introduction
Known as the "roof of the world", Tibet is located in the western and southern parts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is one of the highest places in the world. It has always been praised by Chinese and foreign tourists as a more beautiful place than paradise, which is closest to the sky and the farthest from the hustle and bustle, and is the only choice for people to empty themselves and enjoy their bodies and minds.
Known as the "Pearl of Tibet", the Potala Palace is a symbol of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and tourists come and go in an endless stream. The majestic Jokhang Temple receives devout worship from Buddhist devotees from all over the world every year. The Brahmaputra Grand Canyon is the deepest grand canyon in the world, standing in front of the gushing river, enough to make people forget all attachments and troubles. The tang and bo ancient road that has spanned thousands of years has witnessed the long-standing and deep friendship of the Han and Tibetan people.
Today's Tibet is like a paradise on earth, a fascinating tourist destination. Historically, however, people here have lived a nomadic life for thousands of years, with low agricultural productivity and a very lagging standard of living. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that Tibet was incorporated into the central territory, and after proper government governance, agricultural production and economy in Tibet began to develop gradually.
Tibet has been an integral part of China since ancient times
In 1206, Temujin established the Great Mongol Khanate, and the country's territory expanded rapidly under genghis Khan's elite iron horse. As the grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan became the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in Dadu (present-day Beijing), and in 1279 eliminated the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty and unified the country.
The Yuan Dynasty wiped out more than forty neighboring countries in more than ninety years of rule, and the scale and speed of expansion were the largest in the history of the world, and even Alexander and Napoleon were three points behind. According to relevant statistics, the territory of the Yuan Dynasty at that time spanned two continents of Europe and Asia, covering an area of more than 20 million square kilometers, reaching the peak of China's territory in history, and even much larger than the current area of Russia. Faced with such a wide territory area, its ruling methods and management systems are naturally quite complicated.
In 1239, the Yuan Empire conquered Tibet and established the Xuanzheng Yuan, which has since been formally brought under the direct jurisdiction of the central government.
Later, the central government of the Yuan Dynasty also set up post stations, investigated household registrations, collected taxes, hoarded troops, etc., and since then Tibet has become part of China's administrative divisions. During the Ming Dynasty, the rulers, based on religious forces, crowned the "Three Dharma Kings" to indirectly administer the Tibetan region. The Qing Dynasty strengthened the power of the ministers stationed in Tibet and established the absolute subordination of the feudal central government to the direct jurisdiction of tibet.
Since then, the Tibetan people have lived a stable and peaceful life, and at the same time, they have continuously developed their economy and culture in the course of study and exchanges with the Han people, and Tibet's development has since embarked on a new level.
As early as the Sui and Tang dynasties, there were a lot of economic exchanges between the Han and Tibetan peoples in China. However, the government's introduction of a legal system to directly manage Tibet's finances began after the Yuan Dynasty unified Tibet. During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Tibet was a feudal serf society under the rule of "theocracy", and its social and economic development had the characteristics of serfdom and strong religious factors.
In order to alleviate the tax pressure on Tibet, improve the quality of life of Tibetans, and improve Tibet's economic outlook, what measures did the central government take during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties to control Tibet's local finances?
We should unify the fiscal and taxation system, lightly dispense with thin endowments, stipulate the payment of fiscal and taxation to the treasury, implement the trade policy of opening up to the outside world, and promote the economic development of Tibetan areas
The governments of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties implemented a series of reform measures to develop tibet's local economy and maintain local stability. These mainly include: unifying the legal system, standardizing the financial and taxation system in Tibet, and strictly investigating the phenomenon of official governments seeking personal gain; lightly dispensing with meagre endowments and lightening the burdens of the Tibetan people; financial subsidies, giving assistance to the local government of Tibet in the form of relief during periods of frequent disasters and famines; opening up to the outside world, giving play to the advantages of Tibetan nationality's location, and liberalizing trade exchanges with neighboring countries under the control of the central authorities.
Although these measures did not change the nature of Tibet's feudal serfdom society, they further strengthened the ties between the central authorities and the localities in Tibet, promoted the disintegration of feudal serfdom to a certain extent, and promoted the economic development of Tibetan society.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the central government checked household registrations in Tibet and sent officials to coordinate with local officials to jointly manage the collection of taxes in Tibet. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, there was a relatively clear financial system, which stipulated that Tibet should bear a fixed amount of horse pay, and every 3 to 4 households should pay a horse as a tax.
After the Manchu Qing Emperor unified the Central Plains, he further improved the financial system of Tibet, stipulating the standards of tax revenue and expenditure in Tibet, and publishing them in the form of regulations. In terms of expropriation, taxes are levied on land cultivators, taxes are levied on herders' raising of livestock, and third, taxes on import and export goods are levied on merchants engaged in trade at the border. In terms of financial expenditure, the Qing Dynasty government, on the basis of the proposal of Shifu Ankang of the University of Tibet, stipulated the standards for all kinds of officials in Tibet.
In order to tighten the financial system and prevent Tibet's fiscal revenues from being embezzled by a small number of local officials, the Qing Dynasty government stipulated that all money and grain revenues and expenditures in Tibet should be returned to the general inspector general of the minister stationed in Tibet, and all those who embezzled public money and grain or withheld the grain of soldiers were strictly punished.
In addition to implementing the financial system in Tibet, the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties also implemented a system of depositing fiscal revenues. These three dynasties all set up treasuries in Lhasa, Shigat, and other places, and the taxes paid by local residents and the gifts and silver were collected into the treasury. The expenses of local government officials in Tibet, such as chanting and rewarding lamas, come from the government treasury.
Although Tibet has a vast territory, due to the low productivity at that time and the poor natural environment, the government's annual income is not much, and it is often even in a state of insufficient income. In order to reduce expenditure on Tibet, the Qing government repeatedly instructed the minister stationed in Tibet to inquire about Tibet's financial affairs, strictly manage the money and grain collected, and severely punish corruption if corruption was discovered.
Although the imperial court implemented a series of systems against Tibet during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, it did not fundamentally solve the problem of fiscal revenue leakage and the unbridled indistinct expropriation of local officials in Tibet. Local nobles and monasteries and lamas repeatedly prohibited the wanton expropriation of the poor people, and it was not uncommon for all kinds of empty taxes (people who died and the land were also taxed) and advance taxes (collected in advance). The Tibetan people could not bear the pressure of taxes and fled.
However, in general, during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the central government's measures to control Tibet's finances maintained local stability, strengthened Sino-Tibetan ties, and promoted Tibet's economic development.
A series of special financial systems, such as financial subsidies, tax reductions and exemptions, and opening up foreign trade, go hand in hand to reduce the economic burden of the Tibetan people and change Tibet's backward appearance
The Yuan, Ming, and Qing governments adopted some special measures to manage Tibet's finances and improve the economic backwardness of Tibet's ethnic minority areas.
In order to solve the backward situation in Tibet, the government at that time directly subsidized the local government of Tibet with money, grain, and silk in the form of gifts and rewards from the central financial treasury. The Tibetan people are very satisfied with this, and many local officials have come to Beijing to pay tribute to Xie'en, and there is an endless stream.
Tibet under the feudal serf system of reducing taxes and exempting them from taxes has always been so heavy that the vast number of Tibetans have abandoned their fields and grazed their pastures and gone into exile because they could not afford to pay taxes and could not bear the heavy servitude. In order to enable Tibetan farmers and herdsmen to have a chance to recuperate and stabilize Tibetan society, the Yuan, Ming, and Qing governments took measures to reduce taxes and exempt themselves from taxes in some periods.
During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court stipulated that Tibet should be exempted from all miscellaneous gifts except for horse endowments; in the sixty years of the Qianlong Dynasty, the imperial court ordered that Tibet be exempted from one year of money and grain, and at the same time exempted the old money and grain owed by Tibetan residents before and after the taxation of more than 40,000 silver, so as to alleviate the tax pressure of the Tibetan people.
The Qing Dynasty clearly stipulated in the Statute of the Aftermath of the Qing Dynasty that the income and expenditure of the monastery lamas should be examined and approved by the minister stationed in Tibet to better supervise the local economic and financial situation in Tibet.
The Qing Dynasty has always held the financial power of Tibet in its own hands, not only effectively controlling the local economy of Tibet, but also strengthening the rule of the central dynasty over the local areas of Tibet, providing very good conditions for the development of Tibet's economy.
Restricting the abuse of "Ulla" labor "Ula" is a compulsory unpaid labor force, a conscription of forced labor. All public and private affairs of Tibetan officials, nobles, and monastic grand lamas are not inferior to Ulla. Poor Tibetans did not listen a little, ranging from whipping to torture, which was one of the reasons for the mass flight and death of the Tibetan people.
During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the scope of the use of urah for the faction became larger and larger, and there were many names. When the minister in Tibet in the middle of the Qing Dynasty discovered this situation, he made a clear stipulation: only official affairs could use Ula, and lamas, Fanmu and other private contacts could not use "ula". After the implementation of this stipulation, the unpaid labor of the vast number of poor Tibetans has been alleviated, and many fugitive Tibetans have returned to their original land to engage in farming and grazing.
The establishment of post stations and the establishment of a local regular currency In history, Tibet did not have its own currency, and it was not until the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty that the currency of Tibet was unified, ending the long history of foreign artificial coins. At the same time, it also reduced the outflow of a large amount of silver, laying a solid foundation for Tibet's economic development and also of great significance to the common development of the Tibetan and Han economies.
During the Qing Dynasty, in order to improve the backward economic development of Tibet, the central government approved Tibet to give full play to its location advantages and carry out open trade with neighboring countries under the management of the imperial court.
This policy has solved part of the needs of the Tibetan people for life and production, and has also increased the fiscal revenue of the Tibetan region. Most of the tax revenue is used to support the monasteries in Tibet, which not only reduces the central government's financial subsidies to the Tibetan areas, but also objectively reduces the economic burden of the Tibetan people on the monasteries.
epilogue
During the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the central government's various policies toward Tibet promoted the economic development of Tibet to a certain extent and stabilized Tibetan society. But after all, it was a feudal society, and the various systems at that time had certain feudal limitations.
Since the founding of New China, the central authorities have also adopted a series of preferential financial preferences and supportive policies for the Tibetan region in the new era; with the joint efforts of the whole country and the Tibetan people, the pace of economic construction in the Tibet Autonomous Region has been constantly accelerating, and not only has modern industry, transportation and telecommunications been established, but the original agriculture, animal husbandry, and commerce have also made great progress. With the completion of the Sichuan-Tibet Line, the family of the Han-Tibetan people will surely step up to a new level, the flesh-and-blood friendship of blood thicker than water will certainly become deeper, and the Han-Tibetan economy will surely advance hand in hand and flourish.
bibliography:
History of the Ming Dynasty
The Great Qing Dynasty
The Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty