唐宋变革与宋代财政国家

Warfare and the Fiscal State During the Tang-Song Transition

宋朝率先以间接税作为国家财政体制的基础,是世界史上第一个可持续的税收国家,祛除了对劳役制和土地税的依赖,这种新型的财政体制来源于安史之乱以后战争市场化与经济货币化两种趋势的高度结合。本文借用熊彼特(Joseph A.Schumpeter)税收国家的概念,详论宋朝三百多年中如何完成从税收国家向财政国家的过渡。一国军事动员的货币化对整个国家根本模式的形成有着决定性影响,而由此引发的持久深入的财政危机则直接孕育了发达的榷卖制度和公共金融工具等制度创新。宋朝模式的最大意义在于国家可以通过有效率的税收制度和复杂的信用工具从市场扩张中汲取财政资源,由是中央政府视经济发展为急务,采用刺激市场扩张和城市消费等经济政策,堪称早期现代国家的成功典范。

This paper aims to reassess the Song state’s mercantilist policies from a political economy perspective.In the light of a Schumpeterian framework,the authors address significant progress that the central government of the Song dynasty(960-1279)achieved in effectively taxing the market economy during the Tang-Song transition.As the indirect taxes consisted two-thirds of its total taxes,it was the first state power in Chinese history to rely on the collection of taxes from non-agricultural sectors.