Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 11, 2022

The Transformation of the Fiscal Structure in the Late Qing Period

(Abstract)

Ren Zhiyong

The Ming and Qing governments repeatedly stressed “valuing agriculture and discouraging commerce.” In terms of taxation, the main source of finance in the early and mid-Qing was agricultural tax; commercial tax was mainly levied on major long-distance trade and accounted only for a tenth of total tax revenue. After the scandal of theft silver case in the Ministry of Revenue in 1843, officials such as General Xi’en of Shengjing, seeking to raise government revenue, noted the unfairness of “valuing agriculture” but taxing it heavily while discouraging commerce but taxing it lightly. With the outbreak of the Taiping rebellion, the Qing government was hard pressed financially; the Ministry of Revenue attempted to introduce a commercial “shop tax,” early in the third year of the Xianfeng reign, but this was eventually abandoned due to opposition from some Manchu aristocrats and Han literati. However, the objections mainly focused on the practical aspects of the potential for social disruption, rather than the rationality of commercial taxes. With the tottering of the traditional political order of “valuing agriculture and discouraging commerce,” the trend towards commercial taxes was unstoppable, resulting in the emergence and spread of the likin tax throughout the country. Commercial taxes constituted a higher proportion of national finance than agricultural taxes since then, thus transforming the late Qing tax structure. Although merchants were unable to oppose the commercial taxes represented by likin on the grounds of equitable taxation, their resistance was a major tricky problem for the government.