Zone and Frontier - A Study on Salt Monopoly in the Border Areas of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi during the Qing Dynasty

Author: Huang Guoxin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The establishment of the salt monopoly system in the border areas of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi. After experiencing institutional changes with strong regional characteristics, such as the "no salt sales without licenses" determined by Zhou Zhaonan of the Pianyuan Inspection Prefecture in the sixth year of the Kangxi reign (1667) and the "licensing for salt sales and tax collection based on population distribution" formed after Yuan Jishan's salt inspection in the eleventh year of the Kangxi reign (1672), it was only incorporated into the national salt monopoly system through the "businessmen recruiting licenses" method in the forty-fifth year of the Kangxi reign (1706). From the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, events such as the "Huai-Yue Conflict" and "Yue Salt Aid Hunan" occurred. The complex and ever-changing yet internally consistent salt monopoly system, centered around the issue of "national finances and people's livelihood," was formed through the conflicts and cooperation among merchants, scholars, local officials, and common people. On the surface, the system appears to be standardized with clear boundaries, but in reality, the institutional operations during the traditional period were flexible and fluid with blurred boundaries. The system was realized through conflicts, struggles, and cooperation arising from various interests, and the imperial court's regulations and institutions, as seen in documents such as the "Imperial Statutes" and "Laws and Regulations," appeared quite consistent. However, in different regions, they presented different faces. This book is one of the historical fieldwork series and is a theoretical monograph on the study of salt trade in the Qing Dynasty. The content is divided into three main parts: the establishment of the exclusive merchant salt channel system in the border areas of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi in the early Qing Dynasty; the "Huai-Yue Conflict" during the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns; and the salt administration in the border areas of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns. It provides a detailed analysis of the salt monopoly in the border areas of Guangdong and Jiangxi in the Qing Dynasty, making it a valuable reference for social researchers.