The ancient Chinese tax system
The overall characteristics of the ancient Chinese tax system are: the standard of collection has changed from people to acres and assets; the method of collection has changed from physical land rent to monetary land rent; The name of the currency has changed from multiple components to a single currency; the collection time has developed from irregular to regular; farmers' service has developed from being required to serve to being able to serve on their behalf.
The situation of the tax system in ancient China is:
(1) Spring and Autumn Period: "Initial taxation of acres", which is the beginning of China's land tax system.
(2) Qin Dynasty: Farmers had to hand over 2/3 of their harvest to the government as taxes.
(3) Western Han Dynasty: Implementing the policy of recuperation and recuperation. The land rent is 15% tax. During the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, land rents were reduced or reduced many times. Reward mulberry farmers and reduce the burden on homesteaders. During the reigns of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, rest and recuperation continued. The Han Dynasty was the period when China's complete feudal tax system began to take shape.
(4) Northern Wei and Sui Dynasties: Rent adjustment, based on the land equalization system, the three chiefs were responsible for collecting rent transfer, collecting corvee and military service.
(5) Early Tang Dynasty: On the basis of the land equalization system, the method of renting and adjusting was implemented. Regulations: Men in fields pay 2 shi of grain to the state every year, which is called "rent"; pay 2 feet of silk, 3 taels of silk, or 2 feet and 4 feet of cloth, and 3 pounds of hemp, which is called "tiao"; men in the prime of life serve for 20 days every year, no Those who go to serve can wear silk or cloth instead, which is called "Yong". If the country has an emergency and increases the corvee service, the additional 15 days will be exempted from transfer, and the 30-day rent transfer will be exempted. The maximum number of additional days of additional service per year shall not exceed 30 days in case of disaster. The government exempts, exempts, and adjusts rents based on specific circumstances.
(6) Mid-Tang Dynasty: Due to serious land annexation, the original land equalization system was destroyed. The Tang government adopted the suggestion of Prime Minister Yang Yan and implemented the Two Taxes Law. Its content is: ① Abolition of rent and miscellaneous taxes; ② Regardless of the owner or customer, all household registration taxes will be based on the current place of residence; ③ Abandon the method of taxing by ding and change to taxing by assets and acres; ④ Taxation is divided into summer and autumn every year. Summer does not last until June, and autumn does not last until November. The Two Tax Law changed the way of taxation, from the capitation tax to the tax collection based mainly on land property. The Two Tax Law also relaxed the feudal state's personal control over farmers.
(7) Song Dynasty: Wang Anshi implemented the Recruitment Law (abolition of the service system based on household rotation, and the government hired people to serve. Civilian households who were originally supposed to serve had to pay exemption money. Those who had the privilege of not serving or due to Those who are poor and orphans and do not serve in the military must also contribute money to assist the army), the square field equalization tax law (clearing the land to prevent tax evasion), the young crop law (lending money to households in the spring, and paying it back with the two taxes in summer and autumn, with an additional two cents of interest), and Bao Ma Law (ordering people to raise horses, and those who wish to be exempted from part of the tax).
(8) Jin Dynasty: Jin Xizong took measures to encourage farming and reduce taxes and servitude.
(9) Ming Dynasty: The craftsman silver system stipulates that craftsmen have a fixed service time, and they can engage in commodity production on their own when not serving. Later, it was also stipulated that craftsmen could receive silver instead of serving, which gave craftsmen more of freedom. After Zhang Juzheng's reforms, he re-measured the land, investigated the hidden fields of powerful landlords, reformed the tax and labor system, and implemented the "one whip law." That is to say, the original method of apportioning corvee labor according to households and dings was changed to apportionment according to the number of dings and field grains. Some of the servitudes were divided into acres. All kinds of taxes, servitudes and miscellaneous taxes were merged into one, and all were paid in silver. The One Whip Law is an important reform of the tax and servitude system. It simplifies the collection items and procedures and helps prevent powerful officials and officials from evading taxes by hiding their fields. This reduces the burden on farmers to a certain extent. The silver exchange system reflects the development of the commodity economy and the weakening of farmers' personal dependence, and has a positive effect on the generation of monetary land rent and the commercialization of some agricultural products.
(10) Qing Dynasty: Kangxi implemented the system of "growing people and never increasing taxes". Yongzheng implemented the method of "dividing ding tax into acres" and levied a unified land tax of ding silver among acres.