Kuangtung Square Trough Inscribed with Title of Deputy Commissioner on Salt Administration
Salt tax was one of the
major sources of income for the Chinese government. During the Ching Dynasty, in
order to secure this important source of financing, a number of salt
administration officials were deployed to the salt production provinces--such as
Shandong, Jiangsu, Chekiang, Anhuei, Kuangtung, and Kuangsi--to oversee and
govern the production, transportation, and warehousing of salt and to
issue sales licenses and collect the related tax levies. These officials were
all under the supervision of the board of revenue of the imperial government.
The salt administration in each producing province was assigned to officials
of different ranks. From high to low, they were:
(1) 鹽運司
(Yen
Yun Shi): Salt Transportation Commissioner
(2) 運同 (Yun
Tong): Deputy Commissioner
(3) 運副 (Yun
Fu): Associate Commissioner
(4) 運判 (Yun
Pan): Commissioning Judge
(1) was the chief of the administration of a salt production province.
(2)-(4) were each assistants and representatives of the Salt
Transportation Commissioner and governed the business of a salt production
region in a province.
The specimen shown above is inscribed with a place name of 潮
"Chao"
which is an abbreviation of the Chao District of Kuangtung Province. "Chao",
in conjunction with the stamp of title (2), indicates that it was a salt tax
silver collected by the Deputy Commissioner for Salt Administration of the Chao
District from his jurisdiction, and was prepared for submission to the Salt
Transportation Commissioner in Canton.
There is rarely a sycee of the Ching Dynasty inscribed with the title of
an official; this one may be one of few exceptions.
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