Changes in the Trade Structure in Amoy during the Late Qing Period

Abstract

Since the Song Period, Minnan 〓南, that is, the southern part of Fujian 福建 Province, had been an exporter of goods through such port cities as Quanzhou 泉州 and Amoy, the centers of trade in the East China Sea and South China Sea. Many people also emigrated to Taiwan and Southeast Asia from Minnan. So Minnanren 〓南人 played an important role in the commerce of East China Sea and South China Sea spheres. In Modern Minnan, especially from the end of the 19^<th> to th beginning of the 20^<th> century, a great change occurred owing to a decrease in the export of products from Amoy, the Japanese acquisition of Taiwan and a great increase in emigration from Minnan to Southeast Asia. However, this change has not been studied sufficiently. This article focuses on Amoy during the Late Qing Period and investigates the trade structure there as the trade center of Minnan from the late Ming Period on. During the latter half of 19^<th> century, a part of Minnan, of which Zhangzhou 〓州 Prefecture was the main part, was the hinterland of Amoy; and the economic sphere composed of this hinterland and Taiwan was formed with Amoy as the center. This sphere was tied to North China by the sugar-soybean trade and to Central China by the sugar-cotton trade, and it maintained trade relations with Southeast Asia as in the past. However, in spite of the global expansion of trade from late 19^<th> century and the intensification of competition among producing districts, the products exported from Amoy did not improve in quality. Therefore, the export of products such as tea and sugar declined. After the Japanese acquisition of Taiwan, improvements in transportation brought about expansion in the tea trade in Jilong 基隆 and a decline in the tea trade in Amoy. On the other hand, Japanese customs duties caused the junk trade to decline. As a result, Taiwan was integrated into the economic sphere of Japan and removed from that of Amoy. Consequently, the economic sphere of Amoy collapsed from the aspect of the distribution of goods ; but its trade structure including Chinese coastal ports and Southeast Asia was maintained and strengthened by remittances from Overseas Chinese, making up for an excess of export products in Amoy. Amoy became the center newly formed in Minnan through the network of remittances from Overseas Chinese.