Central Government Silver Treasury: Revenue, Expenditure and Inventory Statistics, CA. 1667-1899

280 Pages·2016·2.321 MB·English

by  Zhihong Shi

i
Central Government Silver Treasury
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004307339_001
ii
Global Economic History Series
VOLUME 12
The Quantitative Economic History
of China
Series Editors
Bas van Leeuwen (Utrecht University / International Institute of Social History)
Yi Xu (Guangxi Normal University / Utrecht University)
Peter Foldvari (Utrecht University)
Editorial Board
Bas van Bavel (Utrecht University)
Bozhong Li (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
Debin Ma (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
Denggao Long (Tsinghua University)
Jan Luiten Van Zanden (Utrecht University)
Jaime Reis (University of Lisbon)
James Lee (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
Stephan Broadberry (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
Zhihong Shi (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Zhengping Cheng (Tsinghua University)
VOLUME 1
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/qehc
iii
Central Government
Silver Treasury
Revenue, Expenditure and Inventory Statistics,
ca. 1667–1899
By
Shi Zhihong
LEIDEN | BOSTON
iv
First published 2014, in Chinese 清代户部银库收支与库存研究 (ISBN 978-7-5097-5673-7) by Social
Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, China.
Cover illustration: displayed is the utter left part of the eighteenth-century remake of the twelfth-century
original painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan. The remake is created by
five Qing dynasty court painters (Chen Mu, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao) and is
currently in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The painting captures the daily life of people and the
landscape of the capital, Bianjing (today’s Kaifeng) from the Northern Song period. Licensed under public
domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shi, Zhihong, 1949- author.
Title: Central government silver treasury : revenue, expenditure and inventory statistics, ca. 1667-1899 /
by Shi Zhihong.
Other titles: Qing dai hu bu yin ku shou zhi he ku cun yan jiu. English Description: Leiden ; Boston :
Brill, [2016] | Series: Global economic
history series ; volume 12 | Series: The quantitative economic history of China ; volume 1 | Includes
bibliographical references and index. |
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015045070 (print) | LCCN 2015040102 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004307339 (E-book) |
ISBN 9789004307322 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004307339 (e-book : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Finance, Public--China--History. | Monetary
policy--China--History. | China--Economic policy--1644-1912. |
China--Economic conditions--1644-1912.
Classification: LCC HJ1402 (print) | LCC HJ1402 .S54513 2016 (ebook) | DDC 336.5109/033--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045070
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issn 2405-870X
isbn 978-90-04-30732-2 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30733-9 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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ContentCsontents v
Contents
Series Editors’ Preface to the Quantitative Economic History of China
 Series vii
List of Figures and Tables viii
Emperors of the Qing Dynasty xiv
Chinese Terms xv
Currencies Used during the Qing Dynasty xxii

Introduction 1
1 The Central Government’s Silver Treasury 4
1.1 Set-up and Evolution of the Three Stores 4
1.2 Management of the Silver Treasury 7
2 Silver Treasury Registers and Their Copies 14
2.1 Yellow Registers of the Silver Treasury 14
2.2 Copies of the Yellow Registers of the Silver Treasury 18
2.3 Use in this Book of Copies of Yellow Registers 23
2.3.1 Annual Aggregate Revenues, Expenditures and Their
Surpluses/Deficits 24
2.3.2 Annual Inventories of the Silver Treasury 25
3 Silver Treasury Revenues during the Qing Dynasty 27
3.1 Provisions to the Capital and Silver Treasury Revenues 27
3.2 Silver Treasury Revenues from Kangxi to Daoguang: 1662–1850 35
3.3 Silver Treasury Revenues during Xianfeng and Tongzhi: 1851–1874 45
3.4 Silver Treasury Revenues during Guangxu: 1875–1908 52
4 Silver Treasury Expenditures and Payment Surpluses/Deficits during the
Qing Dynasty 64
4.1 From Kangxi to Daoguang 64
4.2 The Xianfeng – Tongzhi Period 79
4.3 Guangxu Period 86
5 Fluctuations in Inventories of the Silver Treasury during the Qing
Dynasty 96
5.1 From Kangxi to Daoguang 96
5.2 Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu 102
vi Contents
Appendix A: Tables of Aggregate Revenue/Expenditure of the Silver
 Treasury 109
Appendix B: Inventories of the Silver Treasury under Different
 Reigns 217
References 245
Index 250
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Series EdSiteorrise’ Psr eEfdacite toor tsh’ eP Qrueafnaticteative Economic History of China Series vii
Series Editors’ Preface to the
Quantitative Economic History of China Series
For a long time now, there has been a real lack of quantitative information on
the economy of China. This lack odd in view of the vast size of this population-
rich country, which is currently one of the world’s biggest economies. Given
recently revived interest in the quantification of historical economies, which
has resulted in projects on, for example, Indonesia, the United States and the
United Kingdom, it is only logical that attention should also be directed to-
wards China.
At first sight, one might conclude that no quantitative information on China
is available. This is in part due to a non-quantitative research paradigm that
exists in China itself, and in part because of the nature of the Chinese data.
These are spread over a variety of sources, and they have taken form against a
very different social, cultural, and economic background than comparable
data from the West. Yet, recently some source publications have appeared that
deal with, for example, prices and education, as well as some other isolated
topics. Still, many of these publications are unsuitable for an analysis of Chi-
na’s economy, partly because they are often written in Chinese and partly be-
cause they do not offer a systematic overview of long-run quantitative data.
This is especially problematic since historical economic and social research is
increasing relying on quantitative methods.
As a combined effort of several Western and Chinese scholars, this book
series presents data that will enable the compilation of Chinese historical eco-
nomic statistics. The main objective is to fill in gaps in the quantification of the
historical economy of China and facilitate analysis of its long-term evolution.
We hope, with this series, to promote both research into, and knowledge of,
this important country.
Bas van Leeuwen, Yi Xu and Peter Foldvari
(Utrecht, The Netherlands), 20 July 2015
viii List of Figures and Tables List Of Figures And Tables
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1 The administrative structure of the Three Stores (1730–1902) 5
1.2 Procedures for sending silver to the Silver Treasury 9
1.3 Pay-out procedures of the Silver Treasury 12
3.1 Distribution of number of years at different revenue levels, 1662–1850 37
3.2 Variations in revenue from Yongzheng to Qianlong, 1723–1795 37
3.3 Variations in revenue from Jiaqing to Daoguang, 1796–1850 37
4.1 Percentages of classified expenditures of the Silver Treasury, 1765 67
4.2 Fluctuations in expenditure during the Yongzheng-Qianlong period,
1723–1795 70
4.3 Fluctuations in expenditure during the Jiaqing-Daoguang period, 1796–1850 70
5.1 Fluctuations in inventories of the Silver Treasury, 1667–1843 97
Tables
2.1 Volumes of surviving Silver Treasury Yellow Registers included in Lianhemulu,
collected in FHAC, and their copies in the Institute of Economics (IE) 19
2.2 Table format of Yellow Register copies 21
2.3 Contents of volumes of copies of the Silver Treasury’s Yellow Registers collected
in the Institute of Economics 22
3.1 Number of years of revenue figures from Kangxi to Daoguang and their
proportions relative to the total years of each reign 36
3.2 Number of years with revenue figures at different levels, from Kangxi to
Daoguan 36
3.3 Fluctuations in revenues/expenditures and inventories (in million taels) of the
Silver Treasury, 1793–1796 38
3.4 Proportions of the average revenue of the Silver Treasury relative to national
totals under each reign from Kangxi to Daoguang 42
3.5 Aggregate revenue of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng 46
3.6 Aggregate revenue of the Silver Treasury during Tongzhi 47
3.7 Proportions of silver and copper coins relative to total revenue of the Silver
Trea 50
3.8 Actual silver revenues of the Silver Treasury and their proportions relative to
total silver revenues during Xianfeng 51
List of Figures and Tables ix
3.9 Silver Treasury revenues during Guangxu 52
3.10 National aggregate revenues, 1885–1894 55
3.11 Revenues and their proportions relative to the national total, 1891 55
3.12 Corrected national aggregate revenues, 1885–1894 57
3.13 Estimate of actual national aggregate revenue before 1894 61
3.14 Estimate of the proportion of Silver Treasury revenue relative to the national
total before 1894 and around 1900 62
4.1 Recurrent expenditures of the Silver Treasury, 1765 64
4.2 Amounts and proportions of classified expenditures of the Silver Treasury,
1765 66
4.3 Fluctuations in revenues/expenditures and inventories of the Silver Treasury
during the war against the Zunghar (in million taels) 71
4.4 Fluctuations in revenues/expenditures and inventories of the Silver Treasury
during the Second Jinchuan Campaign (in million taels) 72
4.5 Fluctuations in revenues/expenditures and the surpluses/deficits of the Silver
Treasury during the Opium War (in million taels) 76
4.6 Number of years of surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Jiaqing and
Daoguang 77
4.7 Total revenues of the Silver Treasury and the share of contributions during the
period 1840–1849 78
4.8 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng 81
4.9 Proportions of silver and coins in the total expenditure of the Silver Treasury
during Xianfeng 81
4.10 Actual silver expenditures of the Silver Treasury and their proportions relative
to total expenditures (in million taels) 82
4.11 Revenues/expenditures and surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during
Xianfeng (in million taels) 84
4.12 Revenues/expenditures and surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury,
1865–1867 85
4.13 Revenues/expenditures and surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury,
1883–1899 86
4.14 Items and their four-column figures for the Silver Treasury in 1897 (in
taels) 87
4.15 Traditional revenues/expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Guangxu (in
million kuping taels) 89
4.16 Actual provincial submissions of special funds to the Silver Treasury, 1897–1899
(in million taels) 94
5.1 Landmark inventories of the Silver Treasury from Kangxi to Daoguang,
1667–1843 (in million taels) 96
x List Of Figures And Tables
5.2 Inventories of the Silver Treasury in Xianfeng 102
5.3 Inventories of the Silver Treasury in Guangxu 103
A.1 Amounts of gold, silver and copper coins in the Silver Treasury of the 44th year
of Kangxi, 1705 109
A.2 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury of the 44th year of Kangxi,
1705 109
A.3 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Yongzheng, 1723–1735 110
A.4 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Yongzheng, 1723–1733 114
A.5 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Yongzheng, 1723–1733
(1) 117
A.6 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Yongzheng, 1723–1727
(2) 118
A.7 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Qianlong, 1736–1795 119
A.8 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Qianlong, 1736–1795 134
A.9 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Qianlong, 1736–1795
(1) 150
A.10 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Qianlong, 1736–1795
(2) 152
A.11 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Jiaqing, 1796–1819 156
A.12 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Jiaqing, 1796–1820 162
A.13 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Jiaqing, 1796–1819 171
A.14 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Daoguang, 1821–1850 173
A.15 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Daoguang, 1821–1850 183
A.16 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Daoguang,
1821–1850 193
A.17 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng, 1851–1853 195
A.18 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng, 1854–1861 196
A.19 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng, 1852–1853 199
A.20 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng, 1854–1861 200
A.21 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Xianfeng,
1852–1861 202
A.22 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Tongzhi, 1865–1867 202
A.23 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Tongzhi, 1863–1869 204
A.24 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Tongzhi,
1865–1867 206
A.25 Aggregate revenues of the Silver Treasury during Guangxu, 1883–1899 207
A.26 Aggregate expenditures of the Silver Treasury during Guangxu, 1879–1899 211
A.27 Payment surpluses/deficits of the Silver Treasury during Guangxu,
1883–1899 215
B.1 Inventories of the Silver Treasury from Kangxi to Qianlong, 1667–1774 217