19세기 초반 滸墅關의 세수 결손 문제와 해결 방안 모색

Abstract

This study examines the discussions and practices of the emperor and officials of the Qing dynasty on the issues of the tax deficit at Xushuguan(滸墅關) in the early 19th century. This identified the process by which Qing dynasty adhered to the existing legal shipping route, although the tax deficit at Xushuguan resulted from a change in the transportation of taxable goods and hence required a response through a revision to the legal transportation. There were different views about the cause of the tax deficit at Xushuguan at that time. The central government of the Qing dynasty conceived that the merchants deviated from the legal transportation routes to avoid the exploitation by the corrupt tax officers at Changguan(常關). On the contrary, the Changguan considered that the transportation routes of the goods subject to taxation were inevitably modified because of the changes of the economic environment. Due to the different viewpoints, Chubilun(除弊論) and Biantonglun(變通論) were developed by the two groups. Chubilun was focused on the elimination of the corruption of the tax officers at Changguan, to crackdown the trade of the goods subject to taxation out of the legal transportation routes. Biantonglun, based on the view that the transportation routes of the goods subject to taxation had to be modified due to the changes of the economic environment, argued that the existing legal transportation routes should be modified for taxation according to the changes. While there was a heated competition between the two arguments about how to solve the tax deficit at Xushuguan, the central government of the Qing dynasty partially adopted Biantonglun in the early years of Emperor Daoguang(道光) in relation to solve the problem. However, as the tax deficit at Xushuguan continued even until the middle of Emperor Daoguang’s reign and a series of corruption cases of the tax officers at Xushuguan were uncovered, the measures based on the Biantonglun in the early years of Emperor Daoguang were eventually cancelled. To solve the problem, the legal transport route of the goods subject to taxation should be changed to legalize the transportation through the sea route and impose tax on that. However, the strong perception that the problem of the tax deficit at Xushuguan was all caused by the corruption of the tax officers, and Biantonglun, a solution based on it, blocked it, and the tax deficit continued. ‘Perception’ and ‘solution’ of the issue of the tax deficit at Changguan were the ‘variables’ that continued the problem.