“Ever-normal Granary”: Economic Tradition in China

Tracing back to its origins, the complete principle of the Ever-normal Granary comes from Guanzi’s “light and heavy principles” (qing zhong economic policies). The “light and heavy principles” elaborates the relationship between the value of grain and other things, and establishes the mechanism of food regulation in the form of a general plan - stabilizing economic and social fluctuations through the establishment of grain-based buffer stock. With the purpose of ruling the state by manipulating prices of grain, such a “top-level design” based on “light and heavy principles” theoretically provided the earliest macroeconomic regulation model of the Chinese. The Ever-normal Granary also experienced ups and downs in the history. In a period of economic and social stabilization, Ever-normal Granary would be highly valued by the emperors, thus developing into a key point for national finance, food storage, warehousing, and wasteland management and economic regulation.