Abstract
During the Late Ming period, rice was usually circulated from Guangdong to Fujian on the South China coast. On the other side, Canton which had the largest population in the province depended on rice supply from Guangxi. But with the development of Portuguese Macao oriental trade after the Wanli period(1573-1619), Guangdong rice was circulated to Macao and pirates by Fujian merchants illegally and the food situation in Canton became worse. This is the reason why food riots in Canton happened in 1593 and 1624. The rioters were the urban poor and they attacked rice merchants, especially the Fujian merchants, and abssentee landlords. After the food riot in 1593, the Guangdong local government banned the Fujian merchants from buying rice in Guangdong. The Fujian local government requested the Guangdong local government to lift the ban on rice sale. In answer to this request, the Guangdong local government made an arrangement to adjust rice circulation to Fujian quantitatively and regionally. The occasion of the food riot in 1624 took place when the Guangdong local government did not carry out the relief policy in spite of people's request. So one local elite proposed its reform, and his proposal was carried out by the local government. This reform was based on the social relationship in the district where trading people lived facing each other across the street. I conclude that the historical characteristic of food riots in Canton during the Late Ming period was the social fluctuation which was caused by the development of international commerce in East Asia.
