TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN
57
Rent and tax burdens: Table I gives an estimation of the rent burden (in kind) borne by tenants during the nineteenth century, as computed for three "sets" of fields. A rough estimation of the rent burden places it around 1/3 of the harvest. Table II measures the tax burden borne by the landlord; taxes consistently consumed no more than 2% of the rent-value. Both burdens compare favourably with available information on the economic conditions of other areas in late-Ch'ing.
Moreover, both landlords and tenants were favoured by a relatively small tax-base, a phenomenon no doubt related to the magistracy's reluctance to collect taxes on "wastelands." Landlords, in turn, betrayed a similar disinterest in unprofitable land in upland or coastal areas.7
Markets: Substantial increases were registered in the number of regular and periodic markets throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Kwangchow Fu-chih, published in 1757, records a total of 24 markets in Hsin-An. The Hsin-An Hsien-chih, published in 1819, lists 36 markets. Furthermore, this list of markets records four recent "failures" and 11 recent "openings."
TABLE I:
199
Estimation of Rent Burden (In Kind):
Tung Fu, Hsin-An Hsien: Ch'ing
Location Mau (Registered) Productivity (a) Rent local measure Rent (b) % (Government rent/harvest) Un Long 22.9 61.83 16.02 17.62 28% Tsing Yi 36.0 97.20 40.00 32.00 33% Hong Kong 303.0 818.00 417.00 333.60 40%Sources: (1) Land memorials in Registrar General's Office, Hong Kong (No. 28623); (2) CSO Extension 150/01; (3) HKTCSMTC.
Notes:
(a) Assuming constant average productivity of 2.7 piculs per mau per harvest.
(b) Government granary tau=10 sheng; Un Long tau=11 sheng; Kowloon tau 8 sheng.