State Capacity and the Dynamics of Tax Riots during Late Ming Dynasty

万历年间苏州和武昌地区均发生了抗税民变,但是苏州民变历时仅为五日而武昌民变却前后拖了两年才得以根本解决。为什么两地民变有着如此不同的发展?从国家社会关系理论出发,本文提出了如下观点万历跨越地方科层及精英集团,以太监为税使直接在地方扩大税源,使得明朝政权在税收问题上几乎成了一个寡头国家,这是民变频发的根本原因。但是虽然明政权在税收问题上性质的转变是民变发生的主因,导致两地民变不同发展的则是在税使进驻后两地地方科层仍享有的自主性程度及处理民变时所具有的理性决策能力的不同。苏州民变得以迅速解决主要因为该地科层在税使进驻后仍保有着自主性从而为其理性处理民变提供了可能,武昌当局则因为在税使到来后丧失了这些能力从而使民变走向激烈。

In the late Ming Dynasty , Emperor Wanli sent his eunuch tax collectors to Suzhou and Wuchang to implement his new fiscal measures in order to extract more taxes for an ever shrinking state purse.This policy met great resistance and triggered riots in the two regions.However, while riots of similar scales broke out in both regions, they had different dynamics .The riot in Suzhou lasted only five days, but in Wuchang its scale expanded and persisted for almost two years.In this article , the authors argue that the different dynamics of the riots in the two regions can be explained by the different state capacities of the two local governments.The Suzhou government was able to put down the riot quickly because it maintained its autonomy and governing capacity after the arrival of the eunuch tax collector, which in return allowed the government to deal with the riot with a coherent policy.The riot continued and intensified in Wuchang because the local government was unable to deal with the riots coherently after it lost its autonomy in a failed confrontation with the eunuch tax collector.

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