Official Trade Between Ming And Joseon During The Reign Of Hongwu And Yongle Emperors And Its Impact On Joseon Currency Reform

Sino-Korean trade is one of the central issues of economic historians in recent years.In the early Ming Dynasty,the rulers combined the tributary system with the sea ban system,forming a unique tribute-sea ban system.Among the many countries that China trade with,Joseon was the relatively frequent one with distinctive characters.In 1392,the Ming dynasty gave Joseon a state name and the Hongwu emperor specified the quantity,unit price,and settlement of trade between the two countries,which was the official point of this study.Under this framework,Joseon rebuilt its domestic economic order and developed trade policies that were compatible with the Ming system,with the guiding principles of the right to profit was paramount and the capital was in check.At the time of the Battle of Jingnan,Joseon was rewarded and ennobled by the Ming Dynasty and started trade with Ming on the one hand,on the other hand,Joseon’s interaction with other countries reflected the characteristics of an economic rationalist.During the Yongle period,frequent fraudulent acts were committed by ambassadors both China and Joseon.On the one hand,some eunuchs of the Ming dynasty sent to Joseon asked for a lot of goods from Joseon by virtue of their privileged status,and on the other hand,the ambassadors and attendants sent by Joseon traded secretly and made profits for themselves.In view of this,Joseon increased penalties and strict legislation.However,the invasion of pirates also increased the transportation cost of Joseon,which affected the trade process to some extent.This study considers the changes in political situation,the invasion of Japanese pirates,the fraud of Chinese ambassadors,and the interaction between Joseon and other countries as factors that affect the change of trade system between China and Joseon.At the same time,the monetary reform was carried out in Joseon to exclude five liters of cloth from circulation,but the influx of cloth into Joseon under the trade had a certain impact on Joseon’s monetary policy of “promoting paper money and banning cloth money”,which prevented the issuance and circulation of Joseon paper money.The paper argues that:(1)Joseon’s opportunity cost in trade was not low,and that Joseon’s repeated dispatch of ambassadors and gradual breakthrough of the trade system were mainly based on the actual situation of the country to adopt less costly behaviors to cope with the problems encountered in trade.(2)This study regards political change,the arbitrage of ministers and the invasion of Japanese pirates as the causes of the change in the system.(3)Based on the research data of Nan,Zheng and Qu,the official trade volume and trade price of China and Joseon during the Hongwu-Yongle period are identified,examined,and errata are made.Combined with the currency market situation of the Koryo-Chosun period,it is found that in the process of the two currency reforms carried out by King Taejong of Joseon,both China and Joseon started official trade on a large scale and settled international trade with cloth goods,and the large-scale trade further strengthened the trust of the domestic public of Joseon in the use of cloth goods,which created many obstacles to the implementation of the economic policies of Joseon government and accelerated the failure of Joseon currency reform.The research shows that:(1)while trade makes everyone better,it can also affect the implementation of a country’s economic policies under certain circumstances.A country’s economic policies should not be the object of direct emulation by the country,and it is necessary to specifically examine and predict what impact such a policy will have and whether it will be effective.(2)In the process of monetary reform in Joseon,the interests of the original system would always inhibit and resist the change,while those whose interests have been damaged always propose strategies to promote the change.The failure of the monetary reform is not only the failure of a particular policy,but also the result of the power imbalance between different stakeholders.(3)The government of Joseon intended to improve people’s welfare and did not pursue policies blindly.Economic policies should have a certain degree of stability,especially those involving the interests of economic agents,which is conducive to reducing risks.(4)When each person is more utilitarian for himself or herself and unilaterally pursues profit maximization,although this will not conflict with the interests of the society as a whole,it will conflict with the interests of other individuals and groups,which in turn will aggravate the contradictions in social and economic development.