荷蘭時代臺灣砂糖的生產與貿易

Sugar Production and Trade in Dutch Colonial Taiwan

本文研究荷蘭時代臺灣的砂糖產業，我們利用了荷蘭東印度公司的原始檔案整理當時臺灣的漢人人口、耕地面積、砂糖產出以及其外銷世界各地的數量。資料顯示，起初是荷蘭的需求促動了臺灣的砂糖生產；然而，1654年巴西叛亂落幕之後，阿姆斯特丹充斥著巴西糖，荷蘭因此對於東印度的糖失去了興趣。此後，波斯、日本與中國便成為臺灣糖的主要市場。早期銷往荷蘭的臺灣糖利潤率曾經超越400%，勝過香料與胡椒的利潤率。至於臺灣農夫的所得，因受到天然災害之影響，變化頗大；即使在最好的年份裡，漢人農夫的所得尚不及荷蘭挑磚夫所得的三分之一，但這已遠超過他們在中國的所得了。

This paper examines Taiwan's sugar industry in the Dutch colonial era. Primary data on the Han population, area of cultivated land, sugar production and exports to markets around the world were extracted from original files of the Dutch East India Company. Analysis reveals that it was the demand from the Netherlands that motivated sugar production in Taiwan. However, following the end of the Brazilian rebellion in 1654, Amsterdam was glutted with sugar from Brazil, and the Dutch lost interest in sugar from the East Indies. Persia, Japan and China then became main markets for Taiwan's sugar. In the early period, the profit margin of Taiwan's sugar exports to the Netherlands exceeded 400%, much larger than that of spices or pepper. On the other hand, natural hazards in Taiwan caused large fluctuations in farmers' income. Even in the best years, a Taiwanese farmer earned less than one third of a Dutch hod carrier, though it far exceeded what their counterparts in China could make.