People suffered grievously under the Ch'in dynasty. The land tax took up to two-thirds of what was produced. Further impoverishment and suffering grew out of the widespread conflict that was occasioned as Ch'in fell and Han emerged. The rulers of Han were quick to understand the need for peace and stability along with decreased government interference in the lives of the people. Taxes were cut and government expenditures held to a minimum. Population increased and the economy revived.
Agriculture was emphasized and trade discouraged. Merchants who had accumulated fortunes during the harsh times of the past were heavily taxed. For a while those engaged in commerce were not permitted to hold public office. Tradition held that in ancient times the emperor had plowed the first furrow of spring. The custom was revived with much pomp and circumstance. Honorary ranks and commutation of punishments were granted in exchange for gifts of grain. In time the granaries were filled and the government was rich enough to begin to relax some of its frugality.
The Emperor Wen issued this edict on the primacy of agriculture in 163 B.C.:
"For the past several years there have been no good harvests, and our people have suffered the calamities of flood, drought and pestilence. We are deeply grieved by this, but being ignorant and unenlightened, we have been unable to discover where the blame lies. We have considered whether our administration has been guilty of some error or our actions have some fault. Have we failed to follow the way of Heaven or to obtain the benefits of earth? Have we caused disharmony in human affairs or neglected the gods so that they do not accept our offerings? What has brought on these things? Have the provisions of our officials been too lavish or have we indulged in too many unprofitable affairs? Why is the food of the people so scarce? When the fields are surveyed, they have not decreased, and when the people are counted they have not grown in number, so that the amount of land for each person is the same as before or even greater. And yet there is a drastic shortage of food. Where does the blame lie? Is it that too many people pursue secondary activities to the detriment of agriculture? Is it that too much grain is used to make wine or too many domestic animals are being raised? I have been unable to attain a proper balance between important and unimportant affairs. Let this matter be debated by the chancellor, the nobles, the high officials and learned doctors. Let all exhaust their efforts and ponder deeply whether there is some way to aid the people. Let nothing be concealed from us!"
The statesman Ch'ao Ts'o offered these suggestions for the alleviation of economic distress:
"The reason the people never suffered from cold or famine under the rule of the sage-kings was not that these kings were capable of plowing to provide food or spinning to make clothes for them. It was that they opened up for the people the way to wealth. Therefore, although Emperors Yao and Yu encountered nine years of flood and King T'ang seven years of drought, there were no derelicts or starving within the kingdom, because provisions had been store up in plenty and all precautions taken beforehand.
"Now all within the seas are united. The plenitude of land and people is not inferior to that of T'ang and Yu, and in addition we have not suffered from natural calamities of flood or drought for several years. Why then are the stores of supplies so inferior? Because the land has benefits that have been overlooked and the people have untapped energies. There is still land suitable for growing grain that has not been brought under cultivation, resources of hills and lakes that have not been exploited, and vagrants who have not yet returned to agricultural pursuits. When the people are in poverty, then crime and evil-doing are born. Poverty is bred of insufficiency which is caused by lack of agriculture. If men do not farm, they will not be tied to the land; and if they are not tied to the land, they will desert their villages, neglect their families and become like birds and beasts. Then although there be high walls and deep moats, strict laws and severe punishments, they still cannot be held in check.
"When one is cold he does not demand the most comfortable and warmest garments; when one is starving he does not wait for the tastiest morsels. When a man is plagued by hunger and cold he has no regard for modesty or shame. It is the nature of man that if he does not eat twice a day he will starve, and if in the course of a year he cuts himself no new clothes he will freeze. When the belly is famished and gets no food, when the skin is chilled and has no clothing to cover it, then the most compassionate father cannot provide even for his own child. How then can the ruler keep the allegiance of his people? An enlightened ruler, realizing this, will encourage his people in agriculture and sericulture, lighten the poll tax and other levies, increase his store of supplies and fill his granaries in preparation for flood and drought. Therefore he can keep and care for his people. The people may then be led by the ruler, for they will follow after profit in any direction like water flowing downward.
"Now pearls, jewels, gold and silver can neither allay hunger nor keep out the cold, and yet the people all hold them dear, because they are things used by the ruler. They are light and easy to store, and one who holds them in his grasp may roam the world and never fear hunger or cold. They cause ministers lightly to turn their backs upon their lords and the people easily to leave their villages; they provide an incentive for thieves and a light form of wealth for fugitives.
"Grains and fibers, on the other hand, are produced from the land, nurtured through the seasons, and harvested with labor; they cannot be gotten in a day. Several measures of grain or cloth are too heavy for an average man to carry and so provide no reward for crime or evil. Yet if people go without them for one day they will face hunger and cold. Therefore an enlightened ruler esteems the five grains and despises gold and jewels.
"At present in a farming family of five not less than two are required to perform labor service (for the state), while those who are left to work the farm are given no more than 100 mu of land, the yield of which is not over 100 piculs. No matter how diligently they work nor what hardships they suffer, they still must face the calamities of flood and drought, emergency government measures, inordinate tax levies and taxes collected out of season. Orders issued in the morning are changed before nightfall. Faced with such levies, the people must sell what they have at half price in order to pay, and those who have nothing must take money offered at 100 per cent interest. Thus they are forced to sell their fields and houses, vend their children and grandchildren to pay their debts.
"Among the traders and merchants, on the other hand, the larger ones hoard goods and exact 100 per cent profit, while the smaller ones sit lined up in the markets selling their wares. Those who deal in luxury goods daily disport themselves in the cities and market towns; taking advantage of the ruler's wants, they are able to sell at double price. Thus though their men neither plow nor weed, though their women neither tend silkworms nor spin, yet their clothes are brightly patterned and colored, and they eat only choice grain and meat. They have none of the hardships of the farmer, yet their gain is ten to one hundredfold. With their wealth they may consort with nobles and their power exceeds the authority of government officials. They use their profits to overthrow others. Over a thousand miles they wander at ease, their caps and cart covers filling the roads. They ride in fine carriages and drive fat horses, tread in silken shoes and trail white silk behind them. Thus it is that merchants encroach upon the farmers, and farmers are driven from their homes and become vagrants.
"At present, although the laws degrade the merchants, the merchants have become wealthy and honored, and although they honor the farmers, the farmers have grown poor and lowly. Thus what common practice honors the ruler degrades, and what officials scorn the law exalts. With ruler and ruled thus at variance and their desires in conflict, it is impossible to hope that the nation will become rich and the law be upheld.
"Under the present circumstances there is nothing more urgently needed than to make the people devote themselves to agriculture. To accomplish this one must enhance the value of grain. This may be done by making it possible for the people to use grain to obtain rewards and avoid punishments. If an order is sent out that all who send grain to the government shall obtain honorary rank or pardon from crimes, then wealthy men will acquire rank, the farmers will have money and grain will circulate freely. If men can afford to present grain in exchange for ranks, they must have a surplus. If this surplus is acquired for the use of the ruler, then the poll tax on the poor can be reduced. This is what is known as reducing the surplus to supply the deficiency. Ranks are something that the ruler may dispense at will; he has only to speak and there is no end of them. Grain is something grown on the land by the people and its supply is continuous. All men greatly desire to obtain high ranks and avoid penalties. If all are allowed to present grain for supplying the frontiers and thereby obtain rank or commutation of penalties, then in no more than three years there will be plenty of grain for the border areas."
Tung Chung-shu submitted this land memorial to Emperor Wu about 100 B.C. (because of the opposition of the wealthy and the powerful, it was not implemented):
"In ancient times the people were not taxed more than a tenth of their produce, a demand that they could easily meet. They were required to give no more than three days of labor a year, which they could easily spare. The people had wealth enough to take care of the aged and look after their parents, serve their superiors and pay their taxes, and support their wives and loved ones. Therefore they took delight in obeying their rulers.
"But the Ch'in changed all this. It used the methods of Shang Yang (Legalism), altered the imperial institutions, did away with the well-field system and allowed the people to buy and sell land. The rich bought up great connecting tracts of ground and the poor were left without enough land to stick the point of an awl into. In addition the rich had sole control of the resources of rivers and lakes and riches of hills and forests. Their profligacy overstepped all restrictions and they outdid each other in extravagance. In the cities they commanded as much respect as the rulers, and in the villages their wealth equaled that of the nobles. How could the common people escape oppression? In addition labor services were increased until they were 30 times those of ancient days, while taxes on fields and population and profits from salt and iron increased to 20 times those of old. Those who worked the land of the rich had to give half their crops in rent. Therefore the poor were forced to wear clothing fit only for cattle and horses and eat the food of dogs and swine. On top of this, harsh and greedy officials punished and executed them indiscriminately until the people, grieved and deprived of their livelihood, fled to the hills or turned to a life of banditry. Condemned men half filled the roads and tens of thousands were imprisoned each year.
"Since the Han began it has followed the ways of the Ch'in without change. Although it would be difficult to restore at once the ancient well-field system, it is proper that present usage be brought somewhat closer to the old ways. Ownership of land should be limited so that those who do not have enough may be relieved and the road to unlimited encroachment blocked. The rights to salt and iron should revert to the people. Slavery and the right to execute servants on one's own authority should be abolished. Poll taxes and other levies should be reduced and labor services lightened so that the people will be less pressed. Only then can they be well-governed."
Han prosperity came to an end with Emperor Wu. To push back the barbarian tribes in the north and west, he undertook military campaigns in the northwest and brought China into contact with the states of Central and Western Asia, even with Rome. He colonized conquered areas, building roads, canals, irrigation works and other projects. The money accumulated by his predecessors was soon exhausted. He was compelled to resort to all manner of taxation to increase the imperial revenues.
Land and properties were confiscated from remaining feudal lords. Titles, military ranks and government offices were sold in such profusion that officialdom was reduced to chaos. The money-making enterprises of traders and industrialists were transferred to the government. The rich were taxed to the point of confiscation. Those who sought to evade payment lost everything. Government monopolies were established in iron, salt, liquor, coinage of money and trade. Government offices bought goods at low prices or collected taxes in kind, then sold to the people at a substantial profit. Although money poured into the imperial treasury, the nation was impoverished and resentments grew.
Emperor Wu, a professed Confucianist, actually was reviving the Legalist principles of Ch'in. Those named to administer government monopolies were industrialists and financial experts who supported Legalism. After the death of Emperor Wu in 81 B.C., a debate took place at court between the Legalist officials and Confucian intellectuals. Modification of Legalism followed.
This is part of the record of the debate on monopolies:
"An imperial edict was issued directing the Chancellor and the Imperial Secretaries to confer with the worthies and literati who had been recommended to the government and to inquire into the grievances and hardships of the people.
"The literati responded: We have heard that the way to govern men is to prevent evil and error at their source, to broaden the beginnings of morality, to discourage secondary occupations and open the way for the exercise of humanity and righteousness. Never should material profit appear as a motive of government. Only then can moral instruction succeed and the customs of the people be reformed. But now in the provinces the salt, iron and liquor monopolies and the system of equitable marketing have been established to compete with the people for profit, dispelling rustic generosity and teaching the people greed. Therefore those who pursue primary occupations (farming) have grown few and those following secondary occupations (trading) numerous. As artificiality increases, basic simplicity declines; and as the secondary occupations flourish, those that are primary suffer. When the secondary is practiced the people grow decadent, but when the primary is practiced they are simple and sincere. When the people are sincere then there will be sufficient wealth and goods but when they become extravagant then famine and cold will follow. We recommend that the salt, iron and liquor monopolies and the system of equitable marketing be abolished so that primary pursuits may be advanced and secondary ones suppressed. This will have the advantage of increasing the profitableness of agriculture.
"His Lordship (Imperial Secretary Sang Hung-yang) replied: The Hsiung-nu have frequently revolted against our sovereignty and pillaged our borders. If we are to defend ourselves then it means the hardships of war for the soldiers of China, but if we do not defend ourselves properly then their incursions cannot be stopped. The former emperor took pity upon the people of the border areas who for so long had suffered disaster and hardship and had been carried off as captives. Therefore he set up defense stations, established a system of warning beacons and garrisoned the outlying areas to insure their protection. But the resources of these areas were insufficient and so he established the salt, iron and liquor monopolies and the system of equitable marketing in order to raise more funds for the expenditures in the border regions. Now our critics, who desire that these measures be abolished, would empty the treasuries and deplete the funds used for defense. They would have the men who are defending our passes and patrolling our walls suffer hunger and cold. How else can we provide for them? Abolition of these measures is not expedient.
"In former times the peers residing in the provinces sent in their respective products as tribute but there was much confusion and trouble in transporting them and the goods were often of such poor quality that they were not worth the cost of transportation. For this reason transportation offices have been set up in each district to handle delivery and shipping and to facilitate the presentation of tribute from outlying areas. Therefore the system is called equitable marketing. Warehouses have been opened in the capital for the monopolizing of goods, buying them when prices are low and selling when they are high. Thereby the government suffers no loss and the merchants cannot speculate for profit. Therefore this is called the stabilized level. With stabilization the people are protected from unemployment and with equitable marketing the burden of labor upon them is equalized. Thus these measures are designed to insure an equal distribution of goods and benefit the people and are not intended to open the way to profit and provide the people with a ladder to crime.
"The literati replied: In ancient times taxes and levies took from the people what they were skilled in producing and did not demand what they were poor at. Thus the farmers sent in their harvests and the weaving women their goods. Nowadays the government disregards what the people have and requires of them what they have not, so that they are forced to sell their goods at a cheap price in order to meet the demands from above. The farmers suffer double hardships and the weaving women are taxed twice. We have not seen that this kind of marketing is equitable. The government officials go about recklessly opening closed doors and buying up everything at will so they can corner all the goods. With goods cornered prices soar and when prices soar the merchants make their own deals for profit. The officials wink at powerful racketeers and the rich merchants hoard commodities and wait for an emergency. With slick merchants and corrupt officials buying cheap and selling dear we have not seen that your level is stabilized. The system of equitable marketing of ancient times was designed to equalize the burden of labor upon the people and facilitate the transporting of tribute. It did not mean dealing in all kinds of commodities for the sake of profit.
"He who is good with a chisel can shape a round hole without difficulty; he who is good at laying foundations can build to a great height without danger of collapse. The statesman I Yin made the ways of Yao and Shun the foundation of the Yin dynasty, and its heirs succeeded to the throne for a hundred generations without break. But Shang Yang made heavy penalties and harsh laws the foundation of the Ch'in state and with the Second Emperor it was destroyed. Not satisfied with the severity of the laws, he instituted the system of mutual responsibility, made it a crime to criticize the government and increased corporal punishments until the people were so terrified they did not know where to put their hands and feet. Not content with the manifold taxes and levies, he prohibited the people from using the resources of forests and rivers and made a hundredfold profit on the storage of commodities, while the people were given no chance to voice the slightest objection. Such worship of profit and slight of what is right, such exaltation of power and achievement, led, it is true, to expansion of land and acquisition of territory. Yet it was like pouring more water upon the people who are already suffering from flood and only increasing their distress. You see how Shang Yang opened the way to imperial rule for the Ch'in, but you fail to see how he also opened for the Ch'in the road to ruin.
"His Excellency spoke: Now we have with us over 60 worthy men and literati who cherish the ways of the Six Confucian Disciples, fleet in thought and exhaustive in argument. It is proper, gentlemen, that you should pour forth your light and dispel our ignorance. And yet you put all your faith in the past and turn your backs upon the present, tell us of antiquity and give no thought to the state of the times. Perhaps we are not capable of recognizing the true scholars. Yet do you really presume with your fancy phrases and attacks upon men of ability to pervert the truth in this manner?
"See them now present us with nothingness and consider it substance, with emptiness and call it plenty. In their coarse gowns and cheap sandals, they walk gravely along sunk in meditation as though they had lost something. These are not men who can do great deeds and win fame. They do not even rise above the vulgar masses!"
Economic recovery following the relaxation of Emperor Wu's policies was brief. The government became corrupt. Ownership of land and wealth was concentrated in the hands of officials and merchant families. Peasants were reduced to slavery or joined robber bands. Dikes and other irrigation works fell into disrepair. The toll of floods and droughts increased. It was at this point that the usurper Wang Mang seized power and returned to Legalist principles in an attempt at reform. In 9 A.D. he ordered the establishment of land holdings based on the ancient ideal of the well-field. All land was nationalized and the sale of land and slaves prohibited. This is his land reform edict (which failed and had to be repealed after only three years):
"The ancients set up cottages and wells with eight families to a well-unit (900 mu). One husband wife cultivated 100 mu of land, remitting one-tenth of the produce as tax. Thus the state enjoyed plenty, the people were rich and the sound of hymns of praise arose in the land. This was the way of Yao and Shun and it was followed and continued by the Three Dynasties. But the Ch'in was without principle and increased the levies and taxes for its own use, exhausting the strength of the people with its inordinate desires. It destroyed the institutions of the sages and abolished the well-field system. Consequently there arose those who encroached upon the lands of the farmers, avaricious and vile men, the strongest of them measuring their fields in the thousands, while the weak were left without enough land to stick the point of an awl into. In addition they set up markets for slaves where people were penned up like cattle and horses. In handling common people and servants they usurped the right to punish even by death. Villainous and tyrannical men, with profit as their sole concern, went so far as to kidnap and sell men and their wives and children, profaning the will of Heaven, destroying human relationships and perverting the principle that man is the noblest creation of Heaven and earth.
"The House of Han lightened the tax on land to one-thirtieth of the produce. However, there were commonly taxes for commutation of military service which even the aged and ill had to pay. In addition, the powerful and rich families oppressed the people, allotting lands for cultivation to sharecroppers and plundering them by high rents. Thus, though in name the tax was one-thirtieth, actually it amounted to one-half. Though father and son, husband and wife year in and year out plowed and weeded, yet the produce left to them was not enough to support life. Therefore the rich, whose very horses and dogs had a surplus of meal and grain, grew arrogant and perpetuated evil deeds, while the poor, without even the dregs of grain to satisfy themselves, were reduced to despair and turned to a life of crime. Both sank into wickedness and punishments had to be used and could not be set aside.
"Formerly when I occupied the position of Regent, it was my intention to nationalize all land and apportion it into 'well-units' according to the population. At that time the empire enjoyed the portentous blessing of the double-headed grain, but because of the unfortunate occurrences of rebellions and banditry, I was forced temporarily to abandon my plans.
"Now at this time let the term be altered and the land throughout the empire be designated king's fields and the slaves be called palace retainers. Neither land nor slaves are to be bought or sold. Those families whose adult members do not number eight, but whose fields amount to more than one well-unit, shall divide the surplus lands among their near relatives of the nine generations and the people of their townships and boroughs. Thus those who are without lands shall justly receive them according to this system. Anyone who shall dare to criticize the well-field system of the sages, or seek in defiance of the law to delude the populace, shall be cast out beyond the four borders to face demons and evil spirits."
Wang Mang went on to revive Emperor Wu's salt, iron, liquor, coinage and natural resources monopolies as well as the government system of marketing. The results were the same as before: high prices, shortages and suffering. Wang went farther. He taxed artisans and professional men, reduced the salaries of officials in bad times and demanded that they voluntarily contribute four-fifths of their pay to support military operations against the barbarian tribes. He scrapped the old coinage and started a new one. The people lost confidence in the new money and secretly used the old Han money. So many people were arrested that they could not be incarcerated or punished. Wang Mang succeeded in offending every group in Chinese society, including the Confucians who at first supported him. He tried to take the whole administrative load on his own shoulders but to no avail. His bureaucracy fell to pieces in noncooperation and corruption.
The last days of Wang Mang were described by a historian in these words: "The people could not turn a hand without violating some prohibition. The rich had no means to protect themselves and the poor no way to stay alive. They rose up and become thieves and bandits, infesting the hills and marshes, and the officials, being unable to seize them, contrived on the contrary to hide their presence so that they grew more prevalent day by day. Famine and pestilence raged and people ate each other so that before Wang Mang was finally punished half the population of the empire had perished. The founder of the Eastern Han received the mandate of the Heaven (in 25 A.D.) and together with all the people of the empire made a new beginning."
The second stage of the Han dynasty lasted until 220 A.D. Decimation of the population and a new social order straightened out the economy in the early years. The first part of the latter Han was stable and peaceful. Then the same old economic cycle began all over again - intrigue and corruption, concentration of land and wealth, displacement of the people, banditry, warlordism and eventually a new revolution. Under Wang Mang, peasants known as the Red Eyebrows revolted in Shangtung; the latter Han was unable to cope with a Szechwan revolt of the Yellow Turbans who were under Taoist influence.
Today it may be wondered whether Mao Tse-tung, shaken by the uprisings in Kwangtung and other outlying provinces, has remembered his Chinese history and what invariably happens to tyrants who oppress the peasantry and permit the quality of the central bureaucracy to disintegrate.