晚清专款与财政运行:以海关四成洋税为例

Special Funds and the Chinese Financial System during the Late Qing Dynasty:A Case Study on the Policy of "40% Tariff"

专款,作为京、协饷制度的补充,在晚清财政运行中发挥了重要作用。四成洋税为晚清财政专款之一,先后被作为偿赔专款、解部专款和海防专款。除作为偿赔专款因关系“国家大信”落实较好外,其他无论作为解部专款,还是海防经费,四成洋税都没有完全按照中央的解款计划不折不扣地执行,而是或征不及数,或奏归别用,最终出现“专款不专”的结果。四成洋税专款名实不符,反映了晚清专款制度的实行受到财政大背景、专款性质、财政理念以及专款制度本身存在的问题诸多因素的制约,凸显国家职能调整和理财重心转移相互作用下财政制度运行的不稳定性。

As an addition to the Local-central Transfer Payment system and the Inter-provincial Transfer Payment System,special funds played an important role in ensuring the operation of the Chinese financial system during the late Qing Dynasty.As one of the major sources of tax revenue during the late Qing period,the tariff was successively used for foreign debt repayment,increasing the national budget and supporting defence along the coastal area.Apart from foreign debt repayment,the revenue from customs duty earmarked for either increasing the national budget or supporting defence along the coastal area did not fully realize their expected purposes,depriving special funds of their special purposes.The haphazard implementation of special funds resulted from the overall financial situation during the late Qing Dynasty,the dominant views on finance and the loopholes of the Special Fund System.It indicated the inherent instability of China's financial system during a period of government function readjustment and budget priority shift.