| Chinese ancient maritime foreign trade appeared from the Han Dynasty. But the legal system to manage the maritime trade which established by the government began in the Tang Dynasty. With the continuous development of maritime foreign trade in the Tang dynasty, the rulers formally established its management. They formulated a series of corresponding legal norms which mainly included some areas such as the management of the sea tributary trade, the license system of the private sea trade, maritime entry-exit commodity inspection, the tax system of the maritime trade etc. At the same time, the government also created specifically official which was called shiboshi who was responsible for foreign trade administration law enforcement. It became the predecessor of the shibo bureau in the later dynasties. China entered the period to developed marine in the two Song Dynasties. The maritime foreign trade as a main way of the international trade in Song Dynasty developed on the basis of the Tang Dynasty. In the area of maritime international trade law, although the Song government regulated the maritime foreign trade, but its purpose was to control and open the maritime international trade. The private maritime foreign trade developed very quickly, and the national finance income also increased significantly. The government also established the shibo bureaus which came from the shiboshi in the Tang Dynasty, and it became the permanent management for the maritime international trade. The maritime international trade law in the Yuan Dynasty is the inheritance and development of the legal system in the Tang & Song Dynasty. As the peak period of the Chinese ancient maritime international trade, the legal system of the maritime international trade law was very standardize in the Yuan Dynasty. It made the overseas trade into national powerful management system which included the Shibo institutional settings and the "Shibo Act" implementation. It also ensured the normal operation of trade and promoted the development of the maritime international trade.Since the collapse of the Yuan Empire, the international pattern has changed greatly. The primary problem in foreign exchanges in the Ming Dynasty rulers is how to eliminate the influence of the Yuan Dynasty, and made overseas countries to agree on its international status. Thus, the purpose of maritime international trade legislation in Ming Dynasty began a major change, which came from the economic position back to the political standpoint. The government of the Ming Dynasty gave up the overseas trade spirit to mutual exchange of needed products from the central group of maintenance needs. Thus the innovative ocean qualities accumulated from three dynasties had been gradually lost. On the contrary, the development of social and economic aspects of the Ming Dynasty is comprehensive. The production of the economic structure, social structure, showed a change trend. Agricultural commodity development caused the structural variability of agricultural society. The development of private handicraft industry has brought a historic change in military industry. It formed a national market network as the prosperity of trade and the expanding of the merchant influence. And the early process of urbanization is to promote the formation of a variety of commercial center. These changes are the impact of the traditional natural economy to the commodity exchange direction. It can be said that, at the time of the world, the social and economic development level and the comprehensive national strength in the Ming Dynasty is not less than the same period of the Western European countries. All of these provide a solid material foundation for the development of foreign trade in Ming maritime. With the development of commodity economy, the private sea foreign trade had many difficulties. There were many sounds to call on the government to change the policy of the maritime foreign trade. These ideas were discussed from every point of view. The more a person with breadth of vision has realized that the function of economic law. A ideas appeared which was the reaction of folk capital expansion of demand and on behalf of the merchant benefit. It emphasized to open the maritime international trade on the purpose to make the country rich and its military force efficient. Chinese ancient ideas of foreign trade development in the Ming Dynasty, produced a qualitative change.The legislation of the maritime international trade in Ming Dynasty had the central and local legislation. The central legislation had pay attention to the ban on the civilian maritime trade. The laws were set to ensure the tribute trade and limit the civilian oversea trade. The local legislation had pay attention to the management of the maritime international trade. The legislation of the maritime international trade in Ming Dynasty hadn’t an independent system. The emperor was the main legislative body of the central legislation. The bureau of Li, Hu, Bing, and the censorate were the auxiliary body. The local authorities were the legislative of the local legislation. The legislation of the maritime international trade in Ming Dynasty didn’t have a independent system. The system included “Da Ming Law”, “Weng Xing Cases”, “Da Ming Order”, “Da Ming Hui Dian ” and many temporary regulations. The central legislation which included “Da Ming Law”, “Weng Xing Cases”, “Da Ming Order”, “Da Ming Hui Dian ” was almost set in the early Ming Dynasty. These were very stable. Beside these, the central government was fond of setting the temporary regulations. These regulations lately became a part of the code. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, the local government set many local regulations such as the Tizou.The adjustment object of Ming maritime foreign trade law included two aspects of the official tributary trade and the civil maritime trade. As the core content of maritime foreign trade legal system, acts of ban on maritime trade which was through the Ming Dynasty. Since the Hongwu four years(AD 1371), the Ming Dynasty appeared unprecedented long ban on maritime trade. It made influence on the Ming Dynasty and the situation in Southeast Asia. Acts of ban on maritime trade in Ming Dynasty included some aspects just as strictly prohibited to folk sea trade, not allowed to export prohibited articles, prohibited the civilian to buy imported goods, strictly controlled the scale of sea ships. The acts of ban on maritime trade in the early Ming Dynasty didn’t mean the government set a total ban on maritime international trade. The only legitimate overseas trade mode was the trade which came along with tributary activities. In order to manage overseas trade effectively, the Ming government had given the detailed legal provisions on the content of the tribute trade. It mainly included the tributary qualifications, period, road, tributary missions scale, mode of trade, tribute and to give etc. There’re two aspects of the enforcement agencies about the maritime trade law in the Ming Dynasty. The central agencies included Zhu Ke Qing Li Si and Xing Ren Si of the Department of the Ministry of Li, Hui Tong Guan of the Department of the Ministry of Bing, the Department of the Ministry of Hu, Hong Lu Si, Tai Chang Si etc. The local agencies included local administrators at all levels, Shibo bureau etc. The Shibo bureau in the Ming Dynasty was very different from that in the former. Its status was not prominent, and it had a ill fate. During the early Ming Dynasty, the coastal area had set up 5 Shibo bureau that Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong had the major status. At the same time, the Shibo eunuch who was dispatched by the emperor directly became a major feature of the Ming Dynasty. It appeared from Yongle who was above the Shibo bureau.In mid Ming Dynasty, the social commodity economy further developed. The desire to go out sea and trade of the civilian at the seaside grew stronger. "Ningbo tribute event" in Jiajing made the Ming government to strengthen the acts of ban on maritime trade. After the event, the Ming government not only broke off with Japan’s tributary trade relations, but also to strengthen the defence efforts to wokoy. In the habitual thinking of defense, act of ban on maritime trade was repeatedly strengthened since the Jiajing three years(AD 1534). The acts of ban on maritime trade in Jiajing was been set in the forms of the emperor’s tutti to the official at the first time. In mid Jiajing, the Ming government sorted the relevant laws and regulations to implement the act of ban on the maritime trade. As the supplementary provisions of "private outside environment and illegal business" in “Daming law”, the acts were compiled into "Jiajing new cases" which was prepared at Jiajing twenty-seven years(AD 1548). In addition, act of ban on maritime trade had made some new requirements in “Jiajing wenxing regulations” enacted at Jiajing twenty-nine years(AD 1550). But the acts were useless. The Ming government started the transformation of the overseas trade in the two aspects of the central and local. The central government developed a new "Hongzhi new cases" to adjust the legal system of the tribute trade which enacted at Hongwu and Yongle. They wanted to increase economic benefits under the condition of maintaining the form of the tribute trade. The Guangdong local government not only began levying business tax, but also allowed the Portuguese to resident Macao and trade. This method created a "Guangzhou-- Macao" model, and made a structural change on the legal system of the overseas trade. After the revoking of the Shibo eunuch in Jiajing, there was a law enforcement system of the maritime trade in Ming Dynasty that included the leading from Hai Dao FU Shi and the mutual supervision from the Country.In late Ming Dynasty, the pursuit of economic interests became the consensus of government. The Ming government started to reform. After the title of Longqing, the rulers finally lifted the acts which didn’t allow the civilian to maritime trade. They allowed the people lived in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou of Fujian to “trade with Dong and Xi Ocean”. The legal system of the maritime trade appeared great historic change. This change broke the ban on the maritime trade from the period of Zhu Yuanzhang, and opened up a new era of the maritime trade in Ming Dynasty. But we should noticed that this change were local and passive. The Zhangzhou government began to levy business taxes in Longqing six years(AD 1572). The tax legal system was established that contained lead, water, Lu Xiang tax in Wanli. Guangzhou began to hold regular International Commodities Fair in the late period of Jiajing. It allowed the Portuguese to trade in Guangzhou. It sold the goods from all over the world that determined to open at the spring and the autumn at Wanli eight years(AD 1580). In order to meet the development of the Guangzhou fair, Guangdong maritime trade legal system also made further reform. With Portugal, Spain, the UK and other colonists had knocked for trade, Guangdong local governments was in the long-term exploration, debate and practice. Guangdong government finally established the legal system about the Macao residence of the Portuguese, but also clear the relevant provisions of the law of “Guangzhou- Macao" overseas trade management. It only left Guangdong Shibo bureau in the late Ming Dynasty. The law enforcement system had also been adjusted after the opening in Zhangzhou at Longqing. There were some agencies just like the Du Xiang Guan. On the other hand, the official Ya Hang in the late Ming had a new development. There were new situations just like the emergence of "Ke Gang ", "Ke Ji " and "Thirteen business " and so on.Compared with the former, there were huge changes in Ming Dynasty that the purpose of the legislation had more political color, the contents of the law is relatively negative, the power of law enforcement agencies was in many game. In later Ming Dynasty, the economic function in the maritime international trade law began to passive regression. Fujian and Guangdong government made innovations in the legislation of the maritime international trade. It had the function to make wealth, enrich the state and the people. Meanwhile, the adjustment of the system made the foundation for the birth of the customs system and tariff system in the early Qing Dynasty. However, we should also see the limitations of the reform at the overseas trade management legal system in Ming Dynasty, not to overestimate its positive effect on social economic development. |
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