Some Theoretical Implications of New Discoveries in Chinese Accounting History Research from Original Archival Materials

It has repeatedly been argued that double-entry bookkeeping (‘DEB’) was important for enabling capitalism’s development in the West. These claims remain contested so it is relevant to explore the comparative international history of the book-keeping and accounting practices of economically successful organizations elsewhere. Complementing the recent exploration into the original account books contained in the archive of Tŏng Tài Shēng [统泰升] (‘TTS’) covering 1798-1850 (Yuan et al., Accounting and Business Research, 2017), our paper reports further exploration in original account books contained in the archives of the Zìgòng [自贡] brine wells for 1916-1917 (which have been argued to be essentially unchanged from the 19th century Qīng era and perhaps earlier) and in original records from merchanting businesses in Anhuī province, spanning 300 years, which survive from the 1590s onwards. These accounts include more sophisticated financial statement preparation and reconciliation with underlying records than those of TTS, and in the case of the Anhuī merchants’ accounts include monetary values for physical as well as monetary assets. We also review recently available 19th century accounting manuals and tentatively conclude, on the basis of the evidence now emerging, that although indigenous Chinese style accounting practice differed in form from Western DEB, nevertheless despite its variety of forms it had in some cases captured the structural essentials of DEB’s content and functions and might be labelled 'Chinese-style doubled entry bookkeeping' ('CsDdEB'). We indicate suggestions for the further archival research now needed