A Research Into The Commercial Ports And The Social Changes In Northeast China In Qing Dynasty

This paper makes a systematic investigation of the course of the development of the commercial ports run by the Qing government in Northeast China, and chronologically divides the Qing Dynasty into early stage (1644-1860) and late stage (1861-1911). But due to the inadequacy of the objects of study both in quantity and in content, this paper, based on the investigation of the overall situation of commercial ports in Northeast China, focuses mainly on the pattern of the commercial ports in late Qing Dynasty. According to this paper, the formation of the pattern of the commercial ports in Northeast China in late Qing Dynasty undergoes four major stages: the Germinating Stage; the Embryonic Stage; the Forming Stage and the Developing stage. Besides, the paper summarizes three characteristics in the formation of the pattern: the regularity of the regional distribution of commercial ports, the diversity of types and the imbalance of development. And it elucidates, by selecting six representative aspects from the fields of economy and culture, the relationship between the commercial ports and the social change, i.e. the opening up of the commercial ports is the accelerator of the social change in Northeast China.In early Qing Dynasty, the form of international trade in Northeast is"Border Trades". Due to the guiding ideology of"huai rou yuan ren"put forward by the Qing government, there emerged"ancient commercial ports"on the borders between China and Russia, and between China and Korea. After the emergence of the commercial ports, China's the border trades with Russia and with Korea took on different characteristics. According to the argument, the newly-emerged commercial ports, though different from border trades, still can not be out of the framework of border trades. And thus, to some extent, they still belong to a special type of border trades, are not yet genuine international trades, and can be seen as the side-product of diplomatic relationship. The emergence of commercial ports in early Qing Dynasty, enabled Northeast China to keep certain economic exchanges with bordering countries and with regions inside Shanghaiguan Pass. Therefore, Northeast China in early Qing Dynasty, though under relatively isolated conditions, was not a pool of stagnant water.In late Qing Dynasty, urged by the driving forces from both inside and outside the country, and in order to adapt to the law of the development of international trade, the Qing government started to change its economic and political policies, and attempted to cope with the critical situation of the country by opening up commercial ports. From the opening up of Yingkou port in 1861 to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, 28 commercial ports have been opened. The influence of the pattern and characteristics of the commercial ports in Northeast China in late Qing Dynasty upon the social change in this region lies in the following aspects:First, the opening up of commercial ports accelerates the economic changes in Northeast China. This paper elucidates it from three aspects: 1. Foreign trades, which take commodity circulation as a carrier, is a part of and a yardstick to modernization. The opening-up of commercial ports in Northeast China promotes increases in import and export, and accelerates the modernization of international trade; 2.The entry of foreign capital and the government's encouragement to developing industrial and commercial businesses result in the emergence of modern management organizations and modes of business operation, and the transition of traditional industrial and commercial businesses to modernized ones; 3. The opening-up of commercial ports is one of the driving forces of the city's movement. On one hand, it brings about the expansion of population in cities and the enlargement of the quantity and scale of cities, and accelerates the process of urbanization; on the other hand, it provides chances for the change in the function and structure of cities, and as a result accelerates the process of urbanization. To sum up, the opening-up of commercial ports accelerates the modernization of economy in Northeast China. What needs to be emphasized is that the opening-up of commercial ports enables the operating mechanism of Chinese feudal economy to be involved into the system of global market; outside forces dominate Chinese economy: the economy of Northeast China is monopolized by Japan and Russia, which becomes the supplier of raw materials and dumping place of products. The deformed pattern of economic development indicates that Chinese economic interests are invaded and governed by the imperialist powers. Besides, the industrial pattern of"Stressing Commerce, Neglecting Industry"severely restricts the development of the economy in Northeast China.Second, the opening-up of commercial ports promotes the change of Northeastern culture. The paper elucidates it from the following three aspects: 1. The newspapers and periodicals in Northeast China in late Qing Dynasty, no matter seen from the overall situation or from a particular commercial port such as Haerbin, Dalian, are diverse in the styles, founders, content and ideas. The emergence of newspapers and periodicals itself is a manifestation of the change in culture. 2. After the opening-up of commercial ports in Northeast China, commercial ports become the windows in which cultures from different nationalities and countries meet, and in which there emerges the co-existence of Chinese traditional religion and foreign religions from both West and East. with the expansion of Western religion, and under the deteriorating economic condition and turbulent social upheaval, a part of helpless people begin to lay hope on foreign Gods. It can also be considered as people's acceptance of western culture which is alongside the religion. Therefore, to certain degree, the diversity of religion is a manifestation of the change of culture. 3. Take industrial education as an example to elucidate the promotion of the opening-up of commercial ports on the change of education in Northeast China. It is fair to assert that each culture has its nationality of existence, is a reflection of certain mode of production, exerts its influence upon human society and enriches the cultural content of mankind. Objectively speaking, Western culture does bring valuable frame of reference to China. However, it is apparent that when Western culture, which lands on the ports and enters into China, cleanses Chinese feudal culture, it demonstrates strong invasiveness.To sum up, commercial ports are accelerators of the social changes in Northeast China in Qing Dynasty. Although the establishment of commercial ports in late Qing Dynasty has strong colonial inclination and bears important political missions at its very beginning, with the expansion of opening-up, revolutionary factors come into the local society. The development of the commercial ports has promoted the social change of Northeast China.