At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population was about 400 to 500 million, which was 1/3 of what it is today. So, how much is the house price in the Qing Dynasty now?

The most reliable comparison is to compare the annual income of ordinary people to see how many years of income can buy a house.

Seven examples

Since the Qing Dynasty people did not study housing prices, they could not find the materials of the system, so they could only find a few examples, and I don't know if they could fully reflect the situation at that time:

Example 1: In the sixteenth year of Qianlong (1751), Tianjin Ding Yufan bought a piece of land in Erdao Street, Liujia Hutong, and built a courtyard house, which covered an area of nearly one acre, built 10 rooms, and bought a house to build a house, spending 180 taels of silver.

Example 2: In the eighteenth year of Daoguang (1838), Ren Xiupo in Tianjin spent 200 taels of silver to take over the set of courtyard houses developed by Ding Yufan in Erdao Street, Liujia Hutong, and added a guest room, a gatehouse, three study rooms, and three board rooms, with a total investment of 350 taels, and finally sold for 600 taels.

Example 3: In the twelfth year of Qianlong, in the northwest corner of the inner city of Beijing, Taiping Lake East (Xinjiekou), seven and a half rooms were 85 taels, equivalent to 12,750 yuan now.

Example 4: In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, in the new curtain alley in the inner city of Beijing (south of Chang'an Street, between Xinhua Gate and Heping Gate), four tiled houses were 70 taels, equivalent to 10,500 yuan now.

Example 5: In the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi Reign (1718), there was a building for sale in Rinanfang, Beicheng, Daxing County, Beijing (the name of the square was "Rinan", equivalent to a certain street), the house was facing the street, the following two opened shops, the upper two were inhabited, and a wing room was added behind the building, a total of 5 rooms, and it was sold for 210 taels (see Zhang Chuanxi's "Interpretation of the Compilation of Contracts in Chinese Dynasties").

Example 6: In the 58th year of Qianlong (1793), Xiuning County, Anhui Province also had a building for sale ("Du" is equivalent to a township, and "Tu" is equivalent to an administrative village), which is not facing the street, but the house foundation is larger, with a total of 4 houses, and it was sold for 270 taels (ibid.).

Example 7: In the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), someone sold a house in Santu, 36 capitals in Shanyin County, Zhejiang, with a total of 3 bungalows and sold for 60 taels (ibid.).

The price of rice at that time

In order to be comparable with modern times, it is measured according to the commonly used food prices.

In the Qing Dynasty, the price of rice fluctuated greatly, according to the most peaceful and prosperous Qing Dynasty, the price of grain was about 15 wen yuan per liter. A liter of rice is said to be greater than 1 catty, less than 1.25 catties, according to the maximum of 1.25 catties, the price of rice in today's supermarket is 1.8 yuan/catty, and the price of a liter of rice is 2.25 yuan/liter. 1 tael of silver is 1000 Wen, 1000/15×2.25 = 150 yuan, and 1 tael of silver of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty is equivalent to 150 yuan now.

Comparison of house prices with rice prices

1 tael = 1,000 Wen, then the house (seven and a half rooms) in Xinjiekou = 85,000 Wen, and the house in Xinlianzi Hutong (four) = 70,000 Wen, which is equivalent to 5,667 liters of rice and 4,667 liters of rice respectively.

If each house is calculated according to 25 square meters, the house area of Xinjiekou is 187.5 square meters, and the house area of Xinlianzi Hutong is 100 square meters, then the house price of Xinjiekou is 30.23 liters of m/m2, and the house price of Xinlianzi Hutong is 46.67 liters of m/m2.

One liter of rice is said to be larger than 1 catty, less than 1.25 catties, and it is calculated according to a maximum of 1.25 catties. The price of rice in the supermarket is 1.5 yuan/catty, and the price of one liter of rice is 1.88 yuan/liter. At present, the unit price of second-hand houses in Xinjiekou is 30,000 yuan/square meter.

Measured in liter meters, today's house price is 15,958 liters per square meter.

Today's housing price and grain price ratio is 528 times that of the Qing Dynasty! In other words, if you want to buy the same house today, you have to exchange 527 times more grain than you did back then.

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Qing Dynasty rice price test:

Qing Dynasty Rice Price (II) Period

―Average price per stone (unit: Kuping tael)

1641－1650

――1.263

1651－1660

――1.201

1661－1670

――0.856

1671－1680

――0.652

1681－1690

――0.864

1691－1700

――0.737

1701－1710

――0.965

1711－1720

――0.926

1721－1730

――0.880

1731－1740

――1.000

1741－1750

――1.144

1751－1760

――1.637

1761－1770

――1.722

1771－1780

――1.528

1781－1790

――1.609

1791－1800

――1.965

1801－1810

――2.175

1811－1820

――2.150

1821－1830

――1.942

1831－1840

――2.418

1841－1850

――2.256

1851－1860

――1.708

1861－1870

――2.623

1871－1880

――1.739

1881－1890

――1.440

1891－1900

――2.405

1901－1910

――3.895

Peng Xinwei, "The History of China's Currency"

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Author's note: The above information, we just use it as a price reference, in fact, compared with modern times, it is not appropriate to use rice as a reference, after all, the grain output of the Qing Dynasty is quite different from today's grain production, and the output price of silver and copper is also very different. As for the references in this novel, they are actually calculated according to the renminbi of modern society, which is like foreign exchange, because the renminbi can buy the products of modern society. The analogy between the Qing Dynasty and modern society can be compared with the poor countries of modern black Africa and China.