The Study On Trade Between Liaodong Region And Korea Peninsula In Ming Dynasty

Liaodong Chief Command department was be established to operate the Liaodong region and control the vast northeast areas including Daning and Nur Gan department in Ming dynasty.In Ming dynasty,although the jurisdiction territory of Liaodong department was changing,it was an important gateway to the central government,with the sea in the south,the Korea Peninsula in the southeast,mountains in the northeast and grasslands and sandy land in the west.Liaodong was the frontier military town to defend against Mongolia,Jurchen and other minorities invading the interior.The social development of Liaodong was also involved in a lot with its neighbors on account of linking by mountains and rivers on the Korea Peninsula and facing Japan across the sea.Therefore,the process of politics,economy and culture of Liaodong was the important guarantee to maintain the stability of the political structure in East Asia.The state system and the social changes in the border area jointly acted on the process of communication between Liaodong and Korea Peninsula.The "Paying Tribute" diplomatic relation was establishen early among them,and the practice of Sino-Korea communication also had an impact on the regional society and national development.Foreign exchange activities including trade were involved in the tributary system,and the ways,contents and quantities of trade between with Joseon and Ming were regulated.But the trade activities between Liaodong and Korea Peninsula were still certain frontier characteristics.The official archives and local historical materials of Ming dynasty are numerous and rich in types.The collation of Chinese,Japanese and Korean books have made remarkable achievements.These conditions provided convenience for the specific study of the history of Sino-Korea relations in Ming dynasty,and the issues such as "Paying Tribute","Respeting","Envoys","Trade","Chinese View" and "Cross-border ethnic groups" gradually became academic hot points in the history of Sino-Korea relations.However,the history of foreign relations is broad in content and complicated in expression,which leads to different opinions and even debates about whether to identify with "Traditional Order" or maintain "National Honor" on typical historical issues.Political and cultural exchanges have strong subjectivity and flexibility,while economic exchanges are more specific and easy to quantify.This paper aims to show the objective situation and influencing factors of the development of foreign relations by combing the Sino-Korea trade activities in Liaodong region of Ming dynasty.Before Ming dynasty,the economic exchanges between Liaodong and the Korea Peninsula had a history of thousands of years.People make use of natural conditions and mutual learning to constantly improve their living conditions,production ways and living standards.Therefore,the trade exchange exist unlike the duckweed dependenting on political relations.It will take on different forms along with the social changes.Trade was an important content of social communication between Liaodong and Korea Peninsula.Liaodong became an important bridge between the Central Plains and the Korea Peninsula,and different political groups all attached great importance to the trade activities in this region in different periods of history.In Ming dynasty,the construction of the Liaodong frontier and the establishment of Sino-Korea supremate-vassal relationship were important issues in the political life of Ming dynasty.In the meantime,the trade activities between Liaodong and Korea Peninsula were affected and played a unique role.During the periods of Hongwu and Yongle,the government of Ming established the static jurisdiction and dynamic control zone of Dusi in Liaodong areas.The Korea Peninsula experienced the regime change between the Corea and Joseon dynasties.In the process of building Sugain-Vain relationship between the Ming dynasty and the regime of Korea Peninsula,the trade activities in Liaodong were dominated by the authorities,and it was difficult for the folk trade groups to overcome the geographical exclusion zone and the political communication ban.During the periods of Hongxi and Xuande,the Sugain-Vain relationship between China and Joseon was stable,and the trade system was established accordingly.During the period from Zhengtong to Zhengde,the productive capacity of the society of China and Korea gradually recovered,the willingness of economic exchanges between the two sides strengthened continuously,and the Sino-Korea trade in Liaodong region showed a trend of diversified development.The middle and late periods of Ming dynasty,the government of Ming implemented the "New Deal" several times.The Sino-Korea "etiquette" diplomacy was rebuilt.The government of Ming strengthened the control of the official and private trade between China and Joseon.Liaodong border politics continued to deteriorate,the border ministers of Liaodong to make a conscription to Korea,and opened the door for the envoys to trade in Liao,and the envoys’ private trade was prevalent.The periods from Jiajing to the early Wanli,the southeast of Liaodong was developed,the society was stable,the economy and culture were developed continuously,and the folk trade was active.In the process of moving southward,the Jurchen nationality had more and more intersections with Joseon.The tributary trade,border market trade and cross-border latent trade promoted the development of Jurchen agricultural economy.The developed commodity economy of the Ming dynasty made the trade goods between China and Korea in Liaodong area rich in variety.Silver began to be widely used for high-priced goods and the exchanges of upper-level people.In late Ming dynasty,especially the outbreak of the Renchen War,which made the trade activities of Liaodong region break through the bondage of tribution system and the regional trade activities occupy the dominant position.During the war of the Sirens,the Ming government spent a huge amount of manpower and material resources to help the Korean battlefield,and the output of resources in Liaodong area was in the forefront.In order to solve the difficulties of preparing and transporting materials,the Ming Dynasty and Joseon carried out many wartime economic policies,such as distributing grain for trade and allowing merchants to help the army.With its geographical advantages,the officers,merchants and civilians gathered here to buy and transfer materials,and Zhongjiang border market was established.Liaodong area and Korean Peninsula personnel interaction was frequent,material exchange was unusually active.After the end of the war,the ruling order of China and Joseon gradually recovered,and the trade activities also fell back to normal.During the end of Ming and early Qing dynasty,it had important impact on Sino-Korea trade activities on the development of Nuzhen society and Liaodong political situation.Before the Later Jin occupied Liaoyang and Shenyang,Joseon still maintained trade with Liaodong region.After the tributary road of Liaodong was blocked,on the one hand,Korea continued to pay tribute to the Ming dynasty by water;on the other hand,it traded supplies with the Dongjiang Group stationed in Pidao.The regime of the Later Jin was consolidated day by day,the relationship between the Ming dynasty and Joseon was loosened gradually,and the trade scale,channels and goods between different regions of Liaodong and Korea were expanded.Both China and Joseon maintained a close system of patriarchal ceremonies by offering tables,handing down orders and offering gifts in Ming dynasty.Liaodong kept the trade flourished with Korea Peninsula,especially the trade between the Liaodong region and Joseon which relied on the geographical advantage.Therefore,the Liaodong region trade activities in Ming dynasty had obvious historical traces and traditions.At the same time,the Ming dynasty inherited the Yuan dynasty and started the Qing dynasty.As the Han regime established after the traditional society,the trade between Liaodong region and Korea Peninsula in Liaodong region under its rule was obviously more prosperous than that of the previous generation but restricted by the contemporary era.The strong national strength of the Ming dynasty provided a guarantee for the international order with "Paying Tribute" as the core.Under the close sublain-vassal system,the scale of trade between Liaodong region and Korea Peninsula was further expanded,and the content of trade showed a trend of diversified development.During the periods of the Ming dynasty,the central government ruled effectively,all kinds of trade were interdependent and restricted by each other,which was controlled by the foreign systems and frontier policies of Ming dynasty.The trade activities between Liaodong and Korea had a profound influence on the supremonial-vassal relationship,the economic and social development process and the regional social order change.