In the long river of history, although the Qin Dynasty was short, it left countless sufferings to the people at that time, and the people suffered heavy oppression and exploitation during this period, leaving countless glories and stains. Faced with insatiable monarchs and endless servitude, they struggled daily to make a living. However, such contradictions and conflicts have not been resolved, but have gradually intensified in the whirlpool of history. Next, we will depict a true portrayal of people's lives during the Qin Dynasty through delicate brushstrokes, so as to reflect the impact of the Qin Dynasty's tax system on the people's living conditions.
In order to maintain the huge expenses of the state apparatus and satisfy their extreme desires for poverty and luxury, the monarchs of the Qin Dynasty extorted heavy taxes from the people of the whole country in the name of state power and carried out endless forced labor.
During the Qin Dynasty, the tax system was one of the core elements of the country's governance, showing its extreme exploitation of the people. The following is a detailed interpretation of the main tax systems such as land endowment, oral endowment, and miscellaneous endowment:
Tian Fu: The Qin Dynasty's Tian Fu system integrated the population tax and the land tax, forming a tax model of "giving up land and taxing". The original intention was to encourage farmers to expand their land reclamation through taxation, with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity to meet the needs of the state for tax collection. However, there are obvious problems in the implementation of this system.
First of all, in terms of the proportion of taxes, the Qin Dynasty's land endowment system was too harsh. Specifically, the rate is as high as 66.67 percent, which means that farmers need to hand over two-thirds of their agricultural products to the state. This rate was quite high at the time, which undoubtedly placed a heavy burden on the peasants. They work hard for a year, but they can only enjoy the fruits of their hard work in a small way.
Furthermore, this high tax rate has had a serious impact on the quality of life of farmers. Farmers had to devote more time and energy to cultivating the land in order to have enough food to feed themselves after paying taxes. However, due to various reasons, such as weather changes, pests and diseases, etc., it is often difficult for the yield of crops to meet expectations. And the peasants are forced to hand over more grain than they can harvest.
Especially in years of famine, such as severe droughts, floods or natural disasters such as locusts, crop yields can drop dramatically, but the amount of taxes will not change. This will make life extremely difficult for the peasants, and they will not be able to make even a basic subsistence.
As a highly sensitive social group, the peasants are of course unacceptable to this situation. The pressure of heavy taxation accelerated the peasants' resentment against the imperial court, which led them to organize against the imperial court. The intensification of this contradiction caused the social ups and downs of the Qin Dynasty, and may even lead to the outbreak of peasant uprisings, which made the rule of the Qin Dynasty face severe challenges. In general, the Qin Dynasty's land endowment system increased the burden on the peasants, weakened the stability of the imperial court, and laid the foundation for the Qin Dynasty's demise.
The oral tax, also commonly referred to as the poll tax, was a direct taxation of the population by the Qin government. This tax has nothing to do with the status of the individual, and it stipulates that each person must pay a tax of 1,000 yuan per year, which is undoubtedly a heavy burden under the economic conditions at that time.
In the Qin Dynasty, the practice of oral endowment had a clear purpose. On the one hand, it was an important way for the Qin government to raise financial resources and make governance more uniform, and on the other hand, it was also a system set up by the Qin emperor to realize his ambition to build a unified multi-ethnic country. However, the policy of imposing a high tax on the head of the people reflected the Qin government's disregard for and ruthless exploitation of the basic livelihood of the people, which deeply increased the burden of living on the common people.
Considering the economic situation at that time, the annual poll tax of 1,000 yuan was undoubtedly a huge expense for ordinary people. Farmers, for example, need to work hard just to pay this tax. This means that they have to devote most of their energy and time to the farmland, which effectively deprives them of their quality of life and time to rest. Therefore, this high poll tax not only increases their financial burden, but also poses a serious threat to their quality of life.
In addition, the implementation of the oral endowment system further widened the gap between the rich and the poor in the Qin Dynasty society. Under this system, everyone pays the same amount of taxes, regardless of whether they are rich or poor. This means that the poor will have to work harder and pay more to pay their taxes than the rich. As a result, this policy invisibly increases social inequality and poses a threat to the stability of society.
The implementation of the oral endowment system has undoubtedly exacerbated social contradictions and conflicts. Angry and frightened by the unbearable tax burden, people began to oppose this apparent exploitation. Over time, public anger built up and could eventually escalate into events such as peasant uprisings that had a fatal impact on the Qin dynasty's rule. Therefore, it can be said that the oral endowment system is a concentrated reflection of the social contradictions of the Qin Dynasty, which exposes the ruthless exploitation of the people by the rulers of the Qin Dynasty, and is also the fuse for the final demise of the Qin Dynasty.
Miscellaneous endowments: In the Qin Dynasty, the existence of miscellaneous endowments became part of the burden of the people. There are no stable and clear rules for this type of taxation, but rather it will increase or decrease according to the needs of the country and the total amount. This uncertainty has led to a deeper fear of taxation and the possibility of heavier burdens at any time, leading to a chaotic budget.
In the case of industrial and commercial taxation, the control and taxation of commerce has undoubtedly increased the pressure on society. Merchants have to bear high taxes, making it even more difficult to run a business. This not only restricts the freedom of businessmen, but also puts the entire business environment into a downturn. In order to survive in a difficult environment, the merchants had to shift more of the cost to the common people, which undoubtedly increased the burden on the already impoverished people.
The floating mountain and forest tax has also brought a lot of trouble to the people's lives. People have to endure high tax pressures, which obviously adds to the uncertainty in their lives. In addition, many people are forced to overexploit mountain and forest resources in order to pay heavy taxes, which undoubtedly poses a threat to the sustainable development of society.
In addition to industrial and commercial taxes and forest taxes, miscellaneous taxes include the following:
Ship Tax: A ship tax is a tax on water traffic. Any vessel that is transported by water, is required to pay a certain tax to the state. This undoubtedly increased the burden on ship owners and merchants, and also hindered the development of water trade.
Salt and Iron Monopoly: The Qin Dynasty government imposed a monopoly on the production and sale of salt and iron, and any private production or sale of salt and iron was severely punished. This can also be seen as a tax because it increases the cost of purchasing these necessities for the people.
The Qin Dynasty's system of conscription and military service put enormous pressure on the population. This draconian system requires people to obey the state's orders unconditionally, to give their time and effort, and possibly even to the point of sacrificing their own lives. The existence of this system shows the Qin Dynasty's bondage and exploitation of the people, and at the same time reflects its anxious ruling mentality and ambition.
Conscription refers to the labor services provided by the state, including but not limited to the construction of the Great Wall, the construction of roads and bridges, and the "contribution of bricks and tiles" to national projects. In fact, the Qin Dynasty carried out endless forced labor on the people on construction projects. For example, according to the law of the time, every citizen was required to serve one month of forced labor for the government every year. During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, the construction of large-scale projects, such as the Great Wall and the Mausoleum of the First Emperor, never stopped. People often run out of time and energy to accomplish these tasks.
As far as the construction of the Great Wall is concerned, in order to form a northern defense line, the Qin Dynasty used a large number of manpower, and the scale is difficult to estimate. And these people who participated in the construction, they worked day and night without rest, and a large number of people fell ill and even lost their lives because of this.
Moreover, the Qin Dynasty was equally strict in its administration of military service. According to state law, citizens are required to serve two years of military service in their lifetime, one of which is a full-time soldier and one year is stationed in the frontier. For those soldiers who go on the march, war is not a personal choice, but the result of a state's imposition. Faced with harsh battlefield conditions and uncertain life and death, they had no choice but to fight for their country.
Especially when faced with the uncertainty of the outcome of the battle, the fear and anxiety in the hearts of the people will be magnified. Because in war, the loss of life is often unpredictable, and soldiers have to face such a reality. In this regard, the state is clearly indifferent to the lives of the people, and the rights and interests of the people are ruthlessly ignored under this system.
Faced with the heavy pressure of taxation and servitude in the Qin Dynasty, the voice of the people was gradually washed out of the long river of history, forming an eternal echo. The smoke of the Great Wall, the ruins of the Afang Palace, and the silence of the Terracotta Warriors all show the glory and pathos of the Qin Dynasty. Every brick and stone brings together the hard work and tears of the people of that era, constitutes a deep wound, and opens the giant curtain of history. When the state treats the people as dust, their efforts as splendid to show off, and their lives as bargaining chips, the demise of the regime will eventually come as scheduled. This is the lesson of history, and it is a truth that we still need to remember today.