Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/89

Rh adding a word or two respecting the revenue of China as therein exhibited; shewing us, at the same time, the resources of the country, and the share of the burthen of government sustained by each individual. Before making up this statement, however, it will be necessary to explain what is meant by the denominations of money, and the measures of grain employed in the table. The tael is a nominal coin among the Chinese, representing something more than an ounce of silver, and may be rated at six shillings and eight pence, or the third part of a pound sterling. The shih is a measure of grain, containing 3160 Chinese cubic inches, or 3460 English cubic inches. The Chinese frequently weigh their grain, and then the shih, in Canton, is supposed to weigh 130 catties, or 162½ pounds; while in the interior a shih weighs 180 catties, or 225 pounds. The value of such a measure of grain is generally about one pound sterling. The revenue is derived principally from the land-tax, which is paid partly in kind and partly in money; it is generally a very light impost, amounting not, as some suppose, to one-tenth, but more usually to one-fiftieth or one-hundredth of the produce. There are also taxes on pledged articles, and more particularly a heavy impost on salt; while custom-houses are established on the sea coast, and at the most important passes in hills, and junctions of rivers, so as to secure the mercantile as well as the agricultural population. Some of the revenue thus derived is kept in the provinces, to pay the army, navy, and police, and to provide against famines, while a considerable proportion is forwarded to Peking for the immediate service of the emperor and his officers. We cannot, therefore, form a correct estimate of the