摘要
This article questions the recent scholarship that attempts to draw parallels between Qing China before 1800 and the so-called fiscal-military states in early modem Europe. Beginning with a survey of＂fiscal cycles＂ in China from the 1640s to the 1850s, the author argues that border wars and territorial expansion had little impact on the Qing state＇s tax system and bureaucracy. Contrary to the high level of taxation necessitated by escalation in military spending among the contemporary European states, the Qing pursued the policy of light taxation by freezing land tax rates and practicing universal tax exemption. What prevailed in the Qing fiscal system thus was a ＂low-level equilibrium,＂ in which the fixed amount of revenues was sufficient to cover the state＇s fixed amount of regular expenditures and generate a sizeable amount of surpluses.
晚近西方部分学者对清代国家的研究,试图从财政体制和军事扩张的角度,强调1800年前的中国与近代早期欧洲国家之间的相似之处。本文对此提出质疑。文章首先考察了清代自1640年代至1850年代的"财政周期",指出中央政府的财政状况确与边疆战事相关,但后者对清代国家的税制和整个官僚体制的影响极为有限,这与对外战争和领土扩张在近代早期欧洲国家形成过程中的关键作用形成鲜明对比。
