The Qing Dynasty had an annual income of one hundred taels and a level of wealth, which was enough to marry a concubine's living standard
Many film and television works about the Qing Dynasty give the impression that silver is not very valuable, but every time you go to the street to buy something or go to a restaurant to eat, a silver ingot that falls from your hand is a treasure.
In fact, this is not in line with historical reality, **as the circulation currency of the Qing Dynasty, whether it is expensive or cheap, the liquidity is very high.
There are many articles about ** and the monetary law of the Qing Dynasty, so the purchasing power of ** will not be expressed. Another way to express the content of this topic is what level and class the annual income of the Qing Dynasty belonged to compared to today.
Since the focus of the study is on ordinary households, the rabble and the merchant class should be excluded, because ** and merchants belong to the high-income group with an annual income of far more than 100 taels. When we speak of ordinary households, we are especially referring to agricultural and working groups.
What is the approximate annual income of the average farmer?
Homesteaders refer to farmers who own their own land and means of production and are not dependent on local large and medium-sized landlords. The concept of yeoman farmers is broader, with families owning three hectares of fertile land being called yeoman farmers, while families owning tens or hundreds of hectares of land are also yeoman farmers, but the latter falls under the category of small landowners.
Under the feudal system, taxes levied on peasants were usually high. In fact, the amount stipulated in the "Qing Dynasty Tax Encyclopedia" is not large, and it can even be said that it is the smallest among all dynasties.
However, state taxes are usually not levied at the regular rate, and the actual amount of the tax may be double or even triple the regular tax rate, and these additional taxes are the result of arbitrary regulations by local authorities at all levels.
An ordinary homesteader for a family of four, in addition to paying taxes in a good year, the remaining grain can completely meet the family's rations. In the Jiangnan region, farmers also grow some cash crops, and their income is several times that of grain.
According to relevant data, the net income per mu of the best quality fields in Jiangnan is about 15 to 2 taels, but the per capita area of Jiangnan is small, and there are many people with more than 10 acres.
In other words, the average annual net income of farmers in Jiangnan is about 20 taels. Although the peasants in the north have more land to make ends meet, their output is not as high as that of the peasants in the south of the Yangtze River, and the annual net income is roughly maintained at about 20 taels.
Compared with today, the peasants of the Qing Dynasty were basically self-sufficient in daily necessities except for salt, and bartering was very common among the people. In addition, men in the family can work as part of the household, while women can work in handicrafts in their leisure time to support their families.
According to this calculation, the annual net income of the average peasant family should not be less than 30 taels, even if there is no one working in the family, it is enough to support the family.
What is the salary of craftsmen and mechanics?
Regarding the income of craftsmen and craftsmen, there is no detailed documentation in the literature, only occasionally recorded. However, there are some records in the official sources of the salaries of craftsmen, sulas and other staff employed by the Ministry of the Interior.
The artisans employed by the Ministry of the Interior, whether carpenters, masons or millers, are of the highest quality, selected from the capital and even from all over the world. Sulla was an ordinary handyman, as well as an ordinary handyman who worked as a minor worker in various palaces.
According to the "Qing Palace Regulations", the monthly salary of skilled craftsmen serving in the palace is about 2 taels of silver, and the monthly salary of individual positions is 25 taels of silver. The wages of a raw worker are slightly lower, averaging only 15 taels. Still, all these artisans and Sulla had food to eat and received a net salary.
Thus, the annual income of the court craftsmen was about 26 taels, while the annual income of Sulla was about 20 taels. This figure is equivalent to the income of an average peasant family.
Of course, the people's craftsmen and skilled workers are paid less and cannot work all year round. In Jiangsu Province, for example, the monthly income of highly skilled craftsmen is about 12 taels, while the monthly income of ordinary skilled workers is less than 1 tael. Annual income between 15 and 10 taels.
It can be seen that the annual income of the average yeoman farmer, craftsman or craftsman does not exceed 30 taels, which can be used as the standard for the average annual income of agriculture and the working class in the Qing Dynasty.
Today, what is the annual income of 100 taels?
100 taels is basically equal to the sum of the income of four peasants and the income of four craftsmen.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics**, in 2022, the average annual wage of employees in urban non-social units was US$114029, and the average annual wage of employees in urban private units was US$65,237.
Of course, the figures vary from province to province, but a rough estimate (which is an uncritical statement of the imperial history) is at least 80,000 yuan or more.
Today, the annual income of 100 taels in the Qing Dynasty is 320,000 yuan, which is affordable even for high-income people in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
However, this method of calculation is also illogical. Consumption in the Qing Dynasty was much lower than now, most of the things were self-sufficient, the houses were built by the Qing Dynasty themselves, the pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks were raised by the Qing Dynasty themselves, the vegetables were grown by the Qing Dynasty themselves, and even the cloth was woven by the Qing Dynasty themselves, and there were few necessities to buy.
If the annual income of the Qing Dynasty was one hundred taels, then even if it was not a large family, at least it was a rich family with one wife and one concubine, and it was not difficult to marry a daughter-in-law locally.