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6 - Financial Administration, Market, and Merchants

from Text 6 - Regulating Markets and Government Grain Purchases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2025

Timothy Brook
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Lianbin Dai
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
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Summary

This chapter surveys Qiu’s ideas about financial administration, drawing on Section 4, “Administering State Finances” (Chapters 20–35) of the Supplement. The chapter discusses Qiu’s recommendations for regular and light taxation centred on the land tax and how to control government expenditure, before turning to his view of the state’s relationship with the market and merchants. The state must only involve itself in the market in a limited way, with the exception of moderating the supply of grain, since it is a basic necessity for life and the fundamental source of wealth. A brief overview of policies illustrates Qiu’s support for commerce. Throughout, the chapter also considers how Qiu’s ideas might have reflected or influenced actual practice. While there is some indication that his proposals may have been implemented, by the late Ming and especially from the later Wanli era onwards, the prudent financial administration that Qiu advocated did not exist.

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Chinese Statecraft
Political Theory and Administrative Practice in Ming China
, pp. 96 - 112
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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