淸代 토지거래 관련 제도 정비에 관한 초보적 연구

초록

In premodern China, while the ideology that all land belonged to the emperor was upheld, private land ownership was effectively allowed. The central government tacitly accepted this, taking a pragmatic approach by collecting land taxes (地稅) instead. To monitor ownership transfers, it institutionalized shuiqi (稅契), a process through which local officials became involved in land transactions. Although contracts were originally drafted privately, many sought official seals to guard against potential disputes. This system emerged from a partial alignment of interests between the state and private individuals. Still, many avoided official certification to escape its costs and inconvenience. The ratio of “red contracts (hongqi 紅契, officially certified contracts)” to “white contracts (baiqi 白契, uncertified contracts)” varied significantly across time and region. Previous research has largely interpreted this phenomenon through the lens of state-private relations. However, focusing on the revision of land transaction regulations during the Qing dynasty reveals another perspective. The central government was less concerned with punishing uncertified transactions and more focused on ensuring local officials accurately reported and remitted the taxes they collected. Building on studies emphasizing state–private tension, this paper considers the position of local administrative officials who managed land affairs on the ground. A key point of analysis is the qiwei (契尾), or “contract tail”—a government-issued receipt meant to accompany all certified contracts. Though legally required, qiwei were often absent. In the Qingshui River Documents (清水江文書), only one of 328 hongqi included a qiwei, suggesting a category of contracts that were formally approved but remained outside actual state oversight. These have often been viewed as tools for local officials to extract illicit gains. Although the central government attempted to eliminate such abuses through procedural reforms, it failed to eradicate them. The Qing state’s reluctance to undertake broader reforms—despite efforts to curb corruption—reflects its Confucianized character: a government that, at least in principle, did not prioritize revenue maximization above all else.

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