Abstract: Chaiyao,a form of taxation in the Qing dynasty, can be traced to various practices that continued after the single-whip reform was carried out in the late Ming dynasty. Corvee was only implemented during the early Qing. After commuting labor service to the land tax, corvee was abolished completely, and the system of employing laborers was put into practice. However, because of a serious shortage of funds in counties and prefectures, it was frequently necessary to impose labor services and to levy taxes in goods and materials. These types of levies were called chaiyao. In the late Qing and the early Republican periods when local autonomy was on the rise, local governments again imposed chaiyao. In this way, chaiyao had an important influence on both central and local finances.