This is a revised and enlarged version of the Databases on the Qing dynasty compilation on Prices and Wages in Public Construction Wuliao jiazhi zeli
(物料價值則例 "Regulations and precedents on prices of materials"). It has been reworked at the Section for History of China of the Faculty of East Asian Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
The original project, "Staat, Handwerk und Gewerbe in Peking, 1700-1900" (DFG-Project VO 472/10-1), was conducted at the Seminar for Chinese and Korean Studies of Tübingen University in cooperation with the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and the Institute for the History of Science and Technology and Ancient Documents of Tsinghua University, Beijing.
The prices and wages in these statistics were used for settling the accounts for the building projects of provincial administrations with the Ministry for Public Works. They quote the rates which the provincial governments could request to be reimbursed by the central government. According to the prefatory edicts, they reflect market prices at medium market activity, but some are also indicated as extrapolations from earlier prices. Since the rediscovery of these statistics in the project, numerous studies have been based on this source. Researchers are referred to these studies for further explanations on the function and meaning of the Wuliao jiazhi zeli statistics.
The databases compiled so far cover the provinces Zhili, Gansu, Shanxi, Hunan, Yunnan, and Jiangsu.
本數據庫乃據清代文獻《物料價值則例》並經續增修校訂之版本,由波鴻魯爾大學東亞學系中國歷史研究所更新修正。
本始為德國學術基金會資以之研究計畫《國家、工藝與貿易在北京,1700-1900》(DFG-Project VO 472/10-1),由圖賓根大學中國與韓國研究所主持,與中國科學研究院自然科學史研究所及清華大學科技史暨古文獻研究所合作。
物價與工價之統計,是應工部報銷各省建築費用,且為各省向朝廷中央要求補卹之依據。如前例所示,反映出物料在市場價格之動態,然部分旨為就早先價格提出推斷。
基於本計畫重新整理之統計數據,有相當可觀之研究成果。研究者可參照,並更進一步探索《物料價值則例》統計數據的意義及功能。目前數據庫涵蓋直隸、甘肅、山西、湖南、雲南與江蘇等各省。