Lin Zexu Tax Proclamation Stele

Lin Zexu Tax Proclamation Stele

The Lin Zexu Tax Proclamation Stele is a cultural relic protected at the provincial level in Jiangsu Province.

In 1984, during the cultural relics survey in Taizhou City, a stele inscribed with Lin Zexu’s “Yangguan Edict Permanently Banning Tax Evasion at Teng and Bao Dams on North-South Goods” dated July 28, the 15th year of the Daoguang reign (1835) in the Qing Dynasty, was discovered on the southern wall of the residence of Mr. Wang Zhaoxiang, an elderly resident on Tengba Street outside Gaqiao by the South Gate. According to experts, this stele was erected by Lin Zexu in 1835 when he served as Governor of Jiangsu.

During his tenure as Governor of Jiangsu from the 12th to the 17th year of the Daoguang reign (1832–1837) in the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu personally inspected tax conditions in Taizhou twice. At that time, local authorities were violating imperial regulations by excessively levying taxes on goods at Teng Dam, Bao Dam, and other locations. Some merchants and civilians, resisting the heavy taxes, evaded them by crossing over these dams, much to the frustration of the governor. In the 15th year of Daoguang (1835), Lin Zexu ordered proclamations to be posted at all customs checkpoints under Yangguan, strictly investigating and severely punishing those who evaded tariffs. After more than a year of effort, tax order at Teng and Bao Dams improved significantly. To permanently prohibit tax evasion by circumventing Teng and Bao Dams, Lin Zexu erected this tax proclamation stele in front of Teng Dam in Taizhou.

The stele is made of white alum stone, rectangular in shape, measuring 147 cm in height and 70 cm in width. It contains 22 lines of text, totaling 1,239 characters. This proclamation stele serves as a witness to the tax history of late Qing China, reflecting the struggle between merchants and common people against heavy taxation imposed by feudal rulers during the development of a commodity economy in the late feudal society.

To protect this valuable historical tax relic, in 1992 the Taizhou Municipal People’s Government and the Taizhou Tax Bureau built a Tax Stele Pavilion at the site of the ancient Teng Dam. The “Tax Proclamation Stele,” a precious physical artifact of Qing Dynasty tax history, has become an important symbol of Taizhou’s tax culture.

Address: Riverside north of Wanda Plaza, Hailing District, Taizhou City

Lin Zexu, also known as Yuanfu, and by the courtesy names Shaomu and Shilin, and the pseudonym Cuncun Laoren in his later years, was born on July 26, 1785, in Gudong Street, Houguan (now part of Gulou District, Fuzhou City), Fujian Province. His father, Lin Binri (courtesy name Mengyang, pseudonym Yugu), was a teacher, and his mother, Chen Zhi, made needlework and paper flowers to support the family. At the age of 4, Lin Zexu began his education under his father and gained a reputation for literary talent in his youth. In 1798, during the Jiaqing reign, he passed the county-level imperial examination and studied at Aofeng Academy, where he began focusing on practical learning. In 1804, he passed the provincial examination and later took the metropolitan examination but was not selected. To make a living, he first… More details on Lin Zexu++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Cultural Relics Protected at the Provincial Level in Jiangsu Province