明清江南重賦現象的形成有著深厚的歷史根源，不是明代才突然出現的現象，而是由宋至明數百年間不斷發展的結果，元代是這一過程中的重要環節。對元代江南各路府秋糧額的整理分析表明，「江南」並不是一個均質化的整體，其內部存在著較大差異。各府縣之間秋糧負擔不一，但總體高於全國平均水準。在「宋—元—明」的歷史進程中，江南地區的秋糧額不斷增加，呈現出高度的連續性。朝代更迭沒有逆轉這一趨勢，反而在一定程度上起到了促進作用。元代上承南宋遺制，下明代重賦，是形成「江南重賦」這一現象的關鍵時期。

The notion of “heavy taxation in Jiangnan” in the Ming and Qing dynasties has deep historical roots, a phenomenon that did not suddenly appear in the early Ming but was rather continuously developed from the Song to Ming—with the Yuan dynasty being particularly important. An analysis of the amounts of autumn tax in Jiangnan during the Yuan shows that “Jiangnan” was not a homogeneous whole, but a region maintaining large differences. The burden of the autumn tax varied from one prefecture to another, but was generally higher than the national average. Moreover, during the course of the Song to Yuan and then to the Ming, the amounts of the tax in Jiangnan increased continuously, showing a high degree of continuity. The dynastic transitions did not reverse this trend, but rather facilitated it to a certain extent. Of the three, the Yuan dynasty inherited certain Southern Song instiutions which in turn influenced the Ming, thus being the key period in the formation of “heavy taxation in Jiangnan.”