Taxes and duties under the laws of the Yuan Empire

The article attempts to describe the fiscal policy of the Yuan Empire (China). Due to the understudied history of China during the Yuan dynasty, research into the sources of Mongol law of this period, including numerous decrees of the Mongol chagans, is of great importance. Turning to legal artifacts allows us to draw a conclusion about the functioning of an extensive system of state taxation. The study of the features of the fiscal system gives evidence of the socio-economic structure of a large medieval state with a large population living in territories with different environment conditions. The initial stage of the formation of the tax system is associated with the concept reflected by the hieroglyph «ke». The etymology and semantics of the transmission of this concept are associated with concepts formed in Mongolian society. With the development of goods-money relations, the tax function of the state becomes more complex: partial replacement of the tax in кind with monetary penalties. A significant share of household taxation made up silks. Subsequently, the state’s tax interest was aimed at the extraction of natural resources, silver, gold and other materials. In order to ensure the stable functioning of the fiscal system, the authorities used various measures of both a repressive and stimulating nature. The efficiency and stability of the tax system was ensured by internal troops charged with punitive functions.