However, the proportion of tax revenue in different historical periods is changing. The general change direction is that the proportion of agricultural tax is gradually decreasing, while that of industrial and commercial tax is gradually increasing. Before the Qin dynasty, the state's fiscal revenue basically depended on agricultural tax. After the Qin dynasty, the tax on salt and iron was gradually strict. After the Tang Dynasty, the proportion of industrial and commercial taxes rose sharply. In the Song Dynasty, the proportion of trade tax surged. By the Qing Dynasty, taxes were more mature and developed, and customs duties and property turnover taxes surged. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, agricultural tax accounted for about 70%-80% of the total tax revenue, and the rest was the sum of other taxes.
Historically, war profits and incomes from fines and confiscations were also counted as dynasty financial revenues, but they were often used for special purposes (such as rewarding soldiers or meritorious officials and scholars). Although this amount is sometimes large compared with the national tax revenue, it is neither normal nor measurable, so it does not constitute an indicator of normal fiscal revenue.