Research On Salt-tax Laws And Systems During Qing Dynasty Before The Opium War

During the past dynasties of China, tax is the focus of most Salt Laws. And the law salt tax had been listed in the ancient legal systems of China. Without Salt Laws, the Salt-tax would not be tax. And without Salt Laws, the Salt-tax would depart from its original intentions.The thesis takes the legal origins of Salt-tax during the Qing Dynasty (before the Opium War) as the objects of the research: the Gangyan Law, the Piaoyan Law, and laws on smuggling of salt. By discussing the content and characteristics of the Gangyan Law and the Piaoyan Law, the author thinks that the Salt-tax laws are history heritage and once provided legal guarantee for the State finance at that time. But the rigid tax ideology and the systems could hardly make up the financial expending of some incidences breaking out suddenly. When some imbalances in finance occurred for which it was hard to change, the excess reliance on Salt-tax and collection of tax made the Gangyan Law hard to maintain. It is admitted that the changing of Yin to Piao did reform some cankers of the old laws. But some long-standing cankers in the old laws also reserved. So the thesis analyzes the disadvantages the Salt-tax Laws and some cankers during the implementation. The author enumerates some items in the Qing Dynasty Laws and the relations among the salt tax, salt-tax laws and suppressing the smuggling of salt. The reasons for the failure of prohibition against the salt smuggling are the corruption in the implement and salt-tax law itself.Even in the system that the salt officials and salt dealers shared the profits and the salt dealers enjoyed the benefit, the law did not ensure their economic profits. So the salt dealers could not become the dependent social class and the government caused the standstill of the Salt-tax laws.The thesis consists of five parts. Part one introduces the legal origins of Salt-tax Laws during Qing Dynasty (before the Opium War): the Gangyan Law, suppressing the smuggling and the Piaoyan Law; Part two introduces the characteristics or Salt-tax Laws during Qing Dynasty (before the Opium War). The Salt-tax Laws demanded that the salt dealers should first pay the tax and afterwards they can engage in the salt business and the government divided the districts for Salt. This shows that the purpose of the Salt-tax Laws is to meet the government's financial requirements. Part three introduces the relation of Salt-tax Laws during Qing Dynasty (before the Opium War)and the country's finance. The Gangyan Law and Piaoyan Law guarantee the country's finance to some extent. But at the same time, the there were some malpractices in the implementation. Part four discusses the flux of Salt-tax Laws during Qing Dynasty (before the Opium War). The implementation of the Salt-tax Laws made the salt officials and dealer the beneficiaries, but the benefits of salt dealers could not get guarantee from government. Part five is the revelation from the Salt-tax Laws during Qing Dynasty (before the Opium War).The discussion from chapter one to chapter four gives us some revelations that the salt-tax laws and systems of Qing Dynasty had overemphasized the taxation plans, and had overlooked the taxation cost and whether this was beyond the civil people's abilities. And the author thinks it is necessary to regulate the formulation and implementation of taxation plans, to improve the consciousness of check and calculation of tax cost, to reinforce the function of taxation in adjusting and controlling the distribution justice.