Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2017

 

The Emergence of Suanfu (Poll Tax) and Monetization of Corvée in the Han Dynasty

(Abstract)

 

Zang Zhifei

 

At the level of institutional formation, the suanfu or poll tax arose from the population’s refusal to accept corvée labor and consequent payment of fines. The tax involved monetization of the registered population’s obligations under the land grant system, which changed from being a “tax per service” to a “tax per person,” and eventually developed into a poll tax. King Zhaoxiang of Qin’s shiqi busuan (十妻不算)was not suanfu but rather exemption from corvée. In the fourth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han, chuwei suanfu (the beginning of tax collection) involved registering households and determining the amount of taxes and corvée. The suanbu or tax account book excavated from Fenghuangshan which determined the amount of tax per service and then collected it in money, was the historical practice of corvée monetization. People aged from 7 to 14 paid kouqian or population tax of 23 copper cash per person per year, while those aged 15 to 56 paid a fuqian or duty tax of 120 copper cash per person per year. These arrangements, which originated in the differences between the urban and rural population in the Rites of Zhou and took shape under Emperor Yuan of Han, reflect the way land-grant peasants changed from being subject to state taxes and services to being individual small-peasant households, and the way the ancient Chinese corvée and tax system grew over time.