恰克圖茶葉貿易與晉商(1862-1917)

Shanxi Merchants and the Kiachta Tea Trade

中國茶大量從恰克圖輸出俄國約在十九世紀初，最初中俄雙方都以壟斷貿易形式進行交易，由晉商主導的茶貿易，利用克里米亞戰爭及太平天國兩戰役，賺取豐厚的利潤，漢口茶也從此征服了俄國人的胃，日後中國茶雖逐漸失去英國市場，為阿薩姆紅茶所取代，中國茶外銷仍然在增加中。1862年以後，俄國商人親自至漢口，以現代化方式經營茶業、製造茶磚，更加促進中國茶在俄國市場的銷路。晉商雖在俄商強勢阻擋下而顯得萎縮，但是中俄邊境湧現的小晉商則表現出無比的競爭力，甚至最後也有落戶俄國的現象。中國的茶離開恰克圖之後，經由一個又一個的市集，分散到西伯利亞及歐俄，甚至穿透中亞、西亞，展現了它的魅力，是最能說明全球化的商品。

At the beginning of the 19th century, massive quantities of Chinese tea were exported through Kiachta, a town on the Sino-Russian border. At first this trade was monopolized by both sides. Then, taking advantage of the Taiping Rebellion 太平天國 (1850-1864) and the Crimean War (1864-1865), Chinese merchants from Shanxi 山西province came to dominate the trade, making a great profit trading in the Kiachta tea market. Before long, Hankow 漢口 tea had conquered the taste of Russian tea drinkers. Although Chinese tea was later gradually displaced from the British market by Assam black tea, the total quantity of Chinese tea exports still increased into the second half of the 19th century. In 1862, Russian merchants came to Hankow, took over the tea industry, and finally built tea factories equipped with modern machines that produced improved tea bricks. Thanks to these Russian merchants, Chinese tea greatly strengthened its grip on the Russian market. Shanxi merchants’ businesses suffered under the control of the tea trade by the Russian merchants. However, fiercely competitive small scale Chinese merchants began to spring up along the border, finally some even crossing the border to settle. After leaving Kiachta, Chinese tea traveled from fair to fair, spreading into Siberia and European Russia, and even penetrating central and western Asia, and as such is an excellent illustration of the globalization of a commodity.