中国皇权社会赋税制度与欧洲中世纪税制不仅在形态上、而且在法理基础上都有着很大的不同。西方税制以财产私有为法权基础, 最后发展出平民通过代议制而控制国家税收的宪政政体; 而中国“秦制”以后赋役制度的基础在于, 皇权是一切“子民”人身和财产的最终所有者、支配者。这个法理不仅导致了中国皇权社会在制度方向上与欧洲的迥异, 而且直接或间接造成了中国制度形态的一系列重要特点。

Compared with medieval European taxation, Chinese taxation in the monarchical society was quite different in its foundation of legal theory as well as in its formation.The Western taxation took private propriety as the foundation of its legal right, and at last a constitutional regime developed in which state taxation was controlled by common people with a representative system.In China, however, the foundation of taxation since the Qin Dynasty onward lay in that the imperial power was the final owner and dominator of all persons and their possessions.Such a legal notion not only led to a radical difference of Chinese monarchical society from European society in its institutional orientation, but also directly or indirectly molded a series of important characteristics of Chinese institutions.