The Economic Policies during the Mid-Qin Period : 四川 before and after the 白蓮教 Rebellion

Abstract

During the mid-Qin period in China local economies were becoming independent in some provinces by the development of interlocal divisions of labour. In this article the author examines the economic policies of the central government in response to such economic decentralisation. The province of 四川, as well as 湖南, had played the role of rice-suppliers in the imperial market. While both 湖南 and 四川 continuously increased their rice-production, 四川 simultaneously introduced the cotton industry into its area. The rapid flourishing of this industry lead to the inter-related structure between agriculture and handicraft industry, and divisions of labour within 四川 emerged. Hence we can identify a tendency of the 四川 market-area to become independent from the imperial one. The responses of the central government to 四川 in terms of the provisioning of rice and monetary policy were as follows. As for the rice policies of the state, 委員採買, by which officials were sent to buy rice, was continued. In addition, 招商採買 (the purchase of rice by entrusted private merchants) was newly adopted. As a result, it gradually became unnecessary to store rice in a state warehouse, and after the reign of 嘉慶 the amount of rice in storage sharply decreased. By contrast only in 四川 did the amount increased. In terms of monetary policy, the central government ordered the large scale recall of 小銭 (a small copper coin of low denomination), and the prohibition of private coinage. While we observe that the 小銭 have been in wide de facto circulation as a local currency since mid-乾隆, 制銭 (specie, a copper coin) circulated again and for a relatively long time in 四川. In conclusion the Qin government acknowledged that the imperial economy had been established, and commenced 招商採買 by making full use of merchants. But the government would not permit local economies to become independent from the imperial one (e.g. the suppression of the 小銭 as a local currency). In 四川, the province which showed the strongest tendency to become independent, the policy of reinforcing the rice provision and of standardizing the currency were most strictly enforced. Thus 四川 province in the mid-Qin period was an arena of confrontation between of the local economic independence and economic re-integration by the state.