佉卢文书所见鄯善国税收制度探析

Tax System in the Shanshan State as Written in Kharosthi Documents

从目前已经解读的佉卢文书来看,鄯善国税收征收的物品包括:动物、粮食作物、经济作物、生活日用品等。税收按年度收取,一般而言,一年征收一次,由税吏统一收取、押送至固定地点统一存放。百姓拖欠税收现象较普遍,欠税少至一年,多至三年、五年,政府一般规定只要补齐税收就不再追责。鄯善国税吏由专人担任,不得兼职,政府要求税吏在百姓交税时登记清楚,记录在案,税收的好坏是考核税吏的重要标准。政府虽然对税吏有一定的考核制度,但是依然存在税吏和高级官员偷税漏税、侵吞税收的现象,特别是对侵吞税收的高级官员管理和惩处不力以及重税加重了百姓的困苦,这也是鄯善国逐渐衰落的主要原因之一。

The interpretation of Kharosthi documents in Shanshan State shows that the taxes were annually imposed on animals, food crops, economic crops, and daily necessities and were escorted to a fixed location for storage. Tax arrears were prevalent, from less than a year to more than three or five years. The government would no longer file in charges as long as the tax was completed. The tax collector must be full-time and registered clearly the taxes paid. They were assessed by the amount of the tax they collected. However, there were still tax collectors and senior offi- cials who evaded and misappropriated taxes. The poor management or ineffective punishment of the senior officials who misappropriated tax and heavy tax aggravated the suffering of the ordinary people, which might be one of the important reasons that Shanshan State declined gradually.