Research On The State Budget Test Conducted By Qing Central Government Of Late Qing New Policy Period

Ancient China had the tradition of making financial revenue and expenditure plan.Dated back from Nine Items of Expenditures(jiu-shi)and Nine Items of Revenues(jiu-fu)of Zhou Dynasty,up to the Accounting Record(kuai-ji-lu)of Ming and Qing Dynasty.With the development of thousands of years,the techniques became more developed and the procedures became mature.However,they only acted as references for emperors’ decisions and didn’t get rid of the stereotype of traditional accounting(du-zhi).When western budgets came into being,and it went on a different way of limitting sovereignty and strived for peoples’ rights of governing wealth,until the parliaments fully grasped the rights of auditing and approving budgets,incomes and expenditures were put into legal track.Taiping Uprising and Westernization Movement made traditional finance step into modern orbit,making some preparations for later budget test.Around the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,western budgetary theory was introduced in China with the constitutional thoughts.Bureaucrats and gentlemen got familiar with it gradually and several provinces had tried it.After the imperial edict of New Policy and Reform,the conducts of new policy and indemnities all required huge money.Meanwhile the finance had too many obstacles to deal with.So proposal of implementing budget to alleviate financial difficulties was submitted and Qing Central Government accepted it.After the preparations of financial organization reform,financial investigation and statistic,arrangement of finance,reform of banking and monetary,the first attempt of budgeting was initiated in February 1910 by Qing Central Government.It was submitted to preliminary parliament(zi-zheng-yuan)after finished.Assemblymen discussed it and made it approved by prince regent.The proposal became the first state budget in modern history of China.The next year’s budgetary making was conducted by Qing Central Government in spring of 1911,with evident improvements on rules and results than last year.When it was just finished,Wuchang Uprising broke out.Later the Qing Dynasty quickly collapsed,so the budget of 1911 and 1912 had no final accounts,but its pioneering contribution should not be forgotten.By trying to make budgets two times,the regional revenues and expenditures became more explicit,the fiscal and financial system became more perfect.The regulations became more completed and the financial officers were cultivated,which made institutional and personnel foundations for Republic of China’s budget system.However,conflicts were filled from the beginning to the end.Such as the internal dissensions on budgets between imperial family,ministers and governors bargained with the Financial Ministry(du-zhi-bu)and despised the budget regulations,procurators(yan-guan)and the press quarreled with financial intendants timely.The Budget of 1911,which acted as the central interest of Financial Ministry and other ministers,governors,was asked for revise repeatedly by latter.The magic drug proved effective every time in Europe,America and Japan varied in Late Qing,which revealed to compatriots that although western systems were superior,the perfect environment and implement without rebating were more important.Otherwise,it would turn out to be empty file,which had no effects on increasing incomes and reducing expenditures,and failed to improve financial situation.