首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Economic Situation of Japan in the 18th Century In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to
The Economic Situation of Japan in the 18th Century In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to
admin
2012-04-23
56
问题
The Economic Situation of Japan in the 18th Century
In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai, found themselves under financial stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to the overlords’ failure to adjust to a rapidly expanding economy, but the stress was also due to factors beyond the overlords’ control. Concentration of the samurai in castletowns had acted as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samuri had been reduced to idleness by years of peace, encouraged to engage in scholarship and martial exercises or to perform administrative tasks that took little time, it is not surprising that their tastes and habits grew expensive. Overlords’ income, despite the increase in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors (the nearly invitable outcome of hereditary officeholding) as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an increase in expenses or a drop in revenue, could put a domain in debt to the city rice - brokers who handled its finances. Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover.
It was difficult for individual samurai overloads to increase their income because the amount of rice that farmers could be made to pay in taxes was not unlimited, and since the income of Japan’s central government consisted in part of taxes collected by the shogun from his huge domain, the government too was constrained. Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to other sources for revenue. Cash profits from government - owned mines were already on the decline because the most easily worked deposits of silver and gold had been exhausted, although debasement of the coinage had compensated for the loss. Opening up new farmland was a possibility, but most of what was suitable had already been exploited and further reclamation was technically unfeasible. Direct taxation of the samurai themselves would be politically dangerous. This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income.
Most of the country’s wealth, or so it seemed, was finding its way into the hands of city merchants. It appeared reasonable that they should contribute part of that revenue to ease the shogun’s burden of financing the state. A means of obtaining such revenue was soon found by levying forced loans, known as goyo - kin; although these were not taxes in the strict sense, since they were irregular in timing and arbitrary in amount, they were high in yield. Unfortunately, they pushed up prices. Thus, regrettably, the Tokugawa shoguns’ search for solvency for the Government made it increasingly difficult for individual Japanese who lived on fixed stipends to make ends meet.
The passage is most probably taken from ______.
选项
A、an introduction to a collection of Japanese folktales
B、the memoirs of a samurai warrior
C、an economic history of Japan
D、a modern novel about eighteenth - century Japan
答案
C
解析
A、B、D都不一定会谈到本文内容,且与本文风格不符。故应选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/8JiO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Theideathatgovernmentshouldregulateintellectualpropertythroughcopyrightsandpatentsisrelativelyrecentinhumanhist
Althoughthetopmeninsmugglingbusinessmustworktogether,mostofasyndicate’ssmallfry,especiallythemules,knowonly
Televisionisnotonlyaconvenientsourceofentertainment,butalsoacomparativelycheapone.WithaT.V.setinthefamilyp
DarwinandHisTheoryDarwinwasbornin1809asthesonofaphysician.Heearlierplannedtobecomea【1】intheChurchofEn
Thedigitalagemayonlyjusthavedawned,butlastnightagroupofeminentinstitutionsissuedawarningthatlargeswathsof
Infantsusealltheirsensestolearntheworld.They"talk"with【M1】______othersthroughactionsandsounds,experimentwi
Infantsusealltheirsensestolearntheworld.They"talk"with【M1】______othersthroughactionsandsounds,experimentwi
ItisincongruousthatthenumberofBritishinstitutionsofferingMBAcoursesshouldhavegrownby254percentduringaperiod
EuropeanwomenwereingreatdemandinNewZealandinthoseearlytimes.Thatis,womenpreparedtomarrythemanysinglemenwh
随机试题
中文语音识别系统可以使用语音及语音命令来录入文本。
对不明原因的急性中毒宜采用以下哪种液体洗胃
“在编制生产计划时要同时编制劳动保护措施计划,检查生产进度时要同时检查安全生产情况,如发现问题,负责进行调度,并转告有关部门。”这是()的职责。
下列关于规划环境目标和评价指标的叙述,错误的有()。
政府监管价格是对市场机制的()。
下列叙述正确的是()。
编辑处理期刊页面余缺的做法有()等。
香菇生长在自然界中,经常被其他一些杂菌包围,从杂菌中分离出香菇纯菌丝的方法叫纯种分离技术。()
法人的民事权利能力和民事行为能力,从法人()时产生。
Forsometimepastithasbeenwidelyacceptedthatbabies—andothercreatures—learntodothingsbecausecertainactsleadto"
最新回复
(
0
)