Fiscal Policy and Institutions in Imperial China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taisu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
The Qing Dynasty ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Absolute Volume ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Extreme Outlier

Up until the final four decades of the Qing Dynasty, fiscal extraction in imperial China was primarily a matter of taxing agricultural production, generally in the form of an annual property tax assessed on the basis of landholding, and collected in either grain or cash. All major dynasties prior to the Qing wielded this fiscal instrument somewhat flexibly, with large-scale reforms, usually leading to significantly higher taxes, occurring around mid-dynasty, but the Qing broke this trend: the absolute volume of agricultural taxes remained locked in place for the great majority of its 278-year life span, despite a near tripling of both the population and the economy. This eventually rendered the Qing fiscal state an extreme outlier in both horizontal and vertical comparisons: relative to the economy it governed, not only was it much smaller than its major early modern competitors, ranging from Japan to Western European states to other central Asian empires, but it was also probably the smallest post-Qin dynastic state by far. Preexisting scholarship has largely failed to identify, let alone explain, this sudden and dramatic shift in fiscal policy towards the end of China’s imperial history. There are a number of possible explanations for it, some of which have appeared in the extant literature, but the most promising one—which has not appeared—seems to be that the extraordinary circumstances of the Ming–Qing transition served as the catalyst for a decisive conservative turn in Chinese fiscal thought, pushing the Qing state into a fundamentally different political and institutional equilibrium than its predecessors.

scholarly journals Shipboard Union Representation in the British Merchant Navy

1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Macfarlane
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
British Industry ◽  
Managerial Authority ◽  
Union Representation ◽  
Countervailing Power ◽  
Penal Sanctions

Shop stewards, or other forms of workshop representation, are a common feature of British industry. It is not known for certain how many such shop floor representatives are active; estimates vary between 90,000 and 200.000, “the truth is probably somewhere between these two figures”. What is certain, however, is that the great majority of industrial workers, particularly in large-scale industry, have recourse to lay trade union representation for the settlement of shop floor grievances. Often such representatives are “the union” for the ordinary workman who does not come into contact with full-time union officers. “For the great majority of British trade unionists the workplace representative is their only direct personal link with their union.” He also provides a front-line defence against the arbitrary use of authority by management. If no shop steward existed, managerial authority, unchecked by the countervailing power of shop floor representatives, would be open to abuse. If such managerial authority was also supported by a system of legal powers which further strengthened its position, it would make possible “the use of penal sanctions to compel acceptance of working conditions which free agents would not endure”. Such was the case in the British Merchant Navy until less than five years ago.

scholarly journals The Concept of “Contemporary Place Names” in the Tibetan Translation of the Da Tang Xiyu Ji

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-63
Author(s):  
Tokio Takata
Keyword(s):  
Qing Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Text ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Geographical Knowledge ◽  
The Qing Dynasty ◽  
Tibetan Translation ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Manuscript Copy

The Da Tang Xiyu ji (Тhe Great Tang Records on the Western Regions) was translated into Tibetan by the Mongolian scholar Gombojab (Mgon-po-skyabs) of the Qing dynasty (16441912), using the original Chinese text of the Qianlong Tripitaka, also called the Dragon Tripitaka. In the manuscript copy kept at Otani University (Kyoto), interlinear explanatory notes of the contemporary place names are found. The notes on the Central Asian place names might reflect the new geographical knowledge that Chinese society obtained after Qianlongs campaigns against the Dzungars. In the present paper, the author discusses some of these notes. As the notes are not accurate and contain much misunderstanding, it is hard to use them as research sources. Nevertheless, they reveal the scope of knowledge of the time and deserve attention.

scholarly journals Text Analysis and Visualization Research on the Hetu Dangse During the Qing Dynasty of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyu Wang ◽  
Jingyu Wu ◽  
Guang Yu ◽  
Zhiping Song
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Qing Dynasty ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Liaoning Province ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
The Qing Dynasty ◽  
Historical Materials ◽  
The Government

In traditional historical research, interpreting historical documents subjectively and manually causes problems such as one-sided understanding, selective analysis, and one-way knowledge connection. In this study, we aim to use machine learning to automatically analyze and explore historical documents from a text analysis and visualization perspective. This technology solves the problem of large-scale historical data analysis that is difficult for humans to read and intuitively understand. In this study, we use the historical documents of the Qing Dynasty Hetu Dangse,preserved in the Archives of Liaoning Province, as data analysis samples. China’s Hetu Dangse is the largest Qing Dynasty thematic archive with Manchu and Chinese characters in the world. Through word frequency analysis, correlation analysis, co-word clustering, word2vec model, and SVM (Support Vector Machines) algorithms, we visualize historical documents, reveal the relationships between functions of the government departments in the Shengjing area of the Qing Dynasty, achieve the automatic classification of historical archives, improve the efficient use of historical materials as well as build connections between historical knowledge. Through this, archivists can be guided practically in historical materials’ management and compilation.

scholarly journals Comparative Nutrigenomics Analysis of the Pig, Mouse and Human (P15-004-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Dawson ◽  
Celine Chen ◽  
Thomas Wang ◽  
Joseph Urban
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Nutrient Sensing ◽  
Orthologous Genes ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Large Scale Analysis ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Superfamily Analysis ◽  
Unique Genes

Abstract Objectives The seminal work of Miller and Ullrey examined the suitability of the pig as a model for human nutrition concluded “With the possible exception of nonhuman primates, it is apparent that the omnivorous pig is one of the best models for study of nutrition issues in the omnivorous human.” To date, a cross-species, large-scale analysis of genes related to nutrition and metabolism has not been reported. Our goal was to systematically review similarities and differences in nutrition-related physiology, and where different, to explore possible etiologies behind each phenomena using comparative genomics. Methods A broad literature and laboratory-based analysis was conducted comparing 1532 genes associated with porcine, murine, and human macro and micronutrient metabolism, including metalloproteins. Four questions were addressed. Are genes in specific pathways conserved? Are the genes/proteins structurally and functionally similar? Are the genes expressed in similar cell types? Are the genes regulated in a similar manner to stimuli? Results Pigs have roughly 4-fold fewer unique genes (66) than the mouse (240) and human (209). The great majority of these unique genes were zinc-containing members of the KRAB-A box Transcription Factor Superfamily. Analysis of 142 non-orthologous genes revealed that these genes were 10 times more likely to be present in only pigs and humans (120) than only in mice and humans (17). Genes involved in vitamin A and lipid metabolism were more highly conserved between pigs and humans. Notable, differences were found between humans and pigs in regard to genes encoding digestive enzymes and nutrient sensing genes. In some cases, mechanistic data were obtained to explain for previously described differences in physiology. For example, the lack of porcine salivary lipase and amylase activities is likely related to the absence of these genes in the pig. Analysis of 888 orthologous genes indicated a greater pig-human protein similarity for almost every gene examined. Conclusions Overall, the genomic and physiological parameters examined were more similar between pigs and humans than mice and humans. This supports the proposition that evaluating nutrition in pigs provides data that is more physiologically relevant to humans. Funding Sources Supported by USDA/ARS Project Plan 1235-51,000-055-00D.

In the General's Valley

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-197
Author(s):  
Robert Wyrod
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Rural Setting ◽  
Scale Transformation ◽  
New Politics ◽  
Development Partner ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Development Approach

Since the turn of the millennium, the landscape of development in Africa has undergone a dramatic shift. China has significantly expanded its foreign aid and investment in the region, decentering the West as Africa's main development partner. What is largely missing from China-Africa scholarship, however, is attention to how the new Chinese presence in Africa is both embedded in and altering everyday social relations. This article examines these issues in a rural setting in Uganda that is in the midst of a large-scale transformation into a China-funded industrial park. It reveals that the complex new politics of Chinese development assistance are intertwined with, and often exacerbate, existing social inequalities based in politics, class, ethnicity, and race. More conceptually, these dynamics demonstrate the need to rethink how we frame development as a transnational field of social practice. China is more than an outlier within the global field of development and instead should be viewed as pursuing its own form of development, what I call “developmental pragmatism.” As this case study illustrates, this developmental pragmatism often turns on synergies between the business-focused development approach of the Chinese and the priorities of more authoritarian governments—synergies that require much greater critical attention.

IV. Sir Charles MacGregor and the Defence of India,1857–1887

1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Preston
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Military Power ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
National Defence ◽  
Peculiar Nature

If anyone could be claimed the father of the school for the scientific study of Indian defence policy it would undoubtedly be Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor. With the re-opening of the Central Asian Question in the early 1860s, it became MacGregor's mission in life completely to recast the Indian defence structure and it counter-insurrectionary role to enable it to undertake large-scale offensive operations against a major European military power. Almost single-handedly, he began to create the machinery within the Indian Army establishment—the special departments, professional institutes, journals and literature—to stimulate a greater awareness of the special and peculiar nature of Indian defence problems that this new role involved, and to encourage an iconoclastic re-examination of prevailing defence assumptions. From MacGregor's groundwork there was logically bound to arise a sense of Indian Army professionalism separate and distinct from that of Great Britain, and the beginnings of the belief that obligations of national defence are inseparable from nationhood. It was MacGregor who first appreciated on the basis of systematic and scientific study that India constituted a vast manpower reservoir, greater than that of Ireland and Egypt together, upon which Britain relied for the prosecution of her imperial, military and foreign policies in the East; that the North-West Frontier presented the only strategic boundary that Britain had to defend; and that the geo-strategic and demographic facts of her existence had made India potentially a great military power bound to adopt a ‵Continental′ military policy and defence structure in many respects parallel to those of the major European military powers.

Instruments of Financial Legal Policy in the Countries of the European Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1313
Author(s):  
Olha V. POKATAIEVA ◽  
Lesia A. SAVCHENKO ◽  
Oleksandr M. BUKHANEVYCH ◽  
Anton O. MONAIENKO ◽  
Olga P. GETMANETS
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Global Business ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The Usa

For the purpose of a more detailed analysis of the features of administrative regulation of fiscal policy, it is necessary to consider examples of fiscal regulation of business processes in individual foreign countries, as well as features of fiscal policy in the EU. For several decades in a row, the G7 countries – Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Canada, the USA, France, and Japan - determine world economic policy. Despite the periodic global economic crises, they are among the first to overcome their consequences and maintain a leading position in the global business environment. This happens due to a balanced fiscal regulation policy. Among their common features is that part of the GDP that they accumulate through leverage of fiscal regulation has a steady tendency for growth. Thus, over the past 40 years in France, this share has grown by 10.1%, and in Canada - by 10.9%. The paper shows that the theoretical basis of modern fiscal regulation in these countries is neo-conservatism, the basis of which is the importance of direct impact on production through targeted and large-scale tax cuts. The authors show that fiscal regulation in this case provides incentives for conservation and investment. Another important element is the reduction of government spending, mainly due to the implementation of targeted government programs. However, despite several common features, each country has certain features in the administrative and legal regulation of fiscal policy. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that it is necessary to investigate these features in more detail through the lens the historical development of the administrative and legal regulation of fiscal policy in foreign countries.  

Systematic analysis of chemotherapy agents for home-based administration.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e14012-e14012
Author(s):  
George Xiangyun Ye ◽  
Adam Binder ◽  
Nathan Handley ◽  
Maria Piddoubny ◽  
Gloria Espinosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chemotherapeutic Agents ◽  
Inpatient Setting ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Home Setting ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Chemotherapy Infusion ◽  
Dramatic Shift

e14012 Background: Improvement in supportive care medications, feasibility of outpatient management, and regulatory changes have led to a dramatic shift in the primary location of chemotherapy delivery from the inpatient setting to outpatient infusion centers. Over the last decade, centers in Europe and Canada have taken the next logical step – home based chemotherapy infusion. To our knowledge there is no systematic large scale initiative that has transitioned chemotherapy to the home in the United States. In order to implement a home based chemotherapy infusion program, we systematically scored anti-neoplastic agents for ease of administration. Methods: We reviewed all anti-neoplastic agents administered at our infusion center. Characteristics of each medication that could be a barrier to home infusion were identified. These included route and duration of administration, vesicant status, emetogenic potential, and duration of stability at room temperature. Scoring was determined by a multi-disciplinary team of pharmacists and oncologists (see Table). Higher scores indicated greater potential for home administration. Results: We reviewed 100 medications. The highest possible score was 8; the lowest possible score was -4. Agents ranged with scores from 8 (fulvestrant) to -1 (dactinomycin), with a median score of 4. The mode score was 3 (24 medications). The largest factor lowering the ease of administration score was stability at room temperature; score of -2 and -1 in 19 and 18 medications respectively. Conclusions: It is feasible to administer the majority of our chemotherapeutic agents in the home setting. The biggest barrier to administration at home is stability of medications at room temperature. This issue can be addressed by transporting and storing the medication in a refrigerated container. Expectedly, injectable drugs and medications with short infusion times that are stable at room temperature would be the easiest to administer in the home. Further analysis in ongoing to assess the financial feasibility and establishment of our home based program. [Table: see text]

Jesuit Scientia and Natural Studies in Late Imperial China, 1600-18001

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-232
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Elman
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Cultural Control ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Late Imperial China ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
Imperial Court ◽  
Government Bureaucracy ◽  
Tea Production ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
The Government

AbstractArguably, by 1600 Europe was ahead of China in producing basic machines such as clocks, screws, levers, and pulleys that would be applied increasingly to the mechanization of agricultural and industrial production. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, Europeans still sought the technological secrets for silk production, textile weaving, porcelain making, and large scale tea production from the Chinese. Chinese literati in turn, before 1800, borrowed new algebraic notations (of Hindu-Arabic origins), Tychonic cosmology, Euclidean geometry, spherical trigonometry, and arithmetic and trigonometric logarithms from Europe. Until 1990, Chinese elites and their Manchu rulers interpreted the transition in early modern Europe—from new forms of scientific knowledge to new modes of industrial power—on their own terms. Each side made a virtue out of the mutually contested accommodation project, and each converted the other's forms of natural studies into acceptable local conventions of knowledge. The Ming and Qing imperial court induced Jesuit calendrical, military, and land mensuration experts to work as imperial minions in the government bureaucracy to augment each dynasty's own project of political and cultural control. Consequently, it would be a historiographical mistake to underestimate Chinese efforts to master on their own terms the Western learning of the Jesuits in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.

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