A Study Of The Silver Honesty System During Qing Dynasty

The Silver Honesty System of the Qing Dynasty is a special financialinstitution which originally created by Emperor Yongzheng, after ReturningMeltage Fees to the public coffers, drawing part of the silver to officials at alllevels. If the Returning Meltage Fees is not enough, it can draw from the saltand tea merchants, or other tax or positive incomes. The distribution of the silverhonesty depends on actual requirement, mainly put into consumption closelyrelated to official business and administration, the amount is dozens or hundredsof multiples than formal incomes. Its original idea is to avoid the corruption bygiving the officials high salary as well as to encourage them to be cleaned anddevoted.The Silver Honesty is firstly proposed in Shanxi by Nuomin, which givenas a supplement of the officials’ formal incomes from local civilians to centralofficials. The military officers started to follow the examples, from EightBanners to Green Banners. Since the issue of the silver honesty, it became as thesame important as the official’s positive salary in Qing Dynasty. It is formed through several changes during Yongzheng and Qianlong two periods. However,it’s not unalterable in real implement. On account of a imperfection substance,oversight authority, it mostly depending on the decisions of the Emperor, so it isfull of variations during the issue. Illustrate as the officials who hold two ormore posts concurrently, be on a business trip, discharge from a position and payin advance, the Silver Honesty will vary with the actual demand.The system of Silver Honesty lasted two hundred years from the first yearof Yongzheng to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It influenced on many aspectssuch as politics, economy and social life. Especially in the early Qing Dynasty, itplays a huge role on stabilizing officials’ actions, rectifying the official circles,limiting the officials’ corruption, increasing the national finance incomes, rapingin the military and local officials at all levels over to center side, effectivelycontrolling both Eight Banners and Green Banners and strengthening themanagement of the central committee to the local governments. But because ofepoch and class limitations, The Silver Honesty is not pay out from positiverevenue of the countries’. Also, lacking of perfect supervision, balance andmechanism, it only scratches the surface of a problem, but not solve thefundamental corruption of officials.