Abstract
As explained in detail in Chap. 1, this study aims to explain why and how Sino-Japanese trade relations were stably maintained in the early modern period by analyzing the formative process and mechanisms of the relevant trading institutions. The majority of discussion points have been examined in detail in previous chapters. When combining these detailed discussions in a comprehensive account, it is necessary to additionally explain the process by which the Sino-Japanese trade developed, and thereby how the markets of the two countries linked with each other. This section will consider this question from a broad historical context.
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- 1.
Besides the outcomes of this study, the narratives of this section also refer to other recently published studies, especially Arano et al. (2010–2013) and Haneta (2013).
- 2.
Recently, many new studies on karamono have been published (Seki 2002; Hashimoto 2011; Von Verschuer 2006; Kawazoe and Minagawa 2011; Minagawa 2014; Kawazoe 2014).
- 3.
Yoshita Kanayoshi, Tsurezuregusa. Iwanami Shoten, 1985, p. 202.
- 4.
Regarding the Nagasaki trade, Ara’i mentioned in this essay Oritaku-Shiba-no-Ki (折たく柴の木, Told Round a Brushwood Fire): “Except for the medicines, nothing was needed” (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten 1999, p. 282); Matsudaira expressed similar sensibilities in his essay Uge-no-Hitogoto (宇下人言, Sadanobu’s autobiography) “If Chinese junks do not come, we might send ships to China to purchase medicines as in the old times before the Kanbun period” (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten 1996, p. 103).
- 5.
The Chinese in the Ming dynasty seemed to share this point of view. For instance, Xu Guangqi 徐光啓, Minister of Rites, wrote an article entitled “Haifang Yushuo” (海防迂說, a humble opinion about coastal defense), and states in it that “It is nearly impossible to imagine that there would be no invasion if we refused to trade [with Japan], except that not all Japanese do use silk, silk fabrics, porcelain, medicines, and other Chinese products” (Huangming Jingshi Wenbian, 皇明經世文編 vol. 491). In addition, there is a famous resource called wohao (倭好 Japanese Favorite Goods) written by the Ming Chinese, which explained the selling of Chinese goods in the Japanese market. For this, Tanaka has a detailed introduction (Tanaka 1997).
- 6.
For detailed dates on imports and exports by Junks, see Nagatsumi 1987.
- 7.
Prices of the imported goods are in the Japanese market in “Japanese Favorite Goods” mentioned above.
- 8.
Tu Zhemin (塗澤民) and Xu Fuyuan (徐孚遠), who both served as provincial governor of Fujian, were representatives who argued that the Ming authorities should permit private merchants in coastal regions, especially Fujian, to engage in overseas trade. As Xu pointed out in his report to the government (“Shutong-Haijin-Shu” 疏通海禁疏’ in Jinghetangji 敬和堂集 vol. 5), people living in coastal regions did not have sufficient money to afford food and clothing without overseas trade. For details on this discussion, see Kobata (1967) and Sakuma (1992).
- 9.
In the spring of 1637, after an invasion of Korea, Emperor Huang Taiji (皇太極, also written as “Hong Taiji” or “Abahai” in English), an emperor of the Qing empire, allowed Korea to maintain a trade relationship with Japan and demanded that the Korean government send Japan a messenger dispatching tribute to Qing China (Nakamura 1968). Ten years later, the Qing empire also issued an edict to the whole country that called on the surrounding states, including Japan, to pay tribute to the Qing empire (Peng 2010).
- 10.
Daqing Yitongzhi was a geography book compiled continuously by the Qing government from 1686 to 1842. Volumes 421–424 list more than 30 countries as the Qing’s “tributary states” and place Japan in 10th position. Huangqing Zhigongtu was an illustrated book on the tribute system compiled in 1751–1761, and includes explanations on the related countries and people. Volume 1 introduces the countries Korea, the Ryukyus, and Annam one by one, and places Japan in 12th position.
- 11.
Daqing Huidian is a collective corpus on the political institutions and administrative matters of the Qing dynasty. It was first compiled in 1690 and revised several times afterwards. There is a chapter related to the responsibilities of zhuke-qingli-si (主客清吏司), which was a bureau of the Ministry of Rites and was in charge of receiving of foreign envoys. The first three versions listed Korea and the Ryukyus as the “tributary states”; the fourth version, finished in 1818, lists Japan and some other countries as “states with trading relations”, next to the “tributary states”.
- 12.
See the introduction of Ka’i Hentai. The author was Hayashi Shunshō 林春勝, a Confucian working for the shogunate. Such an opinion on Qing China was common among many shogunate vassals and political thinkers in this period.
- 13.
There is a related statement in the official report of Ji Zengyun (嵇曾筠) dated on the 11th day of the seventh month Qianlong 2 (August 6, 1737). Based on this report, in the eyes of Chinese merchants, the trade had been monopolized by six city elders of Nagasaki, which resulted in many inconveniences, such as a fall in the prices of junk’s cargos and accordingly, a rise in prices of Japanese copper, as well as the sale of remaining products. The so-called trading monopoly by the city elders clearly referred to the trading management centered on the Nagasaki Trading House.
- 14.
For example, when the magistrate’s office gave the Chinese merchants notice of decreases in the volume of copper export, the merchants had two options: to accordingly decrease the number of junks, or to decrease the amount exported by each junk. NGJR (Chap. 5, Note 2), p. 278.
- 15.
For example, in the spring of 1791 a notification regarding the decrease in the number of junks was sent to the Chinese merchants in Nagasaki under the direction of the magistrate. It demanded the chief merchants of the two groups to promise to comply and submit a letter of acceptance. There are several related documents in Ofuregaki Ōsewatasare Hikae 御触書被仰渡控 (copies of proclamations and instructions) in the old documents of Moriji’s clan 森路家, NMHC, and Nagasaki Dōkaiwatashi Kiruku 長崎銅買渡記録 (records on the copper purchase in Nagasaki) in the Historiographical Institute of The University of Tokyo. For the punishments of Chinese criminals, see Chap. 5.
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Peng, H. (2019). Conclusive Discussions and Comprehensive Historical Narratives. In: Trade Relations between Qing China and Tokugawa Japan. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7685-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7685-6_10
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