Han Dynasty Period Financial Reform Research

The Qin and Han dynasties are important and transitional periods in the historyof China. During this period, a lot of important reforms and measures were launched,which have exerted more or less influence to both that time and the latertime. Especially, the unification of Han Empire in politics and economics is mostspectacular, and a series of economical reforms launched during the Han dynasty tothe emperor period are the key part.In the age of the martial emperor, who was an emperor of the Han Dynasty ofancient China, social contradictions appeared and sharpened, and social criticism hadgreatly accumulated, as a result of the Huanglao Taoism governed negative actionpolitical system and a kind of peace economic structure with light corvee and low taxall through the early age of the Han Dynasty. The Han government and the Huntswere limbering up for a war between each other, when China suffered from years offamine. Powerful landlords were expanding rapidly their land by mergers in thisperiod. All of the factors caused treasury of Han government depleted and the socialbecame unrest. In order to turn the situation around，the martial emperor and hisfinance minister carried out a series of reforms such as currency unification, levyingproperty taxes, rewarding whistleblowers who reported tax evasion case, officialmonopoly of salt and iron industry, government managed commodities trading,encourage immigration to develop frontiers, and enforce garrison and farmerssettlement. Every measure obtained substantially effects and profoundly impacted atthat time and later ages.This paper centers on historical literature study, and takes the analysis to theorigin of the financial crisis in the Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynastyas a cut-inpoint, using the logic analysis method and the consolidated method of history andeconomics, the reform measures that the EmperorWu Di had taken to solve the crisiswas analyzed and studiedsystematically, and it appraises the good results that thereform had gained objectively. To some extent, this paper has filled the gap of toofragmented research in this field, and it aims to make us understand and recognize thefinancial reform in the Emperor Wu Di period further. At the same time, it offers somehistoric references for the current reform of the financial system.