A Study On The Tax Lan Na Activity Of Song Dynasty

After the middle of Song Dynasty, The country’s financial situation is tight and the activity of levying taxes has become more difficult. It is caused the attention of central and local officials. To solve this problem, the reformation of Song government is failed, and the tax Lan Na activity becomes more and more popular.This thesis is mainly divided into four parts.The first part focuses on the changes of social environment and the rise of Lan Na activity in the society. In the Song Dynasty, The prosperity of commercial activities caused great changes of social environment. The groups of brokers and businessmen are widely involved in each field of the society, even in the tax collection activities. Therefore, Lan Na activity is the product of the developed commodity economy. In addition, the failure of Tax system reform by Song government also indirectly promoted the development of Lan Na activity.Chapter two and three discuss the social structures, social status, contents and methods of the groups of Lan Na people and Gan people. On the social structures, the group of Lan Na people acts as an intermediary role between the government and the people. On the contents and methods, the activity of Lan Na content almost contain all items and must include two links,"levying" and "paying". In the process of Lan Na activity, market factors in commodity economy have been incorporated into the official tax collection system.Chapter four is researching Song government’s management of Lan Na activity. In the management methods, The Song government through identity constraints and management of household registration safeguards the group of Lan Na legitimacy in the first, followed by the management according to the links of "levying" and "paying".The fifth part summarizes the characteristics and effects of Lan Na activity. From the characteristics of Lan Na activity,the groups of Lan Na people is loosely composed of different occupation of business. They are not only restricted by government, but also has the widespread social basis. In addition, Lan Na activity of itself has become a new industry and the model’s concept of contract is very strong. It is not only obviously inherited in the characteristics of "centralized purchase" and "paying" in the late Tang Dynasty, but also lay the foundation of "sweep" mode in Ming and Qing Dynasties. To get the effect of Lan Na activity, it is an important part of the bottom-up reform movement since the Tang and Song Dynasties. While obtains the result, its disadvantages are also very clear. As results, The government and people meet the needs of both sides. Lan Na activities improve the government’s efficiency of levying taxes and strive for the rest of time to the majority of people. As far as weaknesses, Lan Na activities are influenced by the market profit factors and push the bad influence to engage in malpractices for selfish in the field.The last part simple analysis the contradiction between the negative historical image of Lan Na people in the Song Dynasty and Phenomenon of Lan Na activities in-depth development. The opposition of Confucians and officials is one of the internal causes of this contradiction.