Contribution and Modern Public Debt:On the Nature of Patriotic Public Debt in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China

There are different opinions about the first modern domestic debt in China.The theorists judge whether a certain public debt has modernity according to whether it has modern public debt form,ignoring the inconsistency between form and content,institutional provisions and actual implementation.The modern nature of public debt must have both the form and content of modern public debt.Based on the analysis of the issuing background,system design,collection and repayment of patriotic bonds in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,it is considered that the part of patriotic bonds subscribed by the Qing royal family is still the nature of donation and return,while the part subscribed by ordinary businessmen and people in the early Republic of China has a modern nature.The dual nature of patriotic bonds is closely related to the social background when the bonds are issued.