A Survey Of Shandong's Foreign Trade In The Qing Dynasty

In the past, the survey of foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty is mostly focused on the provinces in the southeast China. However Shandong's foreign trade has yet been taken into cosideration by the academics. In effect, with its clear-cut characteristics it plays a key role in the foreign trade system in the Qing Dynasty. A research on it is not only the basis for regional comparative study but also contributes to clarifying some moot points involed in it.One of issues under heated debate is concerned with whether the Qing Dynasty had ever implemented 'a Ban on a Private Tour Abroad' in the 'Qing's Statutes' before the 12^th year of emperor Shunzhi. Early in the 10^th year of emperor Shunzhi, it is by 'a Ban on a Private Tour Abroad' that the Qing government dealt with the trafficing goods to Japanese case at Nugukou in Jimo of Shandong, which suggests that adminstrative control over foreign trade had been exerted before the 12^th year of emperor Shunzhi. The sea embargo period from the 12^th year of emperor Shunzhi to the 23 year of emperor Kangxi found anobvious particularity in shandong's foreign trade compared with such southeast provinces as Fujian and Guangdong. First, a late migration along the coast inland with Fujian in the 18^th year of emperor Shunzhi and Shandong later until the 2^th of emperor Kangxi. Second, the smaller scale of migraton, Fujian moving its people inland to 30 and 50 miles but Shandong just moving islanders inland. Third, the early opening sea abroad, Shandong 5 years earlier than the southern provinces like Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong with its opening time in the early 18th year of emperor Kangxi. Therefore, the policies of sea embargo and moving people inland were not established but provisional measures for defenses against the attack of anti-Qing forces like Zheng cheng-gong.In the 56^th year of emperor Kangxi the promulgation of the south sea embargo decree is meant to prevent the possibe riot in the emperor's twilight of life, not to ban grains abroad and limit the convergence of overseas Chinese. At that time, two big events played a decisive role in the decision-making. One is the conspired rebellion of the deposed crown prince clique with pirates. The other is the debate over etiquettes in Shandong. Commercial ships would converge in the ports of Dengzhou, Laizhong and Qingdao before Yantai's opening its commercial ports. Since the 9^th year of emperor Xianfeng a succession of tariff bureaus had been set up to collect tariff duties in...