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Pre-Single-Whip Taxes and Corvée in the Ming

Type Object Region China Time 1381–1581

Before the Single Whip Reform, the Ming state collected land taxes, grain, and miscellany through lijia households and imposed corvée labor;…

Timeline

  1. 1381–1450Southern Zhili (Nanjing) · Ming dynastyThe early Ming established the lijia organization along with the Yellow Register and Fish-scale Registers, binding household registration, land, and corvée apportionment into a grassroots collection framework of parallel taxes and labor services.
  2. 1450–1570Prefectures of Jiangnan · JiangnanMeltage losses, surcharges, equalized corvée, and miscellaneous duties piled up, burdening grain and lijia heads; in-kind levies and silver conversion ran in parallel, bringing the complexity of the old system to its peak.
  3. 1581–1620Two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming · Ming dynastyZhang Juzheng implemented the Single Whip Reform, converting most taxes and corvée to silver; by 1611-1620, Southern Zhili, Huguang, and other regions still retained old corvée categories and surcharges, with fiscal pressure and household system breakdown coexisting.

Sources