Financial Relationship Between Central And Local Government

Likin was a financial system which was established by the late Ch'ing dynasty under such environment that the central finance situation was totally deficiency yet Taiping Heavenly Kingdom threatened the sovereignty. As an interim financial measure, the Ch'ing dynasty had no experience to learn and put it to the local government to dispose. Lack of effective supervisory measures, Not only did likin deduce centralism financial system lowered but a series political results produced, such as local military tendency,more local power on personnel arrangement which was owned by central government before. These factors which affected each other and influenced each other caused the relationship changed between central power and local power.As an expedient financial measure which was adopted at specific situation, the Ch'ing dynasty central government had no more ideas on it no matter good or bad. It was only used as military expenditure and to be abrogated until the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom suppressed. With the likin system run, it caused a series consequence. While the Ch'ing dynasty central government realized these dreadful results coming from likin, they took on all possible kind of means in order to retract the collective power. But the group of governors-generals strengthening made the trying of central government showed faint. As an important subject, governors-generals controlled more and more resources and played an important role on the local matters. He had the power to make decisions on how to collect tax and how to pay, how much to be delivered to the superior government and to be kept by the locally government for expenses. Expect of local finical decisory, governor-generals owned the power of local military and personnel arrangement. These resources contributed to develop local public undertakings and promote local self-sovereigns. All these made the governor-generals be the important political power; in some certain they decided the late-ch'ing dynasty politic situation.Through likin we find that it was likin that accelerated financial power lowered. It played very important role in the process of relationship changed of central and local government of late Ch'ing. Yet other factors also influenced the relationship, they were :the characters of agriculture tax deduced limited elastic finance; centralization of anthority of finance unfitted local development; central government lacked of experience of controlling trade tax; local government possessed army power and financial power which enlarged its role in political and economic activities; governor-generals received modern idea which made them breaking up traditional system and became very important person in the changing of relationship between central government and local government.Taking likin as research center, we find that central government gradually lost the control of the supervision on local finance in late ch'ing, and the financial power devolved and fell into disarray, this situation characterized financial trends between central and local governments. Other factors accompanied and influenced the ebb and flow of power of central and local governments throughout the late ch'ing, and made financial relationships much more complex. Through research on likin, we learn that system is changed after it born; we should take some measure to adjust it in order to avoid unnecessary consequences. Especially for the countries which switch from agricultural society to market society, it is most important that how to regulate the financial system and induce activity both central government and local government. All these questions should be researched carefully. Maybe we can absorb some experience and lessons from likin.