94  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
Robert  Hart  to  the  Chinese  Government  (printed  in  the  North
China  Herald  of  April  15,  1904),  recommending  certain
reforms  in  taxation,  he  calculated  that  the  whole  taxable
land  in  China  might  amount  to  4,000,000,000  mow,  which,
on  the  basis  of  200  cash  per  mow,  and  taking  a  tael  as  equal
to  2,000  cash,  should  yield  a  revenue  of  Tls.400,000,000.
Sir  Robert’s  estimate  of  the  area  under  cultivation  is  greater
than  mine,  but  on  the  other  hand  his  proposed  levy  of  200
cash  or  10  tael  cents  per  mow  is,  I  should  consider,  much
under  the  average  actually  levied.  The  experience  of  the
syndicate's  railway  in  Honan  shows  an  average  of  0'i88%
tael,  or  nearly  double  the  sum  at  which  Sir  Robert  Hart
puts  it,  so  that  if  the  present  levy  is  only  continued
there  should  be  Tls.400,000,000  forthcoming  for  Imperial
purposes,  and  yet  a  very  large  sum  left  over  for  costs  of
administration  and  other  provincial  purposes.”
Many  good  authorities,  other  than  these  two,  are  iU"
dined  to  consider  their  figures  as  quite  possible  ;  and  a
good  illustration  of  the  obscurity  which  veils  the  finances
of  China  is  furnished  by  the  difference  between  the
reported  collection,  Tls.26,000,000,  the  almost  provable
actual  collection,  Tls.102,000,000,  and  the  possible  collection ­
  estimated  by  high  authorities  at  Tls.375,000,000  to
Tls.400,000,000.

2.  Tribute
Tribute  is  another  invariable  incident  of  an  Asiatic
form  of  government,  and  has  formed  a  considerable  part  of
the  revenues  of  the  State  under  all  the  successive  dynasties
which  have  ruled  China.  In  the  earlier  dynasties  the
taxation  took  mainly  the  form  of  tribute—i.e.  payment  iu
kind,  and  generally  of  silk  and  grain,  a  roll  of  silk  and  a
picul  of  grain  having  approximately  the  same  value.  Under
the  Sung  Dynasty,  in  a.d.  1004,  the  tribute  amounted  to
49,169,900  pieces  and  piculs  ;  in  1049  it  was  increased  to
53,588,565,  and  in  1064  to  67,767,929  pieces  and  piculs-*
  “  Banking  and  Prices  in  China,”  by  J.  Edkins,  1905.