1 - The State Policy of Farming Land Taxes and the Social Integration of Bazi Basin Society in Yunnan in the 18th century

This research focuses on the geographical and social system of Bazi basins in Yunnan to review the relationship between state revenue of farming land taxes collected in the basins and the process of policymaking by the Qing dynasty from 1726 to 1766. Besides the farming land taxes, taxes from salt, mining, and tea comprised state revenue income, all of which made up the largest portion of the state revenue income. This historical fact indicates that during the Ming and Qing dynasties, a major portion of state revenue came out of the dwellers of highlands and basins in southwest China. 
The Qing officials from local governments had seriously discussed the scale of farming land taxes, practical methods of collection, and predictable responses from the taxpayers in the process of policymaking, all of which James Scott assumed as serious checkers for implementing the centralized policies on tax levying and collection by the imperial governments. To secure their desirable tax revenue sources, the Qing government tried to be seen as if they were determined to resolve the problems in their policy-making process and intended to make necessary compromises with the local conditions. The Qing government’s attempts to maintain a stable relationship with the non-lowlands inhabitants vividly show the latter groups were neither powerless nor apolitical. The Qing state of China was not simply limited to the Basin areas where irrigated rice farming was well developed, implying James Scott’s assumption of Zomia should be reviewed carefully based on detailed historical studies.