A Study Of The Lacquer Trade Between West Europe,China And Japan During 17^th And 18^th Centrty

Oriental lacquer handicrafts, as Western Europe were to open up new routes existed before, and lacquer trade has been carried out within Asia. With the large number of Western Europeans came to Asia, many lacquers were sold in the Western Europe, particularly in the 17th century and 18th century. The main points in this paper are how the lacquer trade developed among Western Europe,China and Japan, what the quantity of lacquer transported and the profit of lacquer trade were, what the influence of lacquer trade on Western Europe and the reasons why the lacquer trade were declining.This article is divided into four parts. The first section discusses the early lacquer export trade. The first part casts back the origin of the lacquer trade between China and Japan, explores the origin of the Chinese export trade,how the Chinese export lacquer impact on the Japanese lacquer and lacquer trade,the origin of the lacquer trade among China,Japan and Western Europe. These areas laid good foundation of the development and prosperity of the lacquer trade in 17th century and 18th century.The second part discusses the lacquer trade among Japan,China and Western Europe during 17th century. By way of dividing stages of the lacquer trade, studying the historical background,trade routes,export lacquer prices and the characteristics of development of lacquer trade in every stage, and analyzing the reason why the Western Europe gain the lacquer trade advantage over other countries, the panorama of the lacquer trade among Western Europe,Japan and China will be revealed. In a word, these factors play an important role in lacquer trade:the powerful sea power, establishing and maintaining good relationship with Asian feudal rulers and possessing convenience trade stopover station. China and Japan are the lacquer suppliers, however, in different historical period there is gap.The third part discusses the rise and fall of the lacquer trade during the 18th century. In the opening of 18th century, states have the East India Company sent ships to Asia. In these companies, the English East India Company is one of the most powerful, so half of the 18th century is to discuss the English East India Company lacquer trade. In addition, during this period, Spain is also very frequent lacquer trade with China. Other countries have also carried out the lacquer trade with China and Japan, but the relatively small scale. After the mid 18th century the trade fell gradually, because the expensive of export lacquer price,the changes of European fashion,the background of political situation and the rise of the European lacquer industry. Chinese and Japanese things were losing their appeal and native lacquer industries, which could supply cheap and exquisite products for the European.The fourth part discusses the influence of the lacquer trade on Europe among Western Europe,Japan and China. The lacquer exerted effect on European art and interior decoration, especially which promoted the development of European lacquer industry and made important contributions to the capitalism development.