This analysis of the market sector of the Chinese economy during the middle years of the Ch'ing period is based primarily on price data culled from memorials from government officials to the Ch'ing emperor. A discussion of the nature of inter-provincial rice trade and the transport and financial systems that were developed to support the market sector is preceded by a thorough estimation of the reliability of the Ch'ing price-reporting system. The authors discuss not only how these memorials containing price information were compiled and who was responsible for submitting them to the throne, but whether the prices reported in the memorials were representative of free market prices.