Hubu zeli 戶部則例

(Qinding) Hubu zeli (欽定)戶部則例 are the administrative regulations of the Ministry of Revenue (hubu 戶部) of the Qing dynasty 清 (1644-1911). The 100-juan long compendium was compiled on official order under the supervision of Prince Zailing 載齡 (1812-1883), who was himself Minister of War (bingbu shangshu 兵部尚書) and then Minister of Revenue (hubu shangshu 戶部尚書).

The imperial order for the compilation was a reply to a memorial to the throne from 1873, asking for having revised the Ministry's regulations. The books is divided into 16 chapters, regulating the administration of household registers, tax registers, local treasuries and granaries, the transport of tribute grain, the salt monopoly, tea, ginger, monetary administration, transit tax, regulations for individual regions and cases, salaries of state officials, salaries for troops, tax waivers, miscellaneous expenditure, and general rules.

The transmitted regulations are the result of thirteen revisions in total that were carried out between 1776 and 1851. The 1873 version includes several aspects not yet regulated in the older versions. A comparison between the regulations found in the statecraft encyclopaedia Xu huidian 續會典 (i.e. the revised versions of the Da-Qing huidian 大清會典) shows that some paragraphs in the latest version of the Hubu zeli differed from the practice shown in the Huidian compendium.

The Hubu zeli was printed during the Tongzhi reign-period 同治 (1862-1874) and is included in the series Gugong zhenben congkan 故宮珍本叢刊 (Haikou, Hainan chubanshe, 2000). It was also published in 1968 by the Chengwen Press 成文出版社 in Taibei as part of the series Falü congshu 法律叢書.