Liu Zhiwei 
Tribute and Taxation System and the Market 
On the Social and Economic History of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

It is said in Hanshu: Shihuozhi, "among eight aspects of administration in Hongfan, the first is food; the second is commodity." "Food" and "commodity" constituted the subjects of economic operation in China’s previous dynasties, while "food and commodity" belongs to the category of tribute economy in nature, and their connotation is different from the so-called "agribusiness" today. Prof. Liu Zhiwei has been engaged in the research on China’s social and economic history for many years. He inherits the previous studies and focuses on the taxation and forced labor system, market activities and its operation mechanism in the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the perspective of tribute and taxation economy. He selects several historical materials and accumulates some experiences to write several essays and compiles them into a volume, in the hope of explaining the characteristics of market expansion under the tribute and taxation system in previous dynasties through exploring some real situations of the social economy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.