Evolution of the Three Bureaus’ Fiscal Planning System in the Early Northern Song Dynasty

Abstract

The fiscal planning system in the early Northern Song Dynasty was managed by the Three Bureaus. It was built on the system of the previous dynasty and came into being as a result of the centralism of financial power at the central government and the control over local governments in the early Song Dynasty. How the system worked and evolved was closely associated with the changes in the tax structure and management system in the transition from the Tang to the Song Dynasty. In the early Song Dynasty, the Three Bureaus made financial plans for prefecture- and county-level governments based on the financial records submitted by them and then allocated tax collections to fund public expenditures. However, the excessively centralized financial planning and auditing power of the Three Bureaus led to a huge backlog of financial records to be audited due to practical difficulties and its limited administrative capacity. This impaired the normal functioning of the fiscal planning system. The collection and allocation of taxes and other tribute resources became quantified during Emperor Zhenzong’s reign. The Three Bureaus no longer directly controlled over the fiscal planning and taxation activities of prefecture- and county-level governments. Instead, it specified the contributions made by circuit-level governments based on which fiscal resources were allocated. Moreover, the Tax Transport Bureaus gained more autonomy. The fiscal planning system functioned more efficiently and effectively, which significantly impacted the basic structure of government revenue and expenditure in the Song Dynasty.

Keywords

Northern Song Dynasty / Three Bureaus / Tax Transport Bureau / fiscal planning system / public finance

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2024 Higher Education Press