How Much Tax Did People in Quanzhou Pay? A Wanli vs. Qianlong Ledger Comparison
A Question About “Paying Money” How much tax did people in Quanzhou pay? This question sounds mundane, but the taxation data recorded in the Wanli Quanzhou Prefecture Gazette and Qianlong Quanzhou Prefecture Gazette tells a real story about imperial finances and ordinary people’s lives. During the Wanli era, Quanzhou implemented the “Single Whip Law”—converting various taxes into silver for unified payment. During the Qianlong era, it became “Merging Poll Tax into Land Tax”—the head tax was abolished and folded into land taxes. ...