The Study Of The Ginseng Trade Between China And Korea From The 17th Century To The Middle Of The 18th Century

From the 17 th century to the middle of the 18 th century,China was in the late Ming Dynasty to mid-Qing Dynasty.The Sino-Korean relations during this period is generally considered a typical suzerain-vassal relationship.During this period,the Central Plains Dynasty experienced the great changes of the Ming and Qing Dynasties,and the suzerain-vassal relationship of the Ming Dynasty was replaced by that of the Qing Dynasty.The complicated and changeable national and regional situation brought great influence to the trade between China and Korea.What are the characteristics of Sino-Korean trade at this stage,what are the factors that affect its development and evolution,and what are the influences of Sino-Korean trade have become important questions that need to be answered urgently.Ginseng,which grows in northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula,has been regarded as a “spiritual herb”with miraculous effects since ancient times.Because of this,ginseng has not only medicinal value,but also high economic value and is circulated as a trade commodity.However,the ginseng trade has never been purely economic.The characteristics of ginseng trade in different periods are not only related to the changes of a country’s regional situation,but also can profoundly reflect and influence regional relations.The ginseng trade between China and Korea in this period fully shows the interactive relationship between China and Korea and the dynamic change of East Asian order.Therefore,choosing the ginseng trade between China and Korea as the research object is a good starting point to answer the above questions.This paper is divided into three parts: introduction,text and conclusion.The text is divided into four chapters.The first chapter reviews the history of ginseng trade between China and Korea before the 17 th century.First,define the concept of ginseng,origin and other aspects of this study.Secondly,by analyzing the ginseng contribution of Silla and Goryeo to China,we can understand the development and utilization process of ginseng on the Korean Peninsula and the way and scale of ginseng export to China in the early stage.Finally,the paper discusses the form and characteristics of ginseng trade between China and Korea in Ming Dynasty,and investigates the export of ginseng from Korea to China through tribute,envoy trade and market trade,as well as the reasons for the expansion of Chinese demand for ginseng from Korea.Chapter two discusses the ginseng trade between China and Korea in the early17 th century.The rise of Jurchen changed the situation of the region and even East Asia,and the pattern of ginseng trade between China and Korea was also changed by this influence.This chapter mainly discusses from the following three aspects.First,after the rise of the Jurchen,it increasingly emphasized the exclusive territory and the exclusive right of resources within the territory and strictly guarded the frontier.It took measures to prevent the Han people and the Korean border people from crossing the border to gather ginseng,which intensified the conflicts between Jurchen and the Ming Dynasty and the Korea.Third,the Later Jin Dynasty changed the relationship with Korea by force and started ginseng trade with Korea.The third chapter analyzes the evolution of ginseng trade policy of Korea to Qing Dynasty from the middle of 17 th century to the middle of 18 th century.Ginseng tribute system is an institutionalized ginseng management system established in Korea to satisfy the domestic consumption and foreign trade of ginseng.On the basis of sorting out the contents of the Korean ginseng tribute system,this chapter focuses on discussing the reasons and influences of its development and evolution.In addition,it also discusses the reasons and effects of the implementation of the policy of participation and prohibition,as well as the process and reasons of the adaptation and removal of the policy.The fourth chapter studies the ginseng trade between China and Korea from the middle of 17 th century to the middle of 18 th century.During this period,Korea exported ginseng mainly through the export trade and the export trade related to the aftermarket.Therefore,this paper first discusses the categories,frequency,personnel and routes of the Korean delegation to Qing Dynasty,and also explains the reasons and processes of eliminating ginseng from the tribute coins and prescriptions.Secondly,it analyzes the legal trade of eight packs and illegal ginseng latent trade.Finally,it explores the emergence and development of the aftermarket trade in the process of making the trip,and the competition between the translator and the merchant as the main body of ginseng trade in Korea.In addition,the background of red ginseng trade in Korea after the mid-18 th century and the influence of ginseng trade are briefly discussed.On the basis of the above research,this paper draws the following conclusions.The ginseng trade between China and Korea experienced different stages of development from the 17 th century to the middle of the 18 th century,which can be divided into two periods marked by the Qing Dynasty entered Shanhaiguan.Before the Qing Dynasty entered Shanhaiguan,the pattern of Korea’s steady export of ginseng to the Ming Dynasty was broken with the rise of Jurchen.This is not only related to the decline of the dominance of the Ming Dynasty brought by the rise of the Jurchen,but also consistent with the fact that the situation in East Asia had a great change,namely the disintegration of the suzerain-vassal relationship in the Ming Dynasty.After the Qing Dynasty entered Shanhaiguan,the export of ginseng from Korea to Qing Dynasty resumed and continued to develop with the permission of Qing Dynasty,which also cancelled the import of ginseng from Korea.This phenomenon not only accords with the characteristics of the development of suzerain-vassal relations between Qing Dynasty and Korea,but also fully reflects that the relationship between the two sides has entered a period of harmony.