Equal-field system

The equal-field system (Chinese: 均田制度; pinyin: Jūntián Zhìdù) or land-equalization system was a historical system of land ownership and distribution in China used from the Six Dynasties to mid-Tang dynasty.

By the time of the Han dynasty, the well-field system of land distribution had fallen out of use in China, though reformers like Emperor Wang Mang tried to restore it. The equal-field system was introduced into practice around 485 AD by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty, a non-Han kingdom in North China, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. The system was eventually adopted by other kingdoms and its use continued through the Sui and Tang dynasties.

The system worked on the basis that all land was owned by the government, which would then assign it to individual families. Every individual, including slaves, was entitled to a certain amount of land, the amount depending on their ability to supply labor. For example, able-bodied men received 40 mu of land (approx. 1.1 hectares or 2.7 acres), while women received less, and more land was granted per ox owned by the family. After death, the land would revert to the state to be reassigned, though provisions were allowed for inheritance of land that required long-term development, such as farms for mulberry trees (for silkworms).

The system was intended to foster the development of land and to ensure that no agricultural land lay neglected. This prevented aristocrats from developing large power bases by monopolizing the fields, and allowed the common people to partake of the land and ensure their livelihood. From these, the government was able to develop a tax base and to slow the accumulation of land by vast, untaxable estates. This was also used by the Tang dynasties to break the dynastic cycle. The dynastic cycle was the idea that all dynasties will come to an end and this was going to stop it by having the people receive the land from the government; this makes them feel like the government gave them something even though it never left.

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