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This paper makes the first attempt to present a homogeneous series of income inequality from the Han dynasty to the Qing dynasty(202 BCE-1906 CE)of imperial China.By using historical records of governmental official salaries,commodity prices and agricultural productivity,we convert various forms of incomes to rice volume and measure the income inequality regarding official-to-peasants income ratio and inequality among officials.We find a"spike and slab"pattern of income inequality,especially in the official-to-peasant income ratio,where income inequality between officials and peasants increased from the Han to the Tang and Song dynasties(202 BCE-841 CE),and dramatically declined from the Song to Qing dynasties(after 1080-1906 CE).Improvement in agricultural productivity and changes in Confucian social norms may contribute to this long-term change in income inequality.More importantly,the effect of social norms on income inequality may have been strengthened by strong emperor power against governmental bureaucracy in later dynasties like the Ming and Qing(1368-1906 CE).This study contributes to understanding how long-term inequality changed in Asian cultural and historical contexts.