The Merit of Misfortune: Taiping rebellion and the rise of indirect taxation in modern China, 1850s-1900s

Author(s): Hanzhi Deng

Type: Poster

Department: Department of Economic History

Exhibit no: 25


This poster presents a quantitative study that investigates how the static, centralized and agrarian fiscal system of the Qing China was transformed into a responsive, decentralized and diverse one since the 1850s. It offers us new perspectives to understand the making of a modern fiscal state.

It finds a positive link between the military conflicts during the Taiping Rebellion and the establishment and persistence of the autonomous indirect taxation systems on the local level.