A Study Of The Salt Industry In Northern Jin From Qing To Republic Of China(1736-1937)

The salt monopoly system was an economic product of China’s feudal society and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties.In the salt industry of the Qing Dynasty,the most important system was the monopoly system,which was summarized as "the production of salt with a fixed field,the production of salt with a fixed amount,the transportation of salt with a fixed merchant,and the marketing of salt with a fixed shore",and the division and setting of salt zones was one of the most important.At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty,the Qing government did not set up salt districts in most areas of Shanxi,but rather,the salt tax was assessed into the land of the silver into the Hedong Transport Division Yamen to collect.However,the limited sales of Hedong salt in the northern part of Jin made it difficult to maintain the system of citing the shore in this area,and because of the insufficient production of local salt in northern Jin,there was a need for salt from the nearby salt jin to fill the market gap,resulting in the coexistence of local salt,Ji salt,and Changlu salt in northern Jin,which had a significant impact on the salt service in northern Jin.This paper aims to clarify the issue of salt reform and the formation of salt areas in northern Jin from the middle of the Qing Dynasty to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,taking into account the natural and human environment of northern Jin and the case of salt reform in northern Jin.Firstly,this paper compares relevant documents such as Qing dynasty archives and local chronicles,and analyzes the reasons for the coexistence of various salt marketing areas in the region through a brief description of the natural environment,human and economic environment,and population size of the salt area in northern Jin during that time period.Secondly,we investigate the production,transportation,and marketing of the main marketable salt jins,such as earth salt,Ji salt,and Changlu salt,in the northern Jin region,and analyze the operation of the regional salt resource distribution between Jin,Hebei,and Mongolia.The salt reform in northern Jin is considered in the light of the salt problems faced by the Qing and the Republic of China,and an in-depth understanding of the market-oriented and administrative rationality in the operation mechanism of salt administration in the Qing Dynasty is provided.The reforms undertaken in the salt region of northern Jin during the Republican period are analyzed,and the policies adopted by the Qing and Republican governments on salt administration in northern Jin are compared,concluding that the shortcomings of salt administration in northern Jin were caused by a combination of irrational macro-regulation and local protectionism.The period from the Qing to the Republic of China was a period of significant progress in the salt industry in northern Jin,during which the feudal salt law system gradually transitioned to modernization.A sound salt management system was established for salt administration in northern Jin.Despite the difficult and slow development of salt administration in northern Jin under the constraints of various factors,the trend of gradual modernization was maintained.