清中叶新疆治理与茶叶设局征税

The Governance of Xinjiang and the Establishment of Bureau and Tax on the Tea during the Mid-Qing Dynasty

清朝道光初年,新疆茶叶流通中私茶泛滥,茶司引茶与北商杂茶课税悬殊,茶商获利不等,引发了行销市场之争。清廷围绕茶叶征税及是否取缔北商行杂茶等问题,进行了长时间的筹划,终定于古城创设税局,逐步将该项制度扩展至全疆,且通过分类设税、抽收落地税、以税代引等办法加以完善,基本达到了安边、便民、裕课、通商的目的。设局征税是清廷治理新疆60余年后建立茶叶行销市场调节机制的尝试,实现了新疆商税与全国税制的接轨,加快了本地商业近代化的进程,征收的茶税用于补充地方军费,对新疆社会稳定起到了重要作用。

In the early years of the Daoguang era,Qing Dysnanty,the tea circulated in Xinjiang was inundated with smuggled tea.There were huge disparities in the tax imposed on Yin-cha(引茶,the tea certified with official trading permit)from the Tea Bureau and Za-cha(杂茶,miscellaneous tea as opposed to the official Yin-cha)from the northern business firms;the tea merchants profited variably,which led to competitions in the trading market.Surrounding issues such as levying on tea and whether banning Zacha from the northern business firms,the Qing court undertook long-term planning and finally decided to set up the Tax Bureau in the Gucheng city.This system was then gradually extended to the whole Xinjiang,and improved stepwise through measures such as taxation by categories,extracting the landing tax,and substituting yin(引l,the trading permit issued by the court)with levies.These allowed the objectives of settling the borders,benefitting the people,increasing the revenue,and promoting trading activities basically met.Establishing the bureau and relevant levy was the Qing court's first attempt of setting up the regulatory mechanism of the tea market after 60 years of its reign in Xinjiang.It brought the commercial tax in Xinjiang in alignment with the taxing system of the whole country,expediting the modernisation of local business.The tea tax levied was used to supplement the local military budget,thus playing a key role in maintaining the social stability of Xinjiang.