Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2015

 

The “Tax Field”: A Historical Study of Land Tax Measures during the Qin and Han Dynasties

(Abstract)

 

Zang Zhifei

 

In the Qin dynasty, based on the household land distribution system, separate land taxes were calculated and collected for three crops, i.e., grain, fodder and forage. The tax on grain was calculated according to the tax field system, i.e. part of a household’s arable land was denominated a “tax field” in the fifth month, with the tax being collected after the autumn harvest as land tax. The tax field basically occupied 1/10 of the household’s land, depending on the type of land. The taxes on fodder and forage were calculated on a per qing (顷) basis, with three dan (石) of fodder and two dan of forage being levied as land tax. All were collected on a household basis. Land tax in the Western Han Dynasty continued to be calculated by type of crop and collected on a household basis, but the grain-based tax was reduced to 1/30. The taxes on fodder and forage were calculated as before, but provided that “each household paid sixteen qian (钱) in the fifth month and turned in one dan in the tenth month” the timing and content of the taxes were decided autonomously by the county governments, and they gradually became monetized. The Eastern Han further developed the Western Han tax system of calculating and collecting the land tax. Every year in the fifth month, the government would grade the land soil quality in order to collect the corresponding land tax after the autumn harvest.