紳衿による税糧包攬と淸朝國家

Abstract

In the early eighteenth century when the Qing government was trying to establish the principle that the landholder should pay tax directly, the practice of Baolan (tax farming) by the Shenchin (gentry) led to the large-scale avoidance of tax. This system of tax avoidance spread throughout the land, both to the north and the south. The political influence of the Shendiin in the local government made this possible. In order to evade unoffical exploitation by the local government, the ordinary landholder inevitably came to be absorbed into the Baolan system through Guiji 詭寄 (commendation of land to the Shenchin). This led to a stricter policing of the Baolan regulations in the Yongzheng 雍正 period, but this was not successful and finally even the regulation was withdrawn in the Qianlong 乾隆 period. Behind the Government's decision lay the realization that the system of Baolan by the Shenchin was deeply-rooted in society, and that it developed and spread in spite of attempts at strict enforcement of the regulation. Seen from the tax collection point of view, the government of the Qing dynasty was not able to eliminate local control by the Shenchin; on the contrary, effective government was only possible by coming to terms with the realities of local society. In this respect, it affords an illustration of the realities of governance by a "despotic dynasty".