as a feudal state Moral interpretation of history II Ming financial administration and its place in Chinese history Centralization ahead of technology Separation of theory from practice Retrogression and retardation Purposes of the financial administration The long-term consequences List of abbreviations Appendixes A. Landed properties not subject to regular taxation B. Customary fees and extra services collected by the magistrate of Shun-an county, Chekiang, 1561 C. Barter rates and excise tax on each yin of salt, 1535 D. Partial returns of the land survey of 1581, as recorded in Ming Shih-lu Notes to the text Bibliography Glossary index General index By Ray Huang. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 368-376.