Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2015

 

The Change in Policies on Tax and Corvee Exemption and the Rise and Fall of the Assyrian Empire                                                      

(Abstract)

 

Guo Honggeng

 

The Assyrian empire tax and corvee exemption policy was a strategy aimed at enabling the rulers to safeguard their regime by economic means. Relief from taxes and corvee was a privilege enjoyed only by a few nobles rather than one shared with the whole people, and served as a tool for the king’s political games with different parties in the ruling class. The development of the empire’s politics and economy led to the rise and fall of different groups within the ruling class and to constant changes in the manner, contents and beneficiaries of tax and corv�e exemption. The policy enabled the rulers to win over different parties, stabilize the political situation, and lay a foundation for the development of the Assyrian empire. In the late empire, however, with the rise of the military nobility, the policy of exemptions became a tool for powerful ministers’ manipulation of political affairs. This intensified fiscal problems, deepened social polarization, and ultimately worsened political turbulence. In short, changes in the tax and corvee exemption policy of the Assyrian empire were closely related to the fate of the empire. The wise use of this policy was conducive to the empire’s stable development, but its abuse led to the empire’s fall.