Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 35

Military Assets: Regulations on Military-Agricultural Colonies

[...continued from previous page regarding the Guangdong Regional Military Commission] 8 fenA unit of area, roughly 1/60th of an acre. and a fraction of a liA small unit of area, roughly 1/600th of an acre.. The grain tax is 150,129 shiA unit of volume for grain, approximately 100 liters., 4 dou1/10th of a shi., 7 sheng1/100th of a shi., 8 ge1/1,000th of a shi., and 4 shao1/10,000th of a shi..

Guangxi Regional Military Commission

The Guangxi Regional Military Commission (Guangxi Dusi) managed the defense of a rugged, mountainous frontier in southern China. The significant difference between the "original" and "current" quotas suggests a major expansion of military farming or a more rigorous land survey conducted between the early Ming and the time this text was compiled.

The original quota for military-agricultural landTuntian: state-owned land farmed by soldiers to ensure the army's self-sufficiency. was 513 qingOne qing is approximately 15 acres. and 40 muOne mu is approximately 1/6th of an acre..

The current quota for military-agricultural land is 4,610 qing, 34 mu, and 6 fen. The grain tax is 55,054 shi, 3 dou, 4 sheng, 9 ge, and 4 shao.

Of this total, after deducting land handled by civilian administrative units and land where tax collection has been suspended due to being barren or desolate, the actual military-agricultural land in use is 2,913 qing, 37 mu, and a fraction of a mu. The grain tax actually collected is 34,695 shi, 4 dou, 4 sheng, 1 ge, and a fraction of a ge.