What are the materials of ancient accounting in China?

Accounting thought is first of all a simple counting concept, which is a historical category. It originated from the need of human identification and supervision and the development of agricultural production technology. The evolution of commodity economy thought is the main driving force for the development of accounting thought. "In other words, accounting is mainly developed in response to commercial needs in a certain period of time and is closely related to economic development." As a symbol that ancient China officially entered the civilized era, Xia Dynasty established a slave state organization based on patriarchal clan system, which not only laid the foundation for the prosperity of Shang and Zhou culture in the future, but also made an indelible contribution to the formation of China's traditional thought for thousands of years, and the initial germination of accounting thought appeared in this period; Shang Dynasty was the development period of slavery. In this period, clear accounting vouchers and accounting measurement methods appeared. It can be said that from this period, the real accounting thought took shape.

Accounting Thought in Xia Dynasty

Xia dynasty (about 2 1 century-BC17th century) was the formation period of slavery, with primitive society in the early stage and slave society in the middle stage. "From the specific characteristics of material culture, the bronze culture developed in Shang and Zhou Dynasties is still far from Qijia culture and Longshan culture, which may be the stage of Xia culture. Observing from the social forms embodied in Longshan culture and Qijia culture, it is somewhat similar to the situation of the Xia Dynasty recorded in the legend. " Historical materials about the Xia Dynasty are very scarce, so we can only rely on speculation and legends to examine the accounting thoughts of this period. Let's take a look at the technical background and institutional background of the Xia Dynasty. Xia dynasty not only had the technology of making stone bones, bronzes, boats and ships, but also the technology of making pottery was more sophisticated than before, and the tools of production gradually developed from stone tools to copper and stone. "Since the invention of copper (according to: refers to the smelting of copper), the earliest manufacturers are sharp tools (according to: refers to weapons) and tools. Sharp weapons, such as knives, are necessary for self-defense; Tools such as shovels are necessary for farming. " Due to the use of bronzes in the production process, the cultivated land area expanded rapidly, and the invention of agricultural fertilization and irrigation technology, the production cooperation in primitive society gradually developed to the individualization of the production process. Land ownership has gradually evolved from the initial clan ownership to the big family ownership, and the clan has gradually divided into big families and special small families. The division of labor based on gender and age has gradually evolved into the division of labor between families. Individualization of production process is closely related to the emergence of private property system. "Individualization of production process is not only the premise but also the result of private property." The appearance of private property urges people to pay more attention to the comparison between input and result, thus making accounting thoughts develop from simple counting reflection to active accounting and supervision. The emergence of family division of labor has produced the need for exchange, the emergence of commercial activities has become inevitable, and accounting has emerged as a "business language".

With the improvement of production technology and the appearance of surplus products, people gradually have the idea of counting, which is an instinctive expression of people's recognition and concern for their own labor achievements. "Under all social conditions, people must care about the labor time spent on production and living materials, although the degree of care is different at different stages of development." The initial germination of accounting measurement thought-"simple engraving" and "completion" came into being. This measurement thought appeared in the basic needs of human production practice, the objective requirements of the development of social productive forces, and the slow evolution of people's initial performance of attaching importance to management economy. The emergence of this basic accounting idea is similar at home and abroad. In the Fuxi era of China, the method of "tying rope to record things" appeared (although it is only a legend, it can be concluded from the records of cultural relics and historical materials that this counting method existed in the Fuxi era. It is said that ancient Peruvians tied knots in a comprehensive way, and all social activities were represented by knots. "Usually the main rope is the main rope with small ropes of various colors attached to it. Because of different kinds of things, the knot is also different, such as yellow for gold; White represents silver; Green represents grain. In counting stars, we can see that a single knot means ten, a double knot means twenty, a double knot means one hundred, a double knot means two hundred and so on. " Later, with the further development of production technology, from the end of primitive society to the beginning of slave society, due to the increasingly frequent exchange activities between tribes, tying ropes alone can no longer meet the needs of trading and production activities, and the original accounting voucher-"book deed" began to appear. "The Yellow Emperor ordered the official to make a number to show respect, and wanted to meet * * *, and the statutes were specious." The emergence of weights and measures and the idea of formulating accounting measurement standards mark the initial germination of accounting records, which not only has a clear concept of quantity, but also has the idea of confirming the quality of physical objects. The application of "book deed" as accounting voucher has made the accounting in China appear the simplest outline, which is an important event in the history of ancient accounting thought in China.

However, technological progress is only a necessary condition for the development of accounting thought, not a sufficient condition. In order to make accounting thought reflect and promote technological progress, the evolution of system and thought must be able to adapt to and promote technological progress. In other words, a country's institutional background with culture as the core also plays a vital role in the formation and development of accounting thought. China's unique property right thought, characterized by "imperial culture", played a decisive role in the formation and development of China's ancient and even modern accounting thought. The core of this "imperial power culture" thought is the idea that property rights belong to the royal power. From the perspective of genetics, all the thoughts of kingship are gradually formed in the process of the emergence of the country. At the end of primitive society, the exchange of surplus products between tribes was generally carried out among clan leaders, which created conditions for clan leaders to use public power to occupy public property for personal interests, thus stimulating clan leaders to worship public power.

The formation of China countries is different from Athens and Rome. The form of the country is neither the result of clan group struggle nor the result of internal clan society, but the internal clan is first divided into aristocratic class and civilian class, "as a direct result of conquering the vast foreign territory." This is Marx's so-called "Asian" mode of production, and its characteristics include: state-owned land; Combination of rent and tax; Authoritarianism; Water conservancy irrigation; Rural commune. From the sociological point of view, China is a "family-country isomorphism" society composed of large and small families based on consanguinity and various "families" with quasi-consanguinity. According to the ethical patriarchal principles of Jun Jun, minister and father, in this society, all forms of property rights are super-economic, and finally the idea of "I am the country and I am the world" is formed. As a tool to reflect the change of property rights, accounting's super-economic property rights will inevitably have a far-reaching impact on the formation and development of accounting thought. Patriarchal patriarchy, as the result of the evolution of primitive social system, is characterized by family system. The expansion of the country as a family will inevitably make the rulers closely combine clan rights with political power to form the basis of the political system. In order to maintain their needs as the "sole owner" of state property, rulers will inevitably regard accounting as a tool to protect "national interests". According to Han Feizi's "Decorating Evil", "The king of danger must be on the record, and the king of wind will come later, so he will cut it." The legend reflects that Dayu, as the supreme ruler at that time, took strict measures to safeguard his dignity in the accounting assessment of tributes to various tribes.

The legends about accounting in Xia Dynasty only reflected some of the simplest accounting thoughts. In Xia Dynasty, the material products were gradually enriched and the means of transportation developed rapidly. "Land travel, water travel, mud travel and mountain travel" create convenient conditions for commodity circulation, and the emergence of private property provides a material basis for the possibility of bookkeeping. With the further development of productive forces, the economic relations between people such as the distribution, exchange and consumption of labor products have arisen, which has led to the necessity of accounting, the possibility of accounting based on social material basis and the necessity of accounting based on dealing with people's increasingly complex economic relations. The organic combination of the two determines the inevitability of accounting. "Xia Houshi paid tribute at the age of fifty, and the Yin people helped at the age of seventy." "In case of danger and summer, prepared a tribute. Or that Yu will be a vassal of Jiangnan, and he will collapse. Because of the funeral, the accountant also "took the exam for three years, made a political decision for five years, traveled around the world, returned to Da Yue, climbed Maoshan, and was invited by the big accountant to change its name to Maoshan and Huijishan." These three statements reflect the existing tribute collection system in Xia Dynasty. As a tool to reflect the change of real property rights, accounting must have the idea of tribute accounting. By the Xia Dynasty, the measurement method had taken shape, and people began to use physical objects to measure it, such as "Guan Shi and Jun, but Wang Fu has them" and "Left is the balance, right is the law, measure and weigh", which is the embodiment of this thought. In fact, "without some form of measurement, property rights cannot be established and exchange will not happen." As an idea reflecting the change of property rights, accounting is also an extension and development of accounting thought.