‘厘金’ (lí jīn) was a historical transit tax imposed during the late Qing dynasty (mid-19th to early 20th century) on goods transported across provincial or local boundaries. The character ‘厘’ means ‘one-thousandth’, reflecting the original rate of 1/1000 (later often raised to 1–2%), while ‘金’ means ‘money’ or ‘gold’, indicating its nature as a monetary levy. Together, 厘金 literally signifies ‘a thousandth-part tax’—a name rooted in its initial tariff structure.

This tax was collected at checkpoints along roads, rivers, and city gates, and became notorious for its corruption, redundancy (multiple levies on the same goods), and burden on merchants and peasants. Though intended to fund regional military efforts like suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, it severely hampered domestic trade and contributed to economic fragmentation. The term is now exclusively historical and appears only in academic, archival, or historical narrative contexts—not in modern fiscal or everyday usage.