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 undergoing significant institutional changes with regional characteristics, such as the "no salt sales without licenses" policy determined by Zhou Zhaonan, the of Pianyuan in the sixth year of the Kangxi reign (1667), and the "licensing and tax collection, household-based distribution" system formed after Yuan Jishan's salt inspection in the eleventh year of the Kangxi reign (1672), the salt monopoly system was finally integrated into the national system through the "businessmen hiring licenses" method in the forty-fifth year of the Kangxi reign (1706). From the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns to the Taiping Rebellion period, events such as the "Huai-Yue Conflict" and "Yue Salt Aid Hunan" occurred. The complex and yet internally consistent salt monopoly system, centered around the issue of "national finances and people's livelihood," was shaped through conflicts and cooperation among merchants, scholars, local officials, and common people. On the surface, the system appears standardized and clearly defined, but in reality, the institutional operations during the traditional period were flexible and ambiguous, with boundaries blurred. The system was realized through conflicts, struggles, and cooperation arising from various interests, and the imperial court's regulations, which seemed quite consistent in documents such as the "Huide" and "Luli," presented different faces in different places. 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 distribution system in the border areas of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi in the early Qing; 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.