On Qingshui River Accounting Book System In Republic Of China Era

Since ancient China, Qingshui River Basin in southeast of Guizhou Province has been the main producing areas of woods such as firs and pines. The large-scale timber trade promotes not only the cultural communication between local minorities and people of Han nationality in the Central Plains but also the economic development of local minorities. With the prosperity of the timber market in the Qingshui River Basin,the huge economic benefits give birth to the timber business in the Qingshui River timber market. As this economic activity goes on, special personnel will be needed to record, summarize and analyze the ongoing economic activities. And this is an activity to record particular economic activity and we call it accounting bookkeeping.Regard to all the accounting behaviors in any period, a mandatory and fixed form is needed to limit the accountants’ accounting behaviors to standardize the accounting bookkeeping behaviors. In the Republic of China Era, the government had issued the“Accounting Regulations” as early as in March, 1914, but Guizhou Qingshui River area is so remote that the government had a weaker control. Therefore, in the areas of Qingshui River Basin, the specifications of the account book of the timber business were dominated by the autonomous accounting habits of the local civilians. This thesis mainly analyzes the records of the account books gradually accumulated during the operation of timber business in the Qingshui River Basin during the period of the Republic of China. On this basis, the thesis sums up the limitations of the unique accounting habits in the Qingshui River Basin during the period of the Republic of China on the accounting behaviors in the given areas. In addition to the Introduction and Conclusions, the thesis can be mainly divided into three parts:The first part is an outline of the history of Qingshui River timber business andits accounting book. The emergence of the accounting book is indispensable from the operational activity of the timber business so that the development of timber business determines the development of Qingshui River accounting book. Like all economic agents, the timber business in Qingshui River must have experienced the same process: development, prosperity and recession. In different periods of development of the timber business, the accounting books that record the economic situation of the timber business also show different characteristics. And the requirements for the accountants and the specification system of accounting may change along with the development cycle of the timber business. Besides, the first part sorts out the accounting books accumulated by Qingshui River Longmaosheng Timber Business from 1914 to 1934. Then, it takes development situation of Qingshui River timber business into consideration and makes a general analysis of the characteristics of a fixed period reflected in Qingshui River accounting books during the Republic of China Era.The second part is a specific analysis of Qingshui River accounting books in the Republic of China Era. In accordance with provisions of relevant modern accounting laws and regulations, the accounting books is a carrier to record concrete economic businesses. And all economic subjects have the liability to guarantee its authenticity and completeness. And a complete accounting book shall have a unified regulation in the format of the accounting books, the writing format of the accounting items,accounting symbols, accounting date, the summary of the economic business reflected by the accounting items and the amount of money. With the contents of such provisions as a clue, this part analyzes the Qingshui River accounting books collected from the folks during the Republic of China Era one by one. In particular, the accounting numerical codes used in Qingshui River accounting books are analyzed in great details, including the numerical symbols of the amount, the format of writing and some special expressions.The third part analyzes the accounting habits in the Qingshui River accounting books during the Republic of China Era so as to discover the rules and summarize the accounting system of timber business in Qingshui River Basin during the period ofthe Republic of China. As the ancient saying goes, “every country has its laws; every family has its rules; every nation has its customs; every village has its agreements;and every business has its principle.” Every minority has cultural concepts with the national characteristics of its own. And national customary law is originated from national culture and more importantly, it is a vital component of the national culture of the minorities. It comes from the folks, takes roots in social production and social life and gets a wide recognition in a given place. Therefore, people in minority areas are more willing to observe it. National Laws does not go further enough to the Qingshui River ethnic minority areas. Both the adjustment of civil relation and the constraints of economic subjects depend mainly on the habits accumulatively formed in the long-term economic activities of people who have lived in this particular place.And the habits also include the specifications and adjustment of the accounting behaviors of the accountants. On the basis of the second part, the third part analyzes and summarizes the customary specifications of accounting books of various timber businesses in Qingshui River Basin in the Republic of China Era.