During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the commercial
duties imposed on the Cantonese and Fukienese
marine merchants for their overseas trading activities were
levied twice, domestically as well as overseas. The domestic part of duties could be roughly classified as two categories. The first one was normal duties, and some of which were levied according to the taxable deadweight capacity of the ship, with a character of specific duties, some of which were levied according to the prices or values of
different goods respectively, with a character of ad valorem duties. The second one was special duties, which were mainly levied by local governments or officials concerned in the name of various additional taxes under all sorts of pretexts. A general trend was the transition from duties paid in kind to paiy in money. The tax systems abroad were different in different countries or regions during different periods, two main forms of which were proportional
duty and duty quota. The general trend was that the duty-rate rose constantly. The
foreign trade duties imposed on the Cantonese and Fukienese marine merchants during Ming and Qing dynasty reflected the political and economical situations at home and abroad at that time, as well as the historical status of the Cantonese and Fukienese marine merchants in both domestic and international markets.
More abstracts about the The Foreign Trade Revenue of Sea-traders from Guangdong and Fujian Provinces in Ming and Qing Dynast