Trade Relations between Qing China and Tokugawa Japan: 1685–1859 (Studies in Economic History)

This book explains compellingly that, despite common belief, in the early modern period, the intra-East Asian commercial network still functioned sustainably, and within that network, the Sino-Japanese trade can be seen as the most significant part which not only connected the Chinese and Japanese domestic markets but also was linked to the global economy. It is commonly thought that East Asian countries like China and Japan maintained a stance of so-called national isolation during the period from the seventeenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century. It is true that diplomatic relations between Qing China and Tokugawa Japan could have not been established for reasons such as guarantees of security; however, every year merchants in junks voyaged to Nagasaki and carried out transactions with Japanese merchants or business agents. How this kind of trade relation was maintained stably without any diplomatic guarantees and in which way the governments of the two sides edged into the trade and accommodated the trade conflicts and institutional frictions are essential but seldom-emphasized topics. This book aims to shed light on these issues and thereby examine the character of the unique trade order in early modern East Asia as well, by analyzing a large quantity of the seldom-used and unpublished Chinese and Japanese primary and secondary sources. Preface to the English Edition Explanatory Notes Contents About the Author List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 East Asia’s Early Modernity and the Formation of a Global World 1.2 A New Approach to Sino-Japanese Trading Relations 1.3 Review of Previous Related Studies 1.4 Conclusions from the Recent Discussions on the Trading System 1.5 Main Discussion Points and Structure of This Book 2 Commercial Intermediaries in the Nagasaki Trade 2.1 A New Approach to the Study of the Nagasaki Trade 2.2 The Opening and Expansion of Nagasaki as a Trading Port 2.3 Various Commercial Intermediaries in the Seventeenth Century 2.4 Concentration of Trading Intermediaries in Nagasaki 2.5 The Trading Framework for Imported Goods 2.6 The Trading Framework for Exported Goods 2.7 Urikominin for the Junks Trade 2.8 Various Trade-Related Services and Accounting Systems 2.9 The Tokugawa Management of Trade Centered Around the Nagasaki Trading House 3 The Mechanism and Functions of the Shinpai Trading Permit System 3.1 Introduction to Study of the Shinpai for the Junks Trade 3.2 Various Trading Passes in the Pre-Modern Maritime World 3.3 The Formulation of the Regulations in 1715 3.4 Basic Issues concerning the Trade Control of the Shinpai 3.5 The Tokugawa Response to the Shinpai Dispute 3.6 The Shinpai Secretary and Related Work 3.7 Procedures of Issuing, Checking, and Renewing Shinpai 4 Qing China’s Response to the Shinpai Trading Permit System in the Eighteenth Century 4.1 Copper Administration in the Middle Years of the Qing Dynasty 4.2 The Dispute Over the Adoption of Japanese Trading Passes (1715–1717) 4.3 The Utilization of the Shinpai in the Later Years (1717–1722) of the Kangxi Era 4.4 The Common Utilization of the Shinpai in the Yongzheng Era (1722–1735) 4.5 The Appearance of Official Trading Passes 4.6 The Utilization of Official Trading Passes 4.7 The Reform Plans regarding the Copper Imports in the Early Qianlong Era 4.8 The Utilization of Official Trading Passes by the Official Merchants 4.9 The Upgraded System and Its Role in Stabilizing the Trade Order 5 The Underside of the Junk Trade: Maritime Smuggling and Urban Trafficking 5.1 Illegal Trade: A Reaction to the Tokugawa Trading Restrictions 5.2 The Shogunate’s Anti-Smuggling Policies Around 1715 5.3 The Strengthening of the Policy to Expel Smugglers in 1718 5.4 Sinking Junks Incidents in the 1720s 5.5 The Penalties on Lawbreaking Chinese in Nagasaki 5.6 Attempt to Apply “Japanese Penalties” 5.7 Towards a Comprehensive Account of How the Tokugawa Anti-Smuggling Policies Were Perceived 6 Copper Trading by Qing China’s Official Merchants and Affiliated Trading Group 6.1 Academic Studies of Qing China’s Official Copper Merchants 6.2 Commercial Activities of Fan and His Families 6.3 The Restarting of Fan’s Copper Trade After 1738 6.4 Fan’s Copper Trade and the New Official Debt Problem 6.5 The Debt-Repayment and Copper-Import Plan in 1744 6.6 Extension of the Payment Period 6.7 The Re-Extension of Fan’s Copper Payment 6.8 The Management of the Official Bureau in the Post-Fan Period 6.9 The Institutionalization of the Official Bureau 7 The Consolidation of Private Chinese Merchants into the Twelve Families Association 7.1 Key Points in the Study of the Twelve Families Association 7.2 The New Framework for Copper Imports After the Reform of 1737 7.3 Debts of Retired Merchants and the Repayment Plan 7.4 Motives of the Merchants Paying Debt by Proxy 7.5 Junks from Fujian Province in Nagasaki 7.6 Trade of Junks not Affiliated with the Two Groups 7.7 The Logic Behind Monopoly by the Two Groups 7.8 Re-Evaluation of the Authorities’ Attitude towards the Merchants’ Consolidation 8 Internal Organization of Chinese Trading Groups in Relation to the Qing Authorities 8.1 Management of the Junk Trade 8.2 Officials and Privileged Merchants in the Copper Trade, 1684–1715 8.3 The Provincial Quota System, 1716–1737 8.4 Tasks and Activities of the Copper Officials 8.5 Trading Activities of the Copper Merchants 8.6 Merchant Cooperation and Networks in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century 8.7 The Official Bureau’s Copper Trade under Fan’s Direct Management, 1738–1782 8.8 The Official Bureau’s Copper Trade in Post-Fan Era, 1783–1796 8.9 Management Framework of the Twelve Families 8.10 The Number of Representative Merchants and the Registration System 8.11 Management of the Official Bureau After Privatization 8.12 The Management Framework of the Official Bureau and the Twelve Families 9 Trade Under Pre-Arranged Conditions: A New Commercial Style in the Late Eighteenth Century 9.1 Dutch–Japanese “Contract Trade” in Nagasaki 9.2 The Economy and Foreign Trade of Japan in the Tanuma Era 9.3 Chinese Silver-Currency Importation by the Twelve Families 9.4 Spanish Dollar Importation by the Official Bureau 9.5 Diversification of the Newly Introduced “Contract Trades” 9.6 Formation of the “Contract Trade” 9.7 The Roles and Significance of the New-Style Transactions 10 Conclusive Discussions and Comprehensive Historical Narratives 10.1 Connecting the Markets with Permanent Trade 10.2 Transformations of the Trade Relationship 10.3 The Sino-Japanese Relationship in the Reorganization of the East Asia Regional Order 10.4 The Influences of Each Country’s Security on the Trade Relationship 10.5 Management of Trade Centered on the Nagasaki Trading House 10.6 Development of Trading Institutions References Name Index Subject Index