Yang Yan

Yang Yan (* 727 , † 781 ) was Chancellor of the Empire of China under Emperor Dezong .

Yang Yan was already considered an expert in finance under Emperor Daizong . His son Dezong (ruled 779-805) made him Chancellor of the Empire. Yang Yan introduced what is known as the double tax system. The aim here was to replenish the state treasury of the empire in order to have money for campaigns against the quasi-autonomous rulers, especially in the north-western regions of China. The double tax system consisted of abolishing all special taxes and duties that had been in place since 755 (the beginning of the An-Shi rebellion ). Instead, a property tax was introduced, to be paid by all property owners, which required a different income quota depending on the district.

For better or for worse, the central government had to set this quota in consultation with the local rulers, which was also a major flaw in the reform. The regional and local rulers also retained a large part of the tax revenue themselves. Only about a third of the total tax revenue went to the central government.

Regions with large armies, which needed a lot of money to maintain these troops, did not pay any taxes. This affected the entire north and west of the empire as well as the Shandong and the militarized areas around the Imperial Canal. Seventy percent of the taxes were collected by eight provinces in the Middle and Lower Yangzi.

Yang Yan's reform was hailed as a masterpiece by contemporaries. Due to the concessions to particular powers, historical studies do not see the reform as completely successful.

literature

• Rainer Hoffmann, Qiuhua Hu: China. Its history from the beginning to the end of the imperial era. Freiburg 2007. ISBN 978-3-7930-9499-9