Study On The Price Of Agricultural Products In Tang Dynasty

In the traditional agricultural society in China, the price of agricultural products always dominated the social price changes, and the price of agricultural products could serve as a"barometer"of the development of the social economy. Fluctuations in the price of agricultural products not only related to the daily life of the people, but also had an influence on the stability of the society, and we could even judge the development of dynasties from the change of the price of agricultural products. Therefore, all previous dynasties had paid special attention to the price of agricultural products and controlled it strictly. As a peak of the development of Chinese feudal society, Tang Dynasty'level and evolution of prices of agricultural products had distinctive characteristics, and had played very important role in the growth of the Dynasty.There were not systematic records of the price of agricultural products in ancient books, but only some texts of grain price, the price of animal products and some other agricultural products rarely. Besides, the price of agricultural products in record were mostly the high level in famine or low level most plentiful harvest years. This paper has collected and analyzed the documents and statistics historical texts, outlined the the general level of price of agricultural products and other production and subsistence means in Tang Dynasty, in order to have an intuitive understanding on them. Based on this, we could have more in-depth understandings in the conditions of social economy and the evolution of the history in Tang Dynasty.Firstly, through the textual research about the urban and rural markets and the conditions of economic development, this paper has pointed out that the growth of the market of agricultural products laid a solid material foundation for the prosperity of the commodity economy in Tang Dynasty, and promoted rural-urban linkages. Meanwhile, the periphery of cities gradually integrated into the urban economy laps, and led the commercial agricultural development and the commercialization of agricultural products.Secondly, this paper has summed up the process of changes in the price of agricultural products. Price changing in Tang Dynasty could be broadly divided into three stages, that is frequently price fluctuations in Early Tang, low period in next 120 years, and the continuous rise after An-Shih Rebellion. Through the specific investigation of each stage, this research thought that the price changing of agricultural products in Tang Dynasty has three basic characteristics. Firstly, political factors led fluctuations in the price of agricultural products. Secondly, there was remarkable three stages. Thirdly, the overall price level had upward trend and the total level was somewhat low.Thirdly, this paper has did classification quantitative research into the price of agricultural products in Tang Dynasty. Through the textual research, this paper has taken An-Shih Rebellion as the watershed, and grain price befroe this period stabilized basically in 50-200, horse price was about 4000, cattle price was about 2000, but after this period, grain price fluctuated near 500. Price relations between grain and millet was 5:3, price relations between wheat and millet was 2:5. Meanwhile, price relations between grain, thin silk, and salt in former period was close to 1:1:0.8, against about 1:2.4:4 in latter period, that meant price scissors of the industrial products and the agricultural products gradually enlarged.Fourthly, this paper has done further study on the price of production means, and subsistence means. Based on the historical records, we thought that the price of land was several hundred, the price of employee was more than 15, the price of servants was about several thousand, loan interest rate was about 10%, and the price of thin silk in the former period was about 400, salt price was 10, wine price was about 100, while in the latter period the price of thin silk fluctuated near 1000, salt price stabilized basically in 200, and wine price fluctuated between 150 to 300.Fifthly, this paper has analyzed the trend of price fluctuations of agricultural products, and pointed out that natural, political and economic factors deeply affected the price fluctuations. Then elaborated the management system of price of agricultural products in Tang Dynasty in three aspects, that were management models, management organizations and ways of management, and pointed out that the operation of such a system had played a positive role in stabilizing market price, regulating the market order and maintaining social behavior. But because of the strong official colors and the Government excessive intervention in economic activities, there were not the principle of free competition and full compliance with the law of value in the market trading activities. So it would be impossible to really promote the development of commodity economy. At last, the paper has analyzed income and expenditure of farmers in the whole Tang Dynasty, and worked out that even in the early Tang Dynasty, when the price was low, it was difficult for the farmers to maintain the subsistence for a family with five people just through the income of agricultural products, so that with the continuing rise of price of agricultural products in the latter period, the living conditions of farmers had unceasingly worsened, even become impoverished and gone into exile.