| The article makes a systematic discussion of Legalists' financial thoughts about revenue, expenditure and financial management, through which we found that Legalists put forward a lot of novel ideas conforming to the historical trend of the times. On revenue, it posed three viewpoints. First, it changed the way of levying taxes. It began to levy agricultural tax according to the conditions of cultivated land .It started to let the newly opened up wasteland participate in burdening military tax. These viewpoints helped the productive forces develop quicklier and the new production relationship grow further. Second, it raised original tax rate policies. QinJinLegalists thought that the state should levy heavy taxes except agricultural tax. DongGuoLegalists held that the state should increase the revenue in economic ways instead of levying heavy taxes. The policies were advantageous to the development of the agricultural production and the raise of revenue. Third, it posed the main parts of revenue. QinJinLegalists considered the agricultural tax as the most important part of revenue and put forward some special ways to increase agricultural tax such as soliciting the near peasants through lightening their tax burden. DongGuoLegalists thought that revenue should consist of agricultural tax and earnings got in economic ways. On expenditure, it advanced two positions. First, it discussed whether people should be frugal or luxurious. DongGuoLegalists thought that people should have a frugal consumption in normal harvest years and have extravagant one in famine years so as to stimulate the economic progress and remain the tax sources. QinJinLegalists thought that people should consume carefully and beneficially. Second, Legalists attached much importance to the spending on promoting agricultural production and official salary for making effort to fighting enemy and agricultural production, which was helpful to the agricultural development and slave system changing into feudal one. On financial management, Legalists had three main opinions. First, it posed fundamental guiding principles of financial management including wealth outlook and the theory of riching state. DongGuoLegalists thought that enough material wealth was the premise of the establishment of the ethic standard. So the ruler should rich the people and the state. QinJinLegalists put forward the idea of riching state and depriving the people of their means of production so that the ruler can collect the financial sources to the full to serve their contends for hegemony. Second, it thought that the state should set up well-organized financial organ tostrengthen the management of revenue and expenditure. Third, it thought that the state should build up perfect financial rules and regulations to regulate the behaviour of the revenue and expenditure. Well-organized financial organ and perfect financial rules helped the state control the whole nation's goods and materials to serve the war, which conformed to the trend of the social being unified.Through comparing, we found that the financial thoughts of Confucianism, Mohist School and Taoist School also have many positive and advanced factors. Some classical Financial ideas of Confucianism such as Confucious's idea of conserving tax sources, Mencius's analysis of tax rate, Xunzi's opinion of broadening sources of income and reducing expenditure, the principle of financial organ's establishment and the thought of examining accounts built in ZhouLi exerted a tremendous infuences on the financial system of later ages. But their financial thoughts hadn't the spirit of initiating and the positive attitude towards the social changes reflected in Legalists' thoughts. Legalists' financial thinkings had great practical significance. DongGuoLegalists' thoughts made the State Qi rich and build up its military power. QinJinLegalists1 thoughts brought the State Qin out of poverty and backwardness and help it unify China. Besides, Legalists' financial thoughts' historical significance is providing theoretical bas... |
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