The whole world is not the land of the king , and the shore of the land is not the king's ministers.
During the slavery society and feudal dynasty period, land occupied a vital position in the historical development of our country. It not only promoted the development of the economy and people's livelihood, but also stabilized social and political stability. Its existence has a value and significance that cannot be ignored.
Looking at the development of agriculture in my country's past dynasties, we can see that the land system has taken different paths and played different roles in different periods. This has accumulated a lot of practical reference significance, which has led to today's development situation.
1. The development of the land system from Pre-Qin to Qin and Han
The land system has slowly begun to appear during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. According to historical records, land transactions have already existed in the Xia Dynasty and Shang Dynasty . This means that at this time, land ownership and ownership already had clear legislative documents.
Under the "Zhou Rites" system, the Zhou Dynasty implemented the "well field system". Land trade among the upper-class nobility was common, but it was only limited to the nobility and landlord class . The next land reform needs to be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period , two changes in the means of production promoted the abolition of the well field system. First, the improvement of forging iron technology accelerated the efficiency of agricultural production tools. The influence of collective labor was not as strong as before, and individual independent management became a new development trend.
In the second week, the rites of the Zhou Dynasty collapsed and the princes competed for hegemony. The well-field system based on political stability existed in name only. In order to increase the enthusiasm of farmers, the major princely states began to implement new land systems. Qin State was a pioneer in history in this regard.
After Qin Xiaogong came to the throne, he issued an order to recruit talents in order to reform and strengthen himself. At this time, Shang Yang, a native of Wei, implemented the " Shang Yang Reform" in the Qin State. One of the contents of the reform was to "abolish well fields, open roads, and grant land to the people." The meaning of this sentence
is to abolish the well-field system. In the future, whoever reclaims the unowned imperial land will own it. Since then, private ownership of land has replaced the well-field system, and even farmers can buy and sell land among themselves.
The transformation of land from "public ownership" to "private ownership" also marked my country's transition from slavery to feudalism. Under the feudal system that lasted for more than 2,000 years, the development of land ushered in cyclical changes and cycles, with different performances and characteristics in different periods.
In the early days of Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty , public and private ownership of land coexisted. Public ownership of land still continued the well-field system of the Zhou Dynasty, while private land in the hands of farmers not only belonged to themselves, but even the land ownership could be bought and sold.
However, the inevitability of historical development is that 20% of the people control 80% of the means of production. As time goes by, it is inevitable for land to be annexed. Therefore, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he proposed the so-called "restriction of famous land to the people" in response to this situation.
Simply put, it restricts the sale and purchase of land in the hands of farmers, which can well solve the problem of land being annexed by powerful powers and landlords. However, due to various historical factors Liu Che did not adopt Dong Zhongshu 's suggestions.
For a long time after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the land system of the Han Dynasty was extensive private ownership . However, after Wang Mang usurped the Han , the land changed to public ownership. The " king's land system" of the Zhou Dynasty was once again popularized, which is the so-called well field system.
The New Dynasty was overthrown and the Eastern Han Dynasty was established. Liu Xiu abolished the well-field system Wang Mang restored and implemented the "field system". Eastern Han The land population of states and counties was censused, which not only restricted the annexation of land by powerful powers, but also strengthened the court's agricultural taxation and population corvee.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was nominally the head of a country, but the actual power of the court was in the hands of Cao Cao . In order to promote the development of the northern agricultural economy and meet the demand for food and grass in the war environment, Cao Cao implemented the "field farming system" in the northern Kyushu.
What is the farming system? It uses soldiers and landless peasants to cultivate state-owned land. After the agricultural products mature, the court collects land rent according to a certain proportion. In the early days of Cao Wei , the ratio of farmers who used farming and those who did not use cattle was divided into 6 for the government and 4 for the people. However, in the late Cao Wei Dynasty, the number of officials reached 8 and the people 6, which made the people in the fields continue to resist and flee, and the system of farming existed in name only.
The emergence of the farming system during the war years prevented the annexation of land by powerful landlords. But looking at the phenomenon and its essence, it is not difficult to find that the farming system also protected the interests of the aristocracy and the landlord class, and the common people became an exploited group.
2. The evolution of land from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Song and Yuan Dynasties
Jin Dynasty After the unification of the Three Kingdoms, the court began to equally distribute the land in its hands to farmers. Of course, the initial land ownership was still owned by the state. Only after farming for a certain number of years and paying sufficient taxes could one have land ownership.
The land equalization system during the Jin and Jin Dynasties lasted for hundreds of years. This system was used until the Sui Dynasty. In the early days of the Tang Dynasty, the population dropped sharply due to years of wars in China. The imperial court had to implement the "equal land renting method" that was consistent with the actual situation.
The Land Equalization, Rent and Yongtiao method is a system of four types of taxation: equalization of land, rent, and Yonghetiao. This land system is no longer based on land but on population. The common people can change between renting, Yonghetiao and so on to meet the needs of the court and individuals.
For example, farmers pay taxes and perform corvee service to the court. If the time of corvee service exceeds the limited period, the tax they need to pay will be reduced accordingly. In order to make the information more complete and accurate, the Tang Dynasty also formulated the "rural accounting system", which established accounts in one year and books in three years.
The land policy during the Tang Dynasty had a very serious "imperial intervention" character. Land annexation and land sales were suppressed to the maximum extent. At the same time, the small-scale peasant economy and the planning system brought sufficient tax sources to the Tang Dynasty's finances.
After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty's economy was greatly damaged, and even the political system of the court underwent tremendous changes. In order to meet the needs of the court, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Land Equalization Law was gradually replaced by the " Two Tax Law".
What are the two tax laws? To put it simply, the imperial court no longer implemented the system of land equalization and land restriction. Landowners and nobles could annex and buy and sell land. Private ownership of land developed greatly and became the mainstream of the market. However, private land required paying taxes twice every autumn and summer.
Although the emergence of the Two Taxes Law solved the financial dilemma of the imperial court, it increased the financial burden on the people. In the last years of the Tang Dynasty, the people were in dire straits, and the famous Huangchao Uprising appeared in history, which accelerated the demise of the Tang Dynasty regime.
During the years of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan's reform in the Song Renzong period and Wang Anshi's reform in the Song Shenzong's period carried out relevant land reforms. In the short term, they were in line with the needs of the development of the times, but in the long term, the people at the bottom have become a marginalized group.
3. The trajectory of the evolution of the land system during the Ming and Qing dynasties
In the years of the Yuan Dynasty, the land policy of the Song Dynasty was generally adopted. However, the positive land system at the end of the Yuan Dynasty existed in name only. Instead, the nobles and powerful tyrants annexed the land in large quantities. The people's livelihood was deprived, which directly led to the peasant uprising.
After the establishment of in the Ming Dynasty, the land system of the Yuan Dynasty was vigorously reformed. The most distinctive ones were the "Yellow Book" and the "Fish Scale Book". Simply put, they managed land and household registration based on the Lijia system.
What is the Lijia system? To put it bluntly, it means organizing people within a certain area into a unit for management. Although it is an inter-era change, it requires very high stability of the political system.
The Lijia system can run smoothly when politics is running smoothly and the economy and trade are prosperous. However, once social unrest occurs, population and land will naturally undergo major changes. It is reasonable for the Lijia system to exist in name only and be abandoned.
This is indeed the case. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the political situation in the court was frequently turbulent, and the taxes and corvee pressure that the people had to pay were great. Fortunately, the " one whip" law implemented by Zhang Juzheng changed the embarrassing situation.
Taxation is no longer centered on actual goods. Everything is measured by money. The center of taxation has also shifted from population to land. The political system and economic operation have also become very smooth. The Lijia system has been completely abolished by this period.
The land policy adopted at the beginning of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty was very similar to One Whip Law , but on the basis of the One Whip Law, there was an additional "dingyin system", that is, each family had to pay a certain amount of tax according to the size of its population. The more the population, the more money it had to pay, which led to the peasant resistance in the early Qing Dynasty.
It was not until the emergence of " a small share per mu " during the Yongzheng period, that is, the tax burden was no longer based on the number of people but on the amount of farmed land, that the living pressure of farmers around the world gradually decreased and the social economy developed rapidly.
In the late Qing Dynasty, , the rapid socio-economic development also led to an increase in population. The rapidly growing population and the slowly growing land amount formed a new contradiction. The aristocrats and large landowners vigorously began to merge and purchase land. The distribution of land interests in society became unbalanced again, which triggered a large number of peasant uprisings in the late Qing Dynasty.
From the above introduction, it is easy to see that the development of ancient my country's land system has a strong cyclical nature. The implementation of the equalized land system can bring about economic recovery and prosperity. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang to the Ming and Qing dynasties, almost all the prosperous times were based on the equalized land system.
However, the land equalization system needs to be established in an environment of political stability and peace. When social and economic development reaches a certain level, new class conflicts will appear, causing social unrest and unrest and even peasant uprisings.
When the political environment is destroyed, the foundation for the survival of the equal land system will inevitably be broken. During this period, private ownership will dominate. A large number of people will lose the land and means of production they depend on for survival, exacerbating further social unrest and the expansion of war. Until a new dynasty appears and a new land system is born to meet the needs and development of the times.
The transformation of land from public ownership in a slave society to private ownership in a feudal society was a historical breakthrough. On the basis of private ownership, successive dynasties formulated detailed land policies that were in line with the development of the times. It can be seen that the development of my country's ancient land system has become more and more open and diversified. Although it has been bumpy, it is inevitable for historical development.
References: "Zhou Rites", "Historical Records", "Han Shu", "New Tang Book Food and Huo Zhi"
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