Research On The Supply And Changes Of The Monopoly System In Ancient China

The monopoly system has a long history in our country.Until today,our country still retains the monopoly of the tobacco industry,but the monopoly system played a greater role in ancient times and has a more significant impact.The ancient monopoly system(known as the "Jinque system" in ancient times)was one of the most important systems in the feudal society of our country.It complemented the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce while bringing financial benefits to the feudal government,it also hindered the formation of wealthy merchants and strengthened the governance.This article firstly introduces the emergence and the evolution of the monopoly system in the two thousand years of Chinese history from the three stages of Han Dynasty,Tang Song and Ming and Qing Dynasties.It is believed that the predatory nature of the monopoly system is reflected in the system’s ability to directly transfer profits,reduce the cost of getting profit for the emperor,and maintain the safety of the emperor.This article also summarizes that the evolution of the monopoly system is connected with the power of countries,productivity level and the power of merchant groups.This article takes the emergence and changes of the tea laws in the Northern Song Dynasty as an example,introduces in detail the constraints faced by the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty including profit,safety and power when establishing different tea laws,and summarizes the mandatory and path-dependent features of the tea laws in the Northern Song Dynasty.Based on the theory of mandatory evolution,tea laws in Song Dynasty failed due to the ruler’s bounded rationality,ideological rigidity,and the conflict of interests between the bureaucracy and the ruler.This article believes that the game between interest groups is the driving force of the changes in the Song Dynasty’s tea laws.Bureaucracy representing the ruler,rich merchants,average merchants and tea farmers are the most important players in the game.Bureaucracy acts first and followed by other games.The balance will be broken by the merchants who chasing the maximization of profits and then bureaucracy act again.From the analysis,this article derives three enlightenments from the ancient banning system.First,due to changes in the attributes of the ruler,the modern banning system needs to keep pace with the times,and secondly,the contradiction between the state and the private commercial power can be resolved by finding the compatible interests.Finally,the existence of organizations of compatible benefits can promote institutional revolution.