The Magistrate's Tael
Douban
Rationalizing Fiscal Reform in Eighteenth Century Ch'ing China
Madeleine Zelin
overview
Madeleine Zelin shatters the image of China as a backward empire wracked by corruption and economic stagnation, thrust into the modern world when the western gunboats arrived in the 1840s, by providing an account of the indigenous evolution of the Chinese state. The Magistrate's Tael makes it possible to judge the impact of the West on modern China's development.
contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1— The Roots of Fiscal Instability
2— Informal Networks of Funding
3— The Return of the Meltage Fee to the Public Coffers
4— Fiscal Rationalization and Local Adaptation
5— Local Variations and Underlying Principles
6— Obstacles to Reform: Low-Level Corruption and the Kiangnan Tax-Clearance Case
7— Looking Ahead: the Breakdown of the Huo-Hao Kuei-Kung Reforms
Conclusion
Notes
Note On Sources
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
